Why is my gpu suddenly producing heat requiring fan noise

bman7842 · May 24, 2020

So this issue has occurred just today after adding some new case fans. I have a Cougar QBX case and was finding the GPU was getting a little loud with it being a mini-itx case and relying on only one case fan ( the 90mm in the back to cool it). I decided to buy some noctua case fans to improve airflow, I put them all as intake (recommended by Optimum Tech), two below the GPU and one on top above the CPU. I thought these fans would help keep the internal components cooler therefore meaning the loud GPU cooler would do less work but I was extremely wrong. First thing I noticed when I got into a game was the PC was way louder, like crazy loud. At first I thought perhaps it was the case fans so I unplugged all except the one back one I had alone previously only to realize it was the GPU spinning at a much higher speed. I thought this was weird so I decided to remove all the fans I added and get the pc back to what it was previously, but the issue is still occurring. I should note I have a EVGA GTX 1060 6gb SC and there is a little sticker on the GPU fan that I had to remove in order to prevent it coming in contact with the Noctua fans. I know there is something wrong with the GPU because even at idle I can hear the GPU cooler fan spinning (before adding new fans the GPU fan would often be off when idle), and as shown in the picture even with the noctua pointing at it I am unable to get it back to the sound level it original was. It even ends up thermal throttling in games now because the GPU cooler can't keep up with the high temps.

I'm wondering what happened, did I damage the GPU while removing it from the motherboard to add the fans or when peeling off the sticker, what could be causing these abnormal temperatures and likewise fan speeds?

Bombastinator · May 24, 2020

It’s almost certainly not actually random. “Why is my gpu suddenly producing heat requiring fan noise” or is my gpu fan system actually reacting to heat production or is something else going on” might be a more accurate questions.

things I’m curious about:

-did you change any settings when you replaced the fans?

-did you bump or move any parts of the computer when you changed the fans?

-did you replace fans that were already there or did you add fans and change the airflow of the machine?

either of these could result in a change of the way the gpu behaves.

bman7842 · May 24, 2020

Just now, Bombastinator said:

It’s almost certainly not actually random. “Why is my gpu suddenly producing heat requiring fan noise” or is my gpu fan system actually reacting to heat production or is something else going on” might be a more accurate questions.

things I’m curious about:

-did you change any settings when you replaced the fans?

-did you bump or move any parts of the computer when you changed the fans?

either of these could result in a change of the way the gpu behaves.

I'm stealing that title because I agree, it is better suited for describing my issue. I've done some tinkering since I initially posted my question, I downloaded evga precision x1 and it appears msi afterburner was the reason gpu fan speed wasn't at 0% during idle. As for changing any settings, I did not change anything, I did bump some parts, I feel as though this might be accidental damage. Not sure if EVGA would even offer repairs especially since out of warranty and previous gen.

Bombastinator · May 24, 2020

19 minutes ago, bman7842 said:

I'm stealing that title because I agree, it is better suited for describing my issue. I've done some tinkering since I initially posted my question, I downloaded evga precision x1 and it appears msi afterburner was the reason gpu fan speed wasn't at 0% during idle. As for changing any settings, I did not change anything, I did bump some parts, I feel as though this might be accidental damage. Not sure if EVGA would even offer repairs especially since out of warranty and previous gen.

The most serious thing that might have happened is if the TIM had hardened since you bought the thing it might have cracked, making it less efficient. Redoing the TIM on the gpu chip might fix this if it’s a bump issue. I added a third possibility which is by changing the fans you changed the airflow and now less airflow is actually getting to the gpu even though more is going through the case. Case airflow is fluid dynamics and fluid dynamics is weird. Think weather and the butterfly effect, which is more or less the same thing on a larger scale.

robmara999 · June 13, 2020

I know it's a lot of work but it's worked for me in the past. Return the QBX to it's original setup before adding the fans to eliminate the airflow question and see if the noise or heat continues. Good Luck, also top fan exhaust seem to work better for my QBX.