Noctua NH-D14 fan noise issue.

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

Hello. A few weeks back I ordered an NH-D14 and had my computer guy install it. He installed it Vertically in my Corsair Carbide 500R case.
After a few weeks passed, I started hearing a weird noise coming from the PC and later realized it was coming from the cooler. Later on I noticed that if I push down lightly on the platstic enclosure of the fan in between the heatsinks, the noise would instantly go away.

Today I brought the computer to my guy and he took off the cooler and installed it horizontally with only the middle fan. He took the other fan and put it on top of the case and set it to blow air out. There was also another old fan up top that he installed previously and he set this one to also blow air out.

I took the computer home and plugged it in and while the temps seem to be the same. The only problem is that now all the fans are much louder than they were before. They were whisper quiet prior to today.

Another problem is that I don't like how it looks this way. I like everything to be situated the way it was meant to be...

Any ideas on why the fans are louder now? Also, I'm probably going to ask him to put it back the way it was originally and take out that extra old fan from the top.

But I don't want that other noise to come back =/

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

hello again fkr. Actually, we already put a new PSU in my computer. It's a 1050W Gold Seasonic. My rig is still doing the same things. Everything is making weird noises. The fans, the HDD, the GPU, and even the motherboard I think. On Thursday I will bring the rig back to him and he will take it apart. After that we will put the mobo on something and start putting it together piece by piece till we hear something start making noise.

Best scenario would be that there was something bothering the mobo somewhere and if we do this we may solve the issue... That's just me wishfully thinking

Not a great scenario but not the worst one either would be that the mobo is defective. Maybe I cracked it with this big Noctua cooler when I was transporting it? Although, I did see on the Noctua website that they say it's totally safe to transport a computer with this cooler in it.

Worst possible scenario and me hanging myself would be that whatever caused the PC to freeze that time caused damage to everything in my rig. Obviously I'm hoping this is not the case and I don't even know if this is possible but with my luck with computers anything goes lol. This would mean I would have to try and RMA everything and hope they give me replacements.

What do you think?

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

I don't know whats up with the website or if it's on my end or what but I can't update anything.

I forgot to add that he installed the cooler upside down and after that the PC froze. By upside down I mean that the Noctua name on each heatsink is facing towards the back of the case instead of the front.

 

[fkr]

If you have another motherboard then you can test everything but the CPU probably. Do you know if the power was connected to the power supply when the CMOS was pressed.

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

I believe the power was connected but I'm not sure =/

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

I believe the power was connected but I'm not sure =/

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

Maybe it wasn't

 

[fkr]

remeber when you do an RMA just say that you have done no troubleshooting and that it just started follow there instruction and you should have success. remember it has never been moved and nothing has changed. hopefully you get what you need.

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

Today we took the rig apart and did some testing. First of all, the motherboard makes a buzzing noise and another weird noise from around the CPU area. The Video card is still making that consistent whine that gets louder with load and it did so on two other motherboards as well. Also, the new seasonic power supply makes noise when plugged into the motherboard or the video card (on any mobo). When we plugged the PSU into a different motherboard it made a similar noise but it was very hard to hear even if you put your ear right to the PSU. When plugged into my mobo or video card, the PSU noise can be heard from some feet away.

I'm going to RMA both the Mobo and the Video card. I'm also worried about the cooler fans and the case fans. They were dead silent before and now they are noisy. I don't know if this will be resolved with the new Mobo...

Wanted to ask this also... Was the power plug supposed to be connected when he hit the switch or not? He told me it was was connected because how else would the switch do anything.

 

[fkr]

the power switch is one thing and resetting the bios by use of the cmos jumper is another. If you have your owners manual it will be in there or at the manufactureers website.


to clear the cmos the computer should be unplugged from the wall

 

[terry4536]

I just scanned through the posts from the beginning.

When your installer put this cooler in, did he install the silicone dampener between the fans and the heat sink. If he didn't, that may very well eliminate your noise.

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

Thanks again for replies. Fkr - He said he did have it connected and said how would it do anything if it was not connected. I'm not sure which switch he hit but it did reset and windows loaded up.

Terry- He did install the silicone. I'm fairly certain now that the sound that started happening that made me bring it back to him originally was due to the fan casing pressing up against one of the RAM sticks. I brought it to him and tried to explain that when I press lightly on the middle fan the noise goes away. But he said he sees the problem right away and said he had the same issue with the noctua fans on his xbox 360. I left and when I came back he showed me what he did. He took those silicone pieces and cut them in half because when they were whole there was only enough of them for one fan. After he cut them he had enough for both fans. He was so sure this was the resolution that he didn't even bother to test it. I brought it home and the noise was still there so I brought it back to him again. This time he moved the RAM to the 2nd and fourth slots (which were the instructions on the mobo itself) too bad he missed that when he assembled it originally. Anyway after he did this the noise was gone but I was skeptical and thought it would come back when I brought it home. That was my big mistake, I should have taken it home right there. He also said he wanted to try installing the cooler horizontally so I left it and he did that and installed one of the noctua fans and another fan up top blowing out. I brought it home and all 3 fans that were blowing up were loud. Brought it back to him and told him to install it the normal way so he did and we booted it up and started Unigine and that's when the unthinkable happened.

All this trouble because of one stupid mistake. Now I'm sending the Mobo and VGA for RMA and I'm worried that all the fans will not go back to normal when I get the replacement mobo. They were all dead silent before, even on highest setting and now they are loud. Could this have messed up the fans?

 

[fkr]

replacing the mobo will solve any issues related to the fans. the fans themselves really cannot have these type of faults. you could always get a fan regulator if you really want to be able to adjust them to silent.

It sounds like the voltage regulators on the mobo were bad and if it sent extra voltage to your fans it could have produced these sound. it is just a guess.

next time build your own and watch youtube videos and ask questions here. It is just a good skill to practice.

 

[terry4536]

I would guess that the fans are just set to maximum RPM. You can use the motherboard fan headers to control the RPM. You can also use the ULN adapter to reduce the RPM. If you have trouble when you get your parts back , you can send me a note and I'll guide you through it.

Noctua is excellent at providing parts (free) for their coolers. Contact their customer support, and I'm sure they will replace the silicone dampener.

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

Thanks again for the replies. So 4 of the fans are connected to the mobo (2 cooler fans, exhaust fan, and one fan on top). The other 3 fans are the fans with the LEDs on them 2 in the front and 1 big one on the side. Those 3 fans are controlled by the switch on the front of the PC. My guy said that switch is not connected to the mobo.

This other guy from the computer store nearby where I work said that fans have a chip in them and if the fans are connected directly to a power supply those chips will fry and the fans will never spin slow again. But these fans were not connected directly to the power supply. I asked my guy if there was a way we could test all the fans without my mobo and he said no. Maybe I should call Corsair and Noctua and see if they can help me with it.

 

[Pavel Pokidaylo]

Welp I got the refurb motherboard and had my guy set it up today. The fans are all still making noise/spinning too hard and that noise that was coming from behind the mobo is still there. I can only hear the noise the mobo is making if I put my ear to it but I do hear the fans right now and I'm sitting a few feet away from the PC. All the temps are normal though and have not had any issues yet but I have not played any games yet. The Video card will be here tommorow.

I'm going to call MSI tommorow after work. This is just dumb... Probably should have went with an Asus mobo or something