Question One fan not spinning before Windows boots up?

[steviewonder87]

I've just bought an EVGA FTW2 1070 second hand, and due to an issue with the only screen I have available now I'm not able to do anything once Windows boots, but just to test if the GPU turned on after I bought it I booted up my system with it connected.

Before Windows booted up only one fan was spinning, then after Windows loaded it stopped spinning (which I think is normal) the other fan started spinning briefly and almost immediately stopped. Is this potentially normal behavior or is this a definite sign that non spinning fan is broken in some way? I'm not able to download any drivers or software to mess with the card or put it under any stress, I know this card's fans only turn on when under load and can be individually controlled with software, but as far as I know before Windows starts all fans should be spinning as there are no drivers loaded or any software telling them what to do, right? My old GPU would always spin all fans before Windows booted up and then once in Windows they'd all stop.

I'll be able to test for sure in a few days when I get back to my monitor and can use programs and drivers and such, but I'm a bit concerned I may have a broken fan on my hands and would just like to know if this could potentially be nothing to worry about (also the fan in question spins freely by hand so it's not physically broken or obstructed) or if this is a sure fire sign this fan is busted.

Thanks

 

[InvalidError]

What about immediately at power-up? Both my GTX1050 and HD5770 run the fan at maximum speed for the first few seconds after post, then spin down to inaudible speed at some point during POST. I wouldn't be surprised if your GTX1070 initialized its fan control during POST to a lesser value than power-up default. If your non-moving fan never moves, check that the fan cable is actually plugged into the board. If the two fan headers are close enough to each other, you could also try swapping them to rule out a bad fan channel/header. Worst case, zip-tie a 80-120mm fan connected directly to the PSU.

 

[steviewonder87]

The spinning fan immediately went to what appeared to be 30% (or thereabouts) speed and then immediately stopped once into Windows, the other fan starts trying to spin but instantly slows down and stops after a second or two. My old 970 would always spin up all 3 fans at a quite high RPM before booting in Windows and stopping FWIW.

The zip tie idea could be an OK workaround if this is indeed a broken fan but I'd most likely RMA it (it's still under warranty) rather than doing that. I'll know for definite in a few days like I said it's just I'm quite concerned in the meantime and would like to know if this is definitely abnormal behaviour or whether there is a potentially benign explanation for it.

 

[steviewonder87]

Bump. Anyone?

 

[pete_101]

I've got the same card, and you just got me to shut it down, remove the side panel and see what it does on startup

So, on power up both fans spin but not at 100% (maybe 20%), and they keep spinning until it's fully booted and then they stop. If only one fan is running on your's, then I'd be concerned that the other isn't working.

 

[steviewonder87]

Thanks for the response, I assumed both fans would spin at startup and stop once in Windows under normal circumstances but I was hoping it might not be a definitive sign the fan is busted and might have some other explanation for not spinning properly right now.

I guess basically my real question at this point is, do all fans on all GPUs always spin at startup no matter what?