CPU fan vibration

[korteenea]

Hello! :-)

I have a question.. I hope someone can help!

I recently purchased a new motherboard, CPU, and cooling fan and have them set up and working. I'm not too up-to-date on the sorts of CPU fans there are and how much noise they make, but the fan I have attached to my CPU's heatsink is rather... noisy. I probably wouldn't mind the noise so much if it were simply noise, but the fan is also causing heavy amounts of vibration... so much so that when I stand in the room below the one my computer is in, I can still clearly hear a dull humming sound coming from the ceiling. It is also causing the metal case to make some very annoying and squeaky sounds. According to my BIOS, the fan is currently running in the range of 4600-4900 RPMs, and it is keeping the processor at 32° C (100° F). So.. does anyone know what the safe temperature range is for an AMD Athlon XP 2200, and what brand/make fan I could use to cool it and still keep a tolerable noise and vibration level? I'm afraid the vibration will damage components eventually.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[alc6379]

What type of CPU cooler is it? It sounds like the thing isn't installed right.

If you want to talk about noise, look at my setup. I've got a Vantec Tornado 92mm fan sitting on top of a Swiftech MCX-462-V heatsink. That's LOUD at 56 decibels and 5000RPM. But, I've that fan and two more Tornados attached to the side of my case, too. Without a fan controller, I'd probably be deaf right now.

Can you find where the vibration is actually sourced to? Like I said before, it could be that the heatsink isn't fully attached to the CPU socket, or, gasp at the thought, maybe your CPU socket's not attached to the motherboard correctly...

[korteenea]

The cooler is an Ultra Fire Athlon XP CPU Cooler for Athlon XP up to 3000+. It's got a copper contact base and an aluminum heatsink, with the fan sitting on top. I'm pretty sure I installed it onto the socket correctly... all of the connections seem to be attached. I hope the CPU socket itself isn't the problem though!

The only other fans in my system are the case fan, a relatively slow and quiet one; the power supply fan, also a very tolerable noise level; and the fan on my GeForce FX, which buzzes occasionally but is also very silent, so I'm pretty sure it has to do with the CPU fan.

[DaveSW]

if you hold the heatsink can you move it at all? i.e. small movements in any direction but not using much force? If you can then it's not clipped on properly. If you can't then it probably is secure.

[Catweazle]

korteena, i'm not familiar with that particular HSF but I can tell you this:

Any worthwhile aftermarket HSF unit nowadays comes with a rheostat controller to alter fanspeeds. Full revs are only ever needed in extreme operating conditions. If yours didn't vcome with a fan control then I'd be suspicious of its quality.

In addition, if it's securely fitted and it's still causing vibration then it's faulty. Noise yes. Vibration no!!!

That's not right, I'm, afraid, and you should have it looked at ;)

[DaveSW]

check there's no cables touching the fan blades...

[Catweazle]

Hi again, I just had another look, and I think you're referring to this processor cooler.

It does not look like much of a cooler to me, and at 4500rpm its no wonder the thing is loud!

Your Athlon should be no more than 40C to 45C at idle, and optimally no more than 60C under heavy load. AMD rates the maximum core temperature at 80C, but you could expect it to malfunction well short of that. Your current temps are WELL under safe levels.

I personally use Coolermaster Aero 7+ coolers. At a little over 3000rpm, they keep my overclocked 2500+ chips in the mid 30s, and there's plenty of revs in reserve. You should be able to keep that 2000+ at bery safe temps with little noise at all with a cooler like that one. Thermaltake products are also good, as are the products made by Zalman.

[korteenea]

Yes, that's the cooler I have. As far as I know, there's no way to change the RPMs... it didn't come with any sort of controller.

The Cooler Master website lists the Aero 7+ as being usable for AMD XP 3200+ and higher.. I run a 2200+ but will that work anyway? If so, I think I'll see about getting one.

Thanks so much!

[Catweazle]

Yes, it'd certainly work. It'd actually be 'overkill' - far more adequate than necessary! But using a heatsink/fan that's better than what you actually need simply means you can reuse it for a more powerful processor later, doesn't it?

Be extremely attentive to cleaning the processor die of any trace of the old thermal transfer material befor you fit a new heatsink to it. I use Arctic silver 5 thermal paste on my own systems, and the cleaning instructions in their application guide are suitable to follow no matter what choice of thermal compound you use:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm