Problem with PC fans and led on cpu cooler

finnvandermeer

Honorable
Mar 31, 2017
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10,530
Hey,
I've been having some problems with my PC lately, and thought I could ask for help here. Sometimes, my fans randomly start speeding up to >1000rpm when i do little things like starting up google chrome. This is very loud compared to the normal (around 500rpm). I can see this in Corsair Link (which monitors the fan speed and controls the rgb led on my cpu cooler). This led on my h100i v2 cpu cooler has been less bright than usual. It varies from totally not bright to normal brightness according to the load of my pc. It seems to have some relation to the fans speeding up because if my fans speed up, the led becomes brighter. I tried cleaning my (there's almost no dust in my pc right now) and i tried reinstalling Corsair Link
So in short: my fans speed up a lot when i start up programs, and the led on my cpu cooler has a very low brightness, except for when my fans speed up.
Thank you in advance,
-Finn

These are my specs:
Fans: Case fans from the NZXT S340 Elite
Motherboard: Asus Z270E
CPU cooler: Corsair H100i v2
 
Seems like you need a fresh install of good thermal paste. Fans speed up because your CPU temp spikes. If your CPU temps are not spiking, then there's something wrong with your fan header on your motherboard. Try connecting it to others.
 

The fans start spinning at full speed even when the CPU temp is very low (around 30 degrees Celsius). All my fans do this, so it's not one header. Could it be the motherboard doing something wrong? If so, is there something I can do about it (updating my bios, downloading certain drivers???)?
 
Always update your bios. It's a good habit.
Now back to the main question, if just your Radiator fans speed up, their high chance you're connected to the wrong headers. If the chassis fans speed up too, then > 1.you have some kind of aggressive fan curve setting (reset your bios) 2.Something is interfering with your fans (either motherboard itself or some kind of fan controller)

BTW, If I were you, I would take out the cooler and plug it into another system to make sure it's not faulty. AIOs get damaged easily.



EDIT: I forgot this but check your power options. Both BIOS and especially control panel. Some options like Cool'n'Quiet and Eco mode and ... interfere with it. This guy has this problem too.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3007613/cpu-fan-speeds-reason.html
 

Radiator fans are in CPU_FAN and Chassis Fans are in CHA_FAN1 and CHA_FAN2. All four fans speed up. I dont have a fan controller and I set everything to default in my bios. I will update my bios first.

 

What exactly, should I check in the power options?
 
Try all the power plans. See if it makes a difference. You said all the fans connected to your motherboard spin up. That means it's either software (like Windows itself) or bios doing something.

If all fails, get a fan controller software. Ai Suite has nice look to it. A good excuse to make a personalized fan curve.
 

Even when i put it on silent, the fans speed up (same amount of noise/rpm increase) when i start up a program. I updated my bios so it shouldnt be that (also reset to default).
 


I put it on silent inside of the AI suite software, didnt change the noise. Maybe this gives you a bit more info, its a screenshot of corsair link while i was gaming. While gaming, the fans are constantly making this noise, with no pauses.
https://gyazo.com/f5db1cb0d9247715f710e544afe61d91
Could it maybe be that the thermal paste on my CPU has dried out and that it takes the fans more rounds to cool down the CPU than before? I dont know a lot about that.
 
I'm not familiar with Corsair Link. So I might say weird things.

What the heck are those temps on motherboard? 70c, 127c!? And your temps are quite high for a 50% load.

You said you reset your bios, why are you running 1.31v on CPU?

Also, Why are you running 2T on your RAM?

I asked a friend, he said motherboard heating up can mess up with fans especially if it has sensors to report the temps. If I were you, I would open up the side of the case, play a game, shut down, then touch the motherboard's heatsinks and RAM to make sure they are cool/warm and not overheating like that 127c thing.
 

I'm pretty sure everything is set to default. What should the voltage on my CPU be? And what does "2T on RAM" mean? Where are the heatsinks on the motherboard located? My RAM isnt that hot when i feel it.

By the way, when i look into corsair link there are less temps and some things have changed. Also, theres one temp thats 0 degrees. Doesnt that indicate a broken sensor/broken sensors?
https://gyazo.com/ea2a784c51d508de79a4f9a229313e3e this is it right now, without any programs opened except for chrome.
I just noticed something. When the fans speed up, its mainly the cpu fans. When my PC is quiet, they are on 0 rpm and when i hear the noise it can be 2000rpm
I'm pretty sure the noise comes from my CPU fans, i tried connecting my case fans to my PSU (so the rpm stays the same, right?) with molex and the noise still came when starting
up programs. I'm thinking about connecting my CPU Fans to the PSU but I am not sure if that's a good idea because I don't want to take risks with my CPU.
 
What should the voltage on my CPU be?
I don't have know but it shouldn't be that high. I would expect 1.2v at max. 1.3v is used when you overclock it manually.

And what does "2T on RAM"
RAMs have timings. Yours is 14-14-14-35. Most RAMs have the command rate timing set to 1T. I'm just surprised it's running at 2T. There's no problem with it. You might wanna mess around with it when OCing RAM.

Where are the heatsinks on the motherboard located?
The important ones should be the 2 grey blocks around CPU and one black one with Asus sign on it.

Also, theres one temp thats 0 degrees.
That one has no sensor. When there's no sensor they report a random number. I'm just not sure if that 127c was real or not.

