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solitudinalcomp
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GPU Noise

Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:49 pm

Hi, I had some noise issues with my system. I realised that this was both the CPU and GPU fans. I found out that I probably need to buy an aftermarket heatsink for the CPU.

I did some tweaks in the BIOS and managed to reduce the fan speeds.

Also, from time to time, the system seemed to be slip into an ultra quiet state where there was hardly any fan noise - I think it was just the noise of the PSU, which was great, as that's what I had wanted all along. However, now, the computer never seems to slip into that state. I think this has happened since I changed the sleep mode setting so that the system wouldn't power off at night.

Anyway, it'd be great if I could get it to go into that ultra quiet mode again. I'll post the temps/speeds I'm getting. Thx.
 
solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:55 pm

Image
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:26 pm

Idle temperatures aren't much use. You'll want to show the temperatures that you're getting while you're running, for example, Furmark and Prime95 simultaneously for at least 15 minutes.
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morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:27 pm

Topic moved to OC/Cooling.
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solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:30 am

OK, I ran furmark for 15 mins:

Image

After running, the system went back to normal within about 10 mins.

I guess one thing I could try is to run the system without the GPU but when I tried disconnecting the GPU in the past, the system wouldn't boot up.
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:43 am

CPU temperatures are pretty low, did you take those numbers while only running Furmark, or both Furmark and Prime95? You'll want the latter.

Nevertheless, they seem to be pretty low. You can easily get away with lowering the fan speeds some more.
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solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:15 pm

Hi,

OK, I ran prime95 for about 45 mins (note the CPU temps!) I noticed the noise from the CPU increase a little.

Image
Image
 
solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:19 pm

AFAIK, the fans speeds are as low as possible in the BIOS.

Otherwise I don't know how to lower the fan speeds.
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Thu Nov 04, 2010 2:57 pm

Please describe your cooling arrangement in as much detail as possible: type of case, how many fans, brand of fans (if you know), what CPU heatsink/fan, what GPU heatsink/fan.
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solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:38 am

Zigmatek 600W NRP-PC602 80 PLUS Silent Power Supply
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 640 3.0GHz (Socket AM3) Processor
Nexus Real Silent 120mm Fan with PWM control X2
VTX ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
CoolerMaster Elite 340 Micro-ATX Tower Case
Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 3.5" Hard Drive
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel
Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3 AMD 880
Sony AD-7260S-0B 24x Internal DVD±R/RW/Ram Drive

Here's a pic of the inside: http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=73209

Don't worry, the cables are arranged more nicely than in the photo.

AFAIK, the only thing I can change that'd make a difference is if I buy a new CPU heatsink/cooler rather than the one that came with the AMD processor, which apparently are not the best.

Also, I think I could get a GPU cooler but I'm not sure it'd fit inside the case.

Like I said earlier though, the system previously would go into an almost silent state but I haven't since been able to get it to go like that - indeed, it'd be great if I could get it to be like that most of the time.

I only have one of the case fans fitted - maybe I can fit the other one to the front of the case somehow - and then have both fans running at say 600rpm rather than one at 900rpm??
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:43 am

Yeah, what I would suggest is an aftermarket HSF for the CPU.

Having an intake fan is a very good idea but I'd wait until the CPU HSF is changed. At this point, I don't think you should be messing with the graphics card just yet.

Have you made sure that Cool'n'quiet is enabled in the BIOS and that you have the AMD CPU driver installed?
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solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Fri Nov 05, 2010 4:33 pm

OK, will check all that out.

I looked at the CPU details in the device manager and it read C:Windows/system32/drivers..

I run 64bit version of Windows 7 and so is there possibly a conflict here? There seem to be loads of 32 bit drivers in that same folder and so I guess it isn't a problem.

Is there any way I can manually reduce the fan speeds as you mentioned that I could get away with doing that.

BTW I've tried SpeedFan before and not been able to get it to work.
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:07 pm

You should first look in your BIOS and make sure that the Cool'n'Quiet functionality is enabled. That will throttle your fan speeds. In tandem with that, you should install the AMD CPU driver in order to automatically reduce clockspeed and voltage when idle. See here link, just as soon as the website stops being slow.
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solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:19 pm

OK, cool/quiet is enabled and so is Q-fan (silent mode).

