ASUS RTX 2080 TI GPU fan RPM

[Decom]

Hi guys!

 

So a while ago one of the fans in my ROG Strix 2080 TI broke (the bearing inside gave up and that fan would start to wobble and make a scraping/rattling noise when running).

I replaced the fan with an original ASUS Strix fan intended for 20XX cards.

When the fan got here, I swapped out the faulty fan for the new one but since then a new phenomenon has popped up: that fan will now continuously jump around 5-600rpm on average in a continuous up/down cycle.

As in, while the other fans run at a continuous percentage and RPM, that fan will keep jumping from say 800 to 1400~ RPM in 1-2 second intervals (as you can see in the attachment below).

If I raise the RPM of all fans, it will just repeat this "leap" at higher RPMs (ie if I increase the percentage to 50%, it will just keep jumping between 1400-2400~) while still showing the same % in GPU Tweak.

 

Any idea as to what could cause this? I read in other forums that it might be that the GPU just needs to have its thermal paste replaced as the sensor might be off and that one fan keeps thinking it's running to hot so it defaults to spinning up, realises the temp is fine and drops down again?

 

I've considered RMA'ing it (I still have warranty for another few months) but quite honestly given the current GPU shortage, I'm pretty worried what may or may not happen.

For one, I'd probably be out of a GPU for 1-2 months given what ASUS has told me (prior to swapping out the fan when I considered sending it in at first).

Second, they're no longer actually producing 20XX series cards so if they can't fix it, them swapping it for another 2080 TI seems unlikely.

When asked about this, I got a fairly ambiguous answer along the lines of "We will swap it out for a card of equal or higher value" but given the inflated price of cards, I worry they'll just send me a 3060 TI, argue that price wise they would be about the same and that'd be the end of that. Another CS Agent mentioned they may reimburse me but couldn't tell me if it was at current value or what the card cost when I bought it (I've heard horror stories of people being reimbursed a % of what they paid for hardware (not ASUS, specifically) with the justification that the price of the tech had deprecated).

 

Another option would be to just remove the heatsink & fans entirely and watercool the entire system but that's a hefty investment I'd rather not spend right now if it can be at all avoided...

 

Anyway, if anybody has any idea what could cause that fan to go nuts, I'd highly appreciate the input!

 

Cheers!

[Decom]

Update: after playing some games under higher load, once the fans jump up around over 50%, the speeds will normalise out at least (they're still going to be higher than the other fans even if the percentage says they're the same but they're no longer jumping around).

Edit: to clarify - they're stable while under load - the fan's RPM still jump while under low load/idle

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by Decom