Speedfan may have damaged my fans?

geky

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May 10, 2013
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I tried speedfan to my dell vostro desktop.
I tweaked the configure tab and set my case and CPU fans to be controlled by sw instead of guardian mode.
Immediately the CPU fan jumped to 4300!! RPM and I have to switch of the system.
I put the setting back to the guardian setting and uninstalled speedfan.

The problem is that my very silent dell PC is not as silent anymore.

Any ideas?
I read the fan rpm from the fans and they are quite low: about 450 for the CPU and 850 for the case fan. But still the system is not silent.
When I run prime95 I see the temps go up to about 60c and the CPU fan rpm to about 1200 but I cannot hear any increase in the noise coming from the PC?

Is this a clue maybe?

The system has just these 2 fans. The case fan is an exhaust fan at the rear.

 
Solution
Have you removed motherboard yet? Because I know what is behind there - Dell motherboard backplate (will call backplate - BP for short) glued with sticky paper to motherboard (will call MOBO for short). What you see from the front are 4 metal pipes where 4 screws are bolted in. Those holes are so small that push pins are not going to fit, I tried with Inspiron 570.
Lucky, those 4 screws position is standardized - LGA775. Your Arctic cooler is LGA775 compatible, just checked.
So y
Prior I will go into CPU cooler explanations, one question, would you consider processor upgrade? I cannot say anything right now, need time to check, regular processor rules do not apply to Dell models!

Let's talk about cooler options.
First option is to use...

geky

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May 10, 2013
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Hi,

I made a mistake, its my Dell Inspiron 560 Desktop.
There are no settings for fan control in the BIOS (Version A06).

Well speedfan did something alright, sent the cpu fan spinning at 4000RPM. After that the system is not silent anymore.

My clue is that the fan's bearings got damaged by the excessive RPM, thereafter I hear the increased noise.
I hope I am right, cause I can solve this with a new heatsink and fan.

It seems from the normal operation of both fans RPM that they are spinning at reasonable speeds.
 
OK, sorry to hear about your SpeedFan experience, I tried this before on my Inspiron 570 and it did not do anything, oh well.

Lets try another thing, since you are planning to instal different cooler anyway.
Get OCCT http://www.ocbase.com/index.php/download - this is excellent monitoring program, it can not change speeds, but it will show you all your fans RPMs and it has 3 values: MAximum, Minimum and Current - you can see how fast your fans spinning depending on load. Also, it has CPU stressing utility, so you can run stress test and monitor your fan speeds.

Example

occtprocessorspeedbugv.jpg


You can see on the buttom right 3 fans RPMs, I renamed them, yours would look different, but you will able to monitor your fans and listen for the noise.

Another question, do you know which CPU cooler you need, if you decide to replace? Is it CPU cooler or exhaust fan?
 

geky

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May 10, 2013
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Hi and Thank you,
Its the CPU fan. I am using Open Hardware Monitor and I can see that the fans are running at reasonable speeds, also when I stress test with Prime 95.
The problem is that the CPU fan is making a louder noise now. This is due to the effect that SpeedFan run it at 4000+ RPM when I tried to use it. I suspect a damage to the fan's bearings sue to overspeed.
So to add a new fan for the CPU I have two fans available:
A stock core i5 fan.
An Arctic Pro 11, rev.2.
They are both able to be used on socket 775.

I would have to unmount my motherboard to do so though...
Greets, Geky
 
Do you already have those 2 fans, or you are trying to choose which one kf them to buy?
If you don't have those fans, would you consider Dell model for plug and play installation? If you consider Dell way, I need your processor model, so I can get CPU cooler according to TGP wattage.
 

geky

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The CPU is pentium dual core E5400.
I don't think I can get the same stock fan from dell, and yes I have the 2 fans I mentioned available at home.
The dell stock fan is mounted with a metal bracket behind the motherboard, thus I need to dismount the motherboard to install the arctic fan or the intel fan.
 
Have you removed motherboard yet? Because I know what is behind there - Dell motherboard backplate (will call backplate - BP for short) glued with sticky paper to motherboard (will call MOBO for short). What you see from the front are 4 metal pipes where 4 screws are bolted in. Those holes are so small that push pins are not going to fit, I tried with Inspiron 570.
Lucky, those 4 screws position is standardized - LGA775. Your Arctic cooler is LGA775 compatible, just checked.
So y
Prior I will go into CPU cooler explanations, one question, would you consider processor upgrade? I cannot say anything right now, need time to check, regular processor rules do not apply to Dell models!