Interestingly,

CPU temp was 46 in the BIOS,
MOBO temp 36 in BIOS

Whereas in Windows, CPUID says CPU is 38..
MOBO 36.

Any idea for the discrepancy? (I seem to remember someone else on another forum making this same observation - could CPUID be wrong?)

I tried to update the driver but it said it was up to date. The AMD site didn't seem to have anything for my processor and Windows 7.

Damn, if I could only get it back to that quiet state I mentioned earlier.
 
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Re: GPU Noise

Sat Nov 06, 2010 3:49 pm

morphine wrote:
You should first look in your BIOS and make sure that the Cool'n'Quiet functionality is enabled. That will throttle your fan speeds. In tandem with that, you should install the AMD CPU driver in order to automatically reduce clockspeed and voltage when idle. See here link, just as soon as the website stops being slow.

I don't think you need the AMD CPU for Windows 7?
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morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:47 pm

Flying Fox wrote:
I don't think you need the AMD CPU for Windows 7?

Interesting question. Maybe you don't heh.
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potatochobit
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Re: GPU Noise

Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:07 pm

there is absolutely no reason for you ever to mod fan speeds slower than stock settings on a CPU
if you dont like the noise or are not getting enough cooling get a new fan or heatsink and fan
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Sun Nov 07, 2010 12:53 am

potatochobit wrote:
there is absolutely no reason for you ever to mod fan speeds slower than stock settings on a CPU

There might be, if the stock heatsink is particularly bad.

Back when I had my 4870, I modded it so that it spun pretty slow at idle, due to the fan being noisy as hell.
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solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Sun Nov 07, 2010 7:41 am

As I think I mentioned a couple of times, it'd be great to know how to get it back to that semi-silent state that it would go into from time to time. Like I said, I think it stopped doing that since I changed some of the power settings as recommended in this article: http://www.computingunleashed.com/speed-up-windows-7-ultimate-guide-to.html

Also, the outside temperature was warmer when it used to go into this semi-silent state. Now, it's below 10 degrees and there are no signs of it being any quieter.
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Sun Nov 07, 2010 11:21 am

Half of the stuff recommended in that guide is shooting yourself in the foot with a large gun.

Set your power settings back to the default ("Balanced plan", restore to default settings) and see what happens then.
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solitudinalcomp
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Re: GPU Noise

Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:27 am

Hey there Morphine,

I applied the settings you suggested - all that happened was that my computer went into sleep mode during the night and then I wasn't able to wake it this morning (no response from keyboard or mouse!). Anyway, I've put it back to what it was:

Turn off display: 1 hr
Put comp to sleep: never

Default:
Display: 10 mins
Sleep: 30 mins
 
morphine
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Re: GPU Noise

Tue Nov 09, 2010 12:23 pm

solitudinalcomp wrote:
I applied the settings you suggested - all that happened was that my computer went into sleep mode during the night and then I wasn't able to wake it this morning (no response from keyboard or mouse!).

*blink*

That's not supposed to happen. Do you have your chipset drivers up to date and all of that? It's been a looooong time since I heard about problems with sleep/hibernation.
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Starfalcon
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Re: GPU Noise

Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:07 am

quick question, do you have the fan in the back blowing into the case or out of the case. It should be blowing out so that the intake in the front takes in cool air and it is passed over the HS and out the back. A front intake fan would make a world of difference though, that would take a lot of stress off of your rear fan so it doesn't have to work so hard to keep your system cool. Also if you want quiet fans, you may want to look into buying some Panaflo fans, they don't use cheap sleeve bearings like the one you have...so they run much quieter on their oil bearings. I use them in all my cases...best fans I have ever bought. The ones I have right now in my main rig case I bought back in 1999, and they have pretty much been running 24/7 for the last 11 years now and are still quiet. Heck, they have outlasted 5 seperate rigs I have had in that case since I first bought it. They have several varieties from fast to very slow rpm fans, but just like with all fans you get what you pay for...buy a cheap fan and you get a noisy fan that lasts a year or two before it seizes up.

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