New to PCs, Fans are Loud

[ChickkenSalad]

I just recently bought a pre-built PC on amazon (please don't kill me). It works great and all but its kind of loud. A lot of fan noise is what I'm assuming. It's a low but persistent hum. From initial boot the fans are running at the same rate and I have not noticed a reduction or increase in noise whether idle or under load. I'm assuming that's normal. I run a podcast and I don't want the noise to interfere. But I'm not sure what I can do. 

 

I reached out to the builder and they said there's nothing I can do besides a power regulator or something like that. I thought I could just replace the fans with quieter ones or find a way to get fans that can be controlled by the temperature of the PC? 

 

What info would you pros need to see if I'm just destined to deal with the noise. I can try to find out what its currently got in it to more detail when I get home. 

It's one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HR1DL91/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

 

Thank you.

[Slottr]

That hum would probably come from the water cooler on that system, It's the pump running

 

If you wanted to silence it, you can replace the cooler with a good air cooler and probably all the fans(?) - (I have no idea how loud those fans are)

 

If you wanted to replace the fans, I can vouch for the Silent Wings 3's, NF-F12's and NF-A14's

[Guest]

You can control case fans from the bios or in case of a water-cooler through the built-in software.

[Sorenson]

You can adjust fan speed in computer bios generally (I’m not sure about pre built systems). If that doesn’t work you can always try adding a fan controller or replacing the fans with quieter version. I personally use magnetic levitation fans, and the room has to be silent to be able to hear my computer. A little bit of noise from a desktop is normal, especially if you’re running an AIO. 

[ChickkenSalad]

3 minutes ago, Mr. horse said:

That depends on the motherboard. Not all motherboard can do this.

The link shows what looks like a cheap asrock board so it might not be able to control the fans.

Yea i think it has some cheap motherboard in it. If i can't control the fans that way or the water-cooler, would getting a better water cooler & fans help the situation? Do you think?

[ChickkenSalad]

7 minutes ago, Konrad_K said:

You can control case fans from the bios or in case of a water-cooler through the built-in software.

I tried changing the settings in the Bios but it had no effect on the fans. Or if it did I could not notice it. (then again im not sure what im doing hehe)

[ChickkenSalad]

13 minutes ago, Mr. horse said:

Whats the motherboard?

You can get better fans or a fan controller.

ASRock  Z390M Pro4 

[ChickkenSalad]

Okay thank you I will take a look. 

[WoodenMarker]

My first guess for the humming would be the hdd. You can try unplugging the hdd and boot up the system afterwards to see if the noise persists.

If the noise is still present and you think it's the fans, you can try stopping them with your hands and see if the noise goes away. 

[WoodenMarker]

6 hours ago, Mr. horse said:

I could be, but most new hdds are rather silent.

Wow wow wow. Sicking a hand in the fan is a bad idea. Good way to get cut or burn it up. A better way would be to unplug the fan.

Most hdd's are noisier than case fans that aren't running at max rpm especially when it comes to resonance with the case.

The types of fans running in the system aren't very high rpm and aren't going to cut you unless the skin is abnormally delicate. You can also press on the hub instead of the blades themselves to slow and then stop the fan. 

The likelihood of damaging the fan in any significant way is extremely low. 

[ChickkenSalad]

UPDATE: I tested the sound on my system to see what was causing the most noise. The culprits were either the watercooler, the power supply, or the fans. 

 

After getting my hands dirty I learned that it is indeed the fans that are noisy. They run at max speed 100% of the time and they are not controllable in any way (according to the builder). So I'm thinking I have to replace them in order to bring down the noise levels. The issue now is that I have no clue what I'm doing LOL

 

So I was thinking of getting some Corsair fans (not worried about price) and I think I learned that I need 4 pin type fans so they can be controlled ? I messed around with SpeedFan but couldn't get control of the existing fans BUT the asrock z390 pro4 has a fan setting in the bios where you can even do fan curves and stuff. 

 

So now I'm not sure how to go about buying fans that I can hook up to the motherboard that it can control. I was looking at the Corsair - LL Series. Also how do I know what size fans are on the computer? Can I just measure them? 

[WoodenMarker]

10 minutes ago, ChickkenSalad said:

UPDATE: I tested the sound on my system to see what was causing the most noise. The culprits were either the watercooler, the power supply, or the fans. 

 

After getting my hands dirty I learned that it is indeed the fans that are noisy. They run at max speed 100% of the time and they are not controllable in any way (according to the builder). So I'm thinking I have to replace them in order to bring down the noise levels. The issue now is that I have no clue what I'm doing LOL

 

So I was thinking of getting some Corsair fans (not worried about price) and I think I learned that I need 4 pin type fans so they can be controlled ? I messed around with SpeedFan but couldn't get control of the existing fans BUT the asrock z390 pro4 has a fan setting in the bios where you can even do fan curves and stuff. 

 

So now I'm not sure how to go about buying fans that I can hook up to the motherboard that it can control. I was looking at the Corsair - LL Series. Also how do I know what size fans are on the computer? Can I just measure them? 

What types of headers are at the ends of these fans and where are they plugged into? Did you unplug them to see if the system was quieter?

Whether a fan can be controlled or not depends on the header the fan is plugged into and not the fan itself. 

4pin pwm fans can generally run lower run since it uses 12v pulses which can start the fan more easily than using lower voltage. 2-4pin fans can still be controlled with variable voltage. 

The fan size is measured along its length or diameter, depending. Most case fans nowadays are 120mm. 

Spoiler

 

[ChickkenSalad]

Just now, WoodenMarker said:

What types of headers are at the ends of these fans and where are they plugged into? Did you unplug them to see if the system was quieter?

 Whether a fan can be controlled or not depends on the header the fan is plugged into and not the fan itself. 