I'm thinking about connecting my CPU Fans to the PSU but I am not sure if that's a good idea because I don't want to take risks with my CPU.
If you connect nothing to the CPU_FAN header, you will get a warning and system won't POST.

If the main source of noise is your CPU cooler, try another cooler (preferably air cooler) to see if it makes any difference.
 


The CPU voltage changes, its not always 1.3 but it differs from around 0.6 to 1.31V. Should it be the same constantly?

Also, im pretty sure the temp #5 (2nd screenshot i sent) isnt real. Sometimes its 0 degrees and sometimes its 127. No other temps.

Doesnt a fresh install of thermal paste influence the rpm of the cpu fans? Shouldnt there be less rpm needed for the same amount of cooling?

So in short: when starting something up or loading something on my computer, the CPU fans speed up a lot and it makes a lot of noise.
This could be either:
1. AIO
Makes the fans spin a lot for nothing, but the CPU temp DOES increase, so probably not this.
2. Temp sensors on mobo
Probably not, the problem is mainly at the CPU fans.
3. Overheating CPU
Install fresh thermal paste. I think theres a good chance this is the problem.
Do you think there could be any other reasons?

 
The CPU voltage changes, it's not always 1.3 but it differs from around 0.6 to 1.31V. Should it be the same constantly?
It can be static or dynamic depending on your configuration I'm just saying it's a little high.

Doesnt a fresh install of thermal paste influence the rpm of the cpu fans? Shouldnt there be less rpm needed for the same amount of cooling?
Depends. RPM is dictated by CPU temp. If it can lower the temp, then yeah.

It's always recommended to manually configure everything physical inside BIOS. Then fine tuning it later on.
Kill process/Delate your Corsair Link. It can control your fans. Maybe it is buggy.
 


Could you look at my latest post? I just edited it and didnt realise you already answered.
 
Fresh paste every 6-12 months is always a good idea. But you said that opening a program speeds up the fans while CPU temps don't change much (no sudden 10c+ spike). It could be if it wasn't applied correctly or it 'dried'.

I get the feeling some program is interfering.
 


I have this PC for approximately a year and 5 months now, and I have never applied fresh thermal paste since then.
I said that the CPU temp didnt spike, but i was wrong. It does spike for a very short time (on 1 or 2 cores, more than 10c).
My fans were perfectly fine before, so its either this, or something broke in my PC.
 

I have heard about sticky thermal pastes, which stick the cpu and the cooler to eachother like glue. How can i check if a thermal paste is like that? What do you think is better? Spreading the paste yourself so it covers the whole CPU or letting it be spread by the pressure of the cooler?

 
Sorry for the late reply. Power outage.

I have heard about sticky thermal pastes, which stick the cpu and the cooler to eachother like glue.
All thermal paste that looks more like paste than water is like that, but shouldn't be as strong as glue unless it got dried.

How can i check if a thermal paste is like that?
Check the description or visit the manufacturer's site.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Silver-Alumina-ADHESIVE-Thermal/dp/B003D97V5W
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100013

What do you think is better? Spreading the paste yourself so it covers the whole CPU or letting it be spread by the pressure of the cooler?
A pea-sized paste at the center of CPU or center of the heatsink is generally accepted as the standard method.
If you want to be extra meticulous, use a large pea and spread it with a Cotton swab evenly on CPU.

Here, watch this. Interesting Video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MEAnZ3swQ

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Do note that some pastes, especially ones that are very sticky, spread after CPU warms up. Most people after applying paste, stress test for a few minutes to let it get warm and spread. Think like it's butter.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-comparison,5108-12.html
 


Thanks a lot for everything, it probably took you a lot of time. I am going to apply new thermal paste tomorrow and we'll see if that fixes my problem. I will let you know if it fixes my problem.
 

Although my CPU fans speed up just as many times, but less rpm. They still make the annoying sound WHEN they speed up. Could it maybe be my fans that need to be lubed or something?
 
When stock fans speed up to the max, they should make a noise but it shouldn't be annoying, just loud.

If it happens even when you changed the cooler itself to something else than probably no. If not, then it's possible.

If the noise bothers you, just change the fans on your cooler to silent ones. Anything below 20dB is barely audible (whispering at 5 feet is 20dB).
Reference

Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 These are quite good (70CFM, 19dB) and are pretty cheap right now. But they are 3-pin so you need to set a profile yourself.

COUGAR Vortex PWM 120mm If you want PWM. There is an LED version of it too on the reference link.
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Corsair H100i fans are 37.7 dB, That means they are pretty loud when they reach max. Nearly four times louder than 19dB. (The numbers are logarithmic)

EDIT: I forgot to tell you this, but if fans/cooler are not tightly screwed or if there's some kind of dust filter over it (sometimes), it can cause an annoying buzzing sound.
 

Whats the exact difference between 3 and 4-pin fans?
By the way, the fans dont make a weird sound or something, just a normal fan sound but it is VERY loud.
Also, i might have come up with a "solution". What if I switch the case fans with the CPU fans?
Maybe some extra info is good:
I have two 3-pin case fans and two 4-pin CPU fans. The CPU fans are in an adapter which makes the two 4-pins one 3-pin.
The two case fans are on the back and on top of my case. The two CPU fans are on the front and push air trough the radiator of my CPU cooler.