Let's talk about cooler options.
First option is to use existing parts and improvise. I did this way and it was very difficult, I will provide a link to my guide later.
Second option is to get fan with cooler for cheap, which will mount on this BP with attached screws.

This is link to my Inspiron 570 upgrade guide http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19490818/20296326.aspx#20296326
Go to cooling part, you will find 2 things there, MOBO BP removal instructions and possible ways to attach cooler to existing MOBO. I will look for cheaper solution to your problem, I seen $10 cooler, which was able to cooldown Q6600 - Quad.

So which way you want to go?
 
Solution

geky

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May 10, 2013
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No CPU upgrade. Just want to reduce the noise.
And preferably no dismounting of the MOBO.
Thus I will try to get the right screws and attach the base of the arctic to the existing BP of the MOBO.
Another option (i need to check), is to try and remove the push pins from the intel i5 stock Fan and then screw it to the existing BP with new screws.
I will try one or both of these options before investigating further for getting a new cooler that would surely mount on the existing BP.
Cheers, Geky
 

geky

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May 10, 2013
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By the way, this is my "office" PC at home.
I.e. Internet, email, MS office applications etc. No demanding gaming or any CPU intense activities.
Its 3 years old but I just love the Dell case and it used to run so quiet and smooth that made it perfect for me.
So the only goal here is to get it back to a silent mood again :)
 
Are you located in UK? Where you going to get screws and which model. To tell you the truth, you have choosen the most difficult way of fixing this problem. If you run out of patience and decided to find a cooler which will mount easily you can find similar cooler on Amazon UK, remember you chipset is LGA775
this is Dell original cooler http://www.redplanettrading.com/images/D/c955n-overview-800.JPG
Wish you well.
 

geky

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May 10, 2013
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Thanks!
I am in Holland by the way.
If I dont manage, I ll get another 775 cooler that has the same mount as the dell stock cooler.
I know about the one at Amazon, its one of the options in case I fail to mount my existing coolers.
By the way, very impressive work your 570 upgrade! :)
Cheers, Geky
 

geky

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May 10, 2013
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Ok, Arctic cooler base was screwed into the BP with standard M6 (I think) screws.
Cooler installed and now Im running prime95.
Noise level is lower even though the arctic is running at 1000 RPM as minimum setting (Dell stock was running at about 450RPM).
I can say that thus far the result is satisfactory. I was lucky that the Arctic has a cooler base that can be screwed with any short screws onto the BP, as far as the thread diameter matches the diameter of the BP.
After 10 mins of Prime 95 the cpu cooler is at 1300RPM and the noise is still very low (almost unnoticeable).
 
Hi
If I was unexperienced Dell user I probably would say it is great - you fan speeds are controlled, however I know from my experience that everything is not so nice. 

Let me give you my story. I never had a chance to do those experiments with original processor, but with upgrades. As you know from my guide, I installed stronger processor and when I placed my first cooler I noticed that even under heavy load my fan speed was medium, even when my processor was overheating. I am suspecting now, with your story, that Dell fan amperage plays important role here. Since you installed non Dell fan, which probably more powerful, system gives to fan the same amount of electricity as it would to Dell fan, and in this situation Dell fan would run faster, but yours stays  in 1300 area, despite Prime95 load when you would suspect the fan to run at it's max speed (what is max speed for your fan). So basically, you system is undercooled, but nothing you can do, since there is no software fan speed control. 

So, right now you need to see if your stress testing causes overheat. Forget about your fan, you did what you can already, and you did good job. Prime95 (I prefer IntelBurn as much heavier test) load is less stressful than real life applications, so if your temperatures during testing are staying below 60C or so - you good, if temps go up to 80C you maybe in trouble. 

I hope you understood my rambling here, basically right now all depends, which applications you usually are using on this PC and how heavy are they compare to Prime95.

So to finish my talking, just one question, what is the highest temp you see during testing?
 

geky

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May 10, 2013
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No worries, the cores are running 3-4 degrees C cooler with the arctic fan (58C instead of 62C with Dell stock), after 30 mins of 100% CPU load.
These are PWM CPU fans, so in theory voltage has nothing to do with the RPM the fan operates. The fans receive a standard voltage (I assume 12V) from the MOBO, then the RPM is controlled by the PWM. The faster the pulses are switching on the fan's controller the faster the RPM.
Therefore the RPM difference between the dell stock and the arctic is down to the fan's onboard controller. I.e. the dell stock at the minimum PWM setting was running at 450 RPM where the arxtic one for the same PWM signal is running at 1000 RPM.