4pin pwm fans can generally run lower run since it uses 12v pulses which can start the fan more easily than using lower voltage. 2-4pin fans can still be controlled with variable voltage. 

 The fan size is measured along its length or diameter, depending. Most case fans nowadays are 120mm. 

  Hide contents

 

They are plugged into a little black box under the power supply cover. and then that little box is plugged into the power supply directly and not connected to anything else from what I could tell (i could be completely wrong - i wasn't comfortable disconnecting anything else haha)

 

Yes I did unplug them and i could hear the subtle hum of the power supply fan, a silent GPU fan, and a little hum from the water cooler. No other noise. Almost silent if it were a couple of feet away. 

 

Thanks for the diagram! Should help figure out what fans it has in it. It's currently got six. Three up at the front (intake i'm assuming), two up top (they blow out) and one in the back (also blows out). 

[ChickkenSalad]

For reference this is what the builder told me about the fans when I asked bout fan speed control: "The fans themselves are 6 pin fans, with 3 of those pins are dedicated to powering the fan, and then 3 of the pins are dedicated to the LED portion. The problem is, there is no 7th pin, which would have PWM associated with it which controls the fan speed. The fans themselves connect to a Fan Control board, which connects directly to a PSU and not the motherboard."

[WoodenMarker]

5 minutes ago, ChickkenSalad said:

They are plugged into a little black box under the power supply cover. and then that little box is plugged into the power supply directly and not connected to anything else from what I could tell (i could be completely wrong - i wasn't comfortable disconnecting anything else haha)

 

Thanks for the diagram! Should help figure out what fans it has in it. It's currently got six. Three up at the front (intake i'm assuming), two up top (they blow out) and one in the back (also blows out). 

Does the box connect to the motherboard?

Seems about right. The side with the frame is usually the exhaust. There may also be arrows on the side of the fan frame as well.

Spoiler

4 minutes ago, ChickkenSalad said:

For reference this is what the builder told me about the fans when I asked bout fan speed control: "The fans themselves are 6 pin fans, with 3 of those pins are dedicated to powering the fan, and then 3 of the pins are dedicated to the LED portion. The problem is, there is no 7th pin, which would have PWM associated with it which controls the fan speed. The fans themselves connect to a Fan Control board, which connects directly to a PSU and not the motherboard."

PWM is useful for more granular fan control but isn't necessary for any type of control. Variable voltage only needs first first two pins which are ground and 12v. The 3rd pin is for reporting rpm.

Do the fans have a single 6pin connector or do they separate into two 3pins?

[ChickkenSalad]

Just now, WoodenMarker said:

Does the box connect to the motherboard?

 

I'm not sure if it does. I didn't get to look that far into it. 

 

Just now, WoodenMarker said:

Do the fans have a single 6pin connector or do they separate into two 3pins?

I would have to open it back to up check. But i think i need to figure out how to get the little box out from under the PSU I'm not sure how it's attached. 

 

[WoodenMarker]

3 minutes ago, ChickkenSalad said:

I'm not sure if it does. I didn't get to look that far into it. 

I would have to open it back to up check. But i think i need to figure out how to get the little box out from under the PSU I'm not sure how it's attached. 

Did you open up the rear side panel? I don't think there'd be any space to put it under the psu since that's where the intake fan for the psu usually is. I'd guess that it's either in front of or at the side of the psu. It may be just shoved into a mess of cables though.

[ChickkenSalad]

Just now, WoodenMarker said:

It may be just shoved into a mess of cables though.

It is shoved behind the PSU and on top of the SSD. But its attached to the bottom of the metal cover that is over the PSU. 

 

I'll take a look tomorrow to see if I can figure how the pins on those fans look. 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk it out with me. Greatly appreciate it. Will follow up tomorrow. 

[ChickkenSalad]

On 6/4/2019 at 12:18 PM, Mr. horse said:

I would check and see if the fans on plunged into the board.

I am going to do this tomorrow. ^ I detailed my findings from my last exploration into the case's side panels. 

[JabroniBaloney]

10 hours ago, ChickkenSalad said:

I am going to do this tomorrow. ^ I detailed my findings from my last exploration into the case's side panels. 

Why not just take and post pics? That would probably be more detailed.

[ChickkenSalad]

2 hours ago, JabroniBaloney said:

Why not just take and post pics? That would probably be more detailed.

Ok I finally got around to taking pics. 

 

I found that the six fans (6pin?) are connected to a hub that was stuck under the PSU cover. There are also two connections that power the lighting on the case and one for the light ring on the pump. 

 

Then the hub is connected via  cable to the power supply. The cable, however, breaks out into three parts. One goes to the PSU, the other is a little box with an arrow on it, and the third piece is a 4pin(?) connector with only one cable. 

Only the power connector is hooked into the PSU the other two cables and their connectors are just sitting there, not connected to anything.

 

Hopefully that helps explain it a bit. I watched a ton of videos on fans and stuff last night but none looked like this. Not with the 6 pins anyway. 

 

Thanks

[ChickkenSalad]

12 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

Do the fans have a single 6pin connector or do they separate into two 3pins?

I took some pics of what I found and posted them up above as well as my description of how they seem to be connected. The fans have cables that come to a 6 pin connector into a hub. (see pics)

[ChickkenSalad]

UPDATE!

 

I connected the cable that goes from the Fan Hub to the CPU Fan connector on the mobo and I could control the fans via SpeedFan (the bios appears to be able to do the same). I moved the cooler's 3 pin connector (which was on the main cpu cooler) to another cpu/water pump conector. Everything still seems to be working and i can control the fans and the cooler via speedfan. I set up the PC BIOS to run the fans on "silent" mode and things seem to be working. Hopefully nothing breaks haha.