Video Fan Noise

[whovous]

Is there anything I can do to quiet the fan on my Gigabyte GV-R4850C?

It has gone in an out of the mobo several times, and after one move, the fan blades started clattering very loudly against the fins of the cooler. It seems I did something, I don't know what, to either bend the fins or move the fan blades. For those unfamiliar with this card, it has a Zalman copper cooler instead of the typical fan that is hidden under a plastic cover with fanboy artwork.

I took it out and tried to bend things so that the clattering would stop. I confess I was not real sure just where to bend, but I got it so that I could spin the fan freely with my finger, which should be enough.

Still, when I put it back in, it manages to be the loudest thing in the case, and I think I hear a very slight ticking sound. Perhaps a better indication that something is still wrong is this: If I put my hand on top of the case, I can feel a very slight but steady vibration. If I stop the video fan with the other hand, the vibration completely stops. Is there any more I can do about this, or do I just have to live with it?

I just went back and read the reviews on Newegg, and it seems a lot of users complain about the noise, though none of them seem to mention the vibration issue.

So, should I start shopping for a replacement fan? If so, I have a different question. The fan connection on the card has only two pins, which means I have a constant speed fan (and that constant speed is probably a part of my problem). If I connect a replacement fan to a three or fin pin mobo connector, am I going to get speed regulation, or am I just going to still have a full speed fan and/or a GPU that thinks that it has no fan because the two pin connector is empty?

Advice, please.

[Salty]

Re: Video Fan Noise

I would replace it.
Your fan would be responding to cpu temp rather than gpu temp with sysfan2 header. I think others are full speed regardless.

Nvidia has gpu fan speed control in control panel/device settings. Does ATI have anything like that?

[wazza300]

Re: Video Fan Noise

i have a zalman copper cooler on my ati,take the card out again and slowly rotate the fan inside and see where its catching on the wire cage,where it catches carefully bend it outwards so it clears it....do a final check that its not catching on anything and re-install

[Salty]

Re: Video Fan Noise

How to control Fan speed of ATI Card - Overclocking & Computer Modification

[whovous]

Re: Video Fan Noise

i have a zalman copper cooler on my ati,take the card out again and slowly rotate the fan inside and see where its catching on the wire cage,where it catches carefully bend it outwards so it clears it....do a final check that its not catching on anything and re-install

Ahh, but that's the thing... I've tried spinning the fan slowly. I can take it out and spin it and it will keep spinning, silently, for several seconds. It could not do that if it was hitting on something.

I will follow your advice anyway, because something has to be making the ticking sound. Stopping the fan stops the sound. Perhaps it is something other than contact with the fins?

I will also follow Salty's link and see if I can slow down the fan. Hardware Monitor does not tell me how fast it is spinning. I guess that is not possible with a two wire fan in any case. Still, if there is a software way to reduce voltage to the fan, I'm gonna try it. GPU idle temps range from 29 to 31, so I have more than a little room to play around here.

If all else fails, the Zalman VF2000 is mighty pretty. It is also overkill for my system, but what else is new? The Scythe case fans and the CNPS9700 are more than I need, too, but did that stop me from spending the money? Nooooooo.

[gymenii]

Re: Video Fan Noise

The ticking noise you hear is caused by the fan being unbalanced. You would not hear this if you just spin the fan by hand. Once the fan reaches a certain speed, the hub begins to wobble, causing the noise. There is no adjustment to fix this and is common issue with GPU coolers. If you tweaked the cooler/fan trying to fix it, probably only made it worse.

[whovous]

Re: Video Fan Noise

That makes complete sense. Looks like it is time for a new fan.

I've tried using the fan speed control software mentioned in Salty's link. The ATI program gives me blue screens if I click the wrong buttons. If it includes a fan speed control, I cannot find it RivaTuner tells me that it will reduce fan speed by a fixed percentage, but nothing happens when I apply it.

[wazza300]

Re: Video Fan Noise

is it an ati card?? ifso try this program its works a charm for my card and lets you reduce fan speed its called ray adams ati tray just google it,and as for your fan just check,check and check again as its very hard to spot it catching but trust me its catching somewhere and causing the click-click-click sound.....and theres a glow in the dark akasa aftermarket cooler you can buy that exhausts all the hot air out the rear of your case called akasa vortex neo
heres review and it does support your card

http://chilledpc.co.uk/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&I

[whovous]

Re: Video Fan Noise

not an ATI, it is the card in my sig:

GPU - GIGABYTE GV-R485OC-1GH Radeon HD

I took it out of the case, and viewed it on edge as I spun the fan; gymenii was right - as it wobbled a little bit as it spun. I am hearing what an out of balance sounds like.

I tried pushing it down more firmly on the shaft, and generally tried to direct balanced thoughts in its direction before putting it back in the case. It may be just me, but it seems like it is a tiny bit quieter, and the top of the case does not buzz quite as much as before.

Still, it is noisier than I am willing to live with on a regular basis. I found a good price on the new Zalman VF2000 at Directron and ordered one. I had a bad experience with them a few years back. I hope they will do better by me this time.

[whovous]

Re: Video Fan Noise

I downloaded ray adams ati tray as suggested. It looked just like the other ATI program I downloaded in terms of where it came from, license boxes, even nested folders, but it looks to be an entirely different program. Still, I did not find any way to use it to control fan speed, even if it will do any and every thing else.

[Salty]

Re: Video Fan Noise

ATI make the reference board that Gigabyte is using, the 4850, just as Nvidia make the reference cards for all brands of GTX280 for example. So your GigaByte 4850 Radeon is ATI design. That's all Wazza meant.

[whovous]

Re: Video Fan Noise

Well, the Zalman Vf2000 arrived today. Hopefully, it will solve my problem. It is very big, and so should not have to spin terribly fast or noisily.