PC unbearably loud when playing games

[Jeru]

hey guys,

I have recently sent in my PC for warranty, due to a faulty motherboard, and they exchanged it for me, and gave installed the cpu and aftermarket heatsink on the new motherboard. I asked him whether he applied thermalpaste on it, and he said yes. So, I have been using it for a couple of weeks since the warranty, and i've noticed that it has gotten so much louder! My mobo has an on board thermometer, and it states that the onboard temp is never above 40 degrees celcius. However, when I play a game, it sounds like a plane turbine!! Is it the GPU that is causing the noise? The heatsink? Or is it something else, like a harddrive.

My guess is that it's the CPU heatsink, but it could be the GPU aswell.

SPECS:

GPU: Radeon 7950 Dual-X (Two fans)
CPU: i5 3570k
Heatsink: Artic Freezer i30.

 

[gcatalin]

Did this happen before sending it? If not, then it must be the cpu cooler, maybe it has a PWM cooler and when the cpu gets hot it bumps up the speed of the cooler.

Can you open the case and play a game with it open ? You will definitely hear from where does the sound come.

 

[Jeru]

Did this happen before sending it? If not, then it must be the cpu cooler, maybe it has a PWM cooler and when the cpu gets hot it bumps up the speed of the cooler.

Can you open the case and play a game with it open ? You will definitely hear from where does the sound come.

Hard to tell, since the cpu and gpu are cm apart, but it seems like it's the cpu, it feel noisier as you lift your head up. why is it cause noise? Do you think the shop owner BSed me about applying thermal paste, or maybe he applied poor quality tp?

 

[gcatalin]

The sound has nothing to do with thermal paste. Thermal paste is applied between the cpu and heatsink, it does not move or generate sound. The cooler on the heatsing is the one generating noise. And that could be a louzy loud cooler.

 

[Kari]

according to this review
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/arctic-freezer-i30_5.html#sect0
the arctic freezer i30 isnt even particularly loud, quite average....

If the fan isn't hitting any wires or anything like that the only solution really is to buy a quieter fan if it really bothers you. Or if the temps on the cpu are low enough you could make a custom fan profile or use a low speed adapter on the fan connector to limit the highest speed of the fan.

 

[Jeru]

The sound has nothing to do with thermal paste. Thermal paste is applied between the cpu and heatsink, it does not move or generate sound. The cooler on the heatsing is the one generating noise. And that could be a louzy loud cooler.

according to this review
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/arctic-freezer-i30_5.html#sect0
the arctic freezer i30 isnt even particularly loud, quite average....

If the fan isn't hitting any wires or anything like that the only solution really is to buy a quieter fan if it really bothers you. Or if the temps on the cpu are low enough you could make a custom fan profile or use a low speed adapter on the fan connector to limit the highest speed of the fan.

You're right, the arctic freezer i30 was almost silent before i sent it in for warranty. I doubt it can be the gpu, since I removed it, before sending the mobo + cpu + heatsink to warranty. What could've happened that caused this change?

And, I meant, the thermal paste could be ineffective, is what i meant. Like, it a lot more heat escapes, maybe? Not really sure what the purpose of tp is.

 

[Kari]

Not really sure what the purpose of tp is.

this little piece will explain it quite thoroughly, with animations and several pages 😀
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,review-32799.html

also the fan on the heatsink is seated in a plastic shroud, make sure the fan isn't rubbing against anything. Power down and manually spin it...

 

[gcatalin]

Well, try to remove the gpu, use the iGPU to play a game, see if the sounds still persists, then it must be the cpu cooler (in case it is not the power supply, it too has a cooler that could make noise). If there is no sound, then it's the gpu cooler.

The thermal paste is as the name states, a paste that allows thermal energy (heat) to pass through it from the cpu to the heatsink. The surfaces of the cpu top and heatsink bottom are not perfectly flat, so there are spots where the two surfaces are not in contact so heat would not be able to pass, by using thermal paste, these gaps are filled and heat passes through every part of the surface.