CPU fan howling/whistling

[deltron3030]

Got a higher speed Delta fan not too long ago. Didn't really notice it much during the warmer weather because of having windows open with room fans running. Now that it's much cooler with windows closed and no fans, my room is much quieter. Because of this, I'm picking up on this annoying howling, whistling like sound which I'm pretty sure is coming from the Delta fan attached to my Hyper 212 Evo. It's not consistently making that sound, but more like when it ramps up or down the RPMs to certain levels. Is there something I can do to stop or reduce this sound? Thank you.

[Bananasplit_00]

wellcome to Delta fans, perform great but sound is equally shit

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

5 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

wellcome to Delta fans, perform great but sound is equally shit

deltafans were never designed to be a pressure fan aka cpu fan and stuff

 

they were designed for tunnel airflow ect ,   hence why they make so much sound when u put any object near it and they are pretty quiet in open air

 

however ppl started putting them into pressure designs... and thats when they started becoming jet engines

 

deltafans are more designed for servers and areas that need to expel heat at extremely quick rates ( airtubes above server rooms ect ect, just examples )

[deltron3030]

1 minute ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

wellcome to Delta fans, perform great but sound is equally shit

I knew Delta fans would be extremely loud at full RPMs, but was not aware of this.

[deltron3030]

1 minute ago, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

deltafans were never designed to be a pressure fan aka cpu fan and stuff

 

they were designed for tunnel airflow ect ,   hence why they make so much sound when u put any object near it and they are pretty quiet in open air

Dang, I wish I knew this before buying it. I was just going by the specs on paper. I figured a strong fan that should last long.

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, deltron3030 said:

I knew Delta fans would be extremely loud at full RPMs, but was not aware of this.

they are just loud in every way, just not really something most people want in their case over something like an NF-F12 or whatever

2 minutes ago, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

deltafans were never designed to be a pressure fan aka cpu fan and stuff

 

they were designed for tunnel airflow ect ,   hence why they make so much sound when u put any object near it and they are pretty quiet in open air

yah they are ment to sit in the front of a 1u or 2u server rack case and blow air on everything, they are loud AF in open air compared to other fans from what i have tested with the one i own (its a 92mm that i have compared to other 92mm fans i own, generally off shitty CPU coolers from P4 machines lol)

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

2 minutes ago, deltron3030 said:

Dang, I wish I knew this before buying it. I was just going by the specs on paper. I figured a strong fan that should last long.

u just need a pressure designed fan with a max rpm of 2000ish because anything above 2000 usually starts to become really loud, many ppl think 1800-2000 is already loud af

 

for cpu, noctua fans seem to be the best x) but their pretty expensive too , noctua designed their fans on quality and aswell low volume + pressure combined ( if u take the pressure fans ofc )

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

2 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

they are just loud in every way, just not really something most people want in their case over something like an NF-F12 or whatever

yah they are ment to sit in the front of a 1u or 2u server rack case and blow air on everything, they are loud AF in open air compared to other fans from what i have tested with the one i own (its a 92mm that i have compared to other 92mm fans i own, generally off shitty CPU coolers from P4 machines lol)

yah i edited in way more in that post tbh read haha

[deltron3030]

I do see Noctua's being recommended here, but when I looked at them, they were just ugly, high priced, and lower spec. I was comparing price vs CFM for example. Thinking, "why should I pay 2x more for much less CFM?"

 

I kind of want to avoid spending any more money. Is there a way to modify something to reduce the sound? Like add a cowl or something around the fan?

[heimdali]

What if you somehow offset the fan from the cooler a little so that it doesn´t have to press the air right against the fins?  It suffices when the air goes through the gaps in between them.

 

[deltron3030]

3 minutes ago, heimdali said:

What if you somehow offset the fan from the cooler a little so that it doesn´t have to press the air right against the fins?  It suffices when the air goes through the gaps in between them.

 

Hmm...

That may be better than my original idea of just adding a shroud to top/intake of the fan. I just need to figure out what I can use as a spacer.

[heimdali]

It´s hard to tell without a good picture.  I was thinking if you offset the fan quite a bit, you´d need to use a shroud.  Perhaps you can screw the fan to the clip that attaches it to the cooler with some offset, or perhaps you don´t even need a shroud even with the fan quite a bit away from it.  If you have some rubber grommets that come with some cases to install harddrives, you could use those.  If you have zip ties or --- how is this called? binding wire? The stuff they wrap around network cables and such to hold them together ... --- some wire with which you can fix the fan to the shroud, you only need to put something in between at the corners that keeps it at an offset.

 

What would you use for a shroud?  You could attach the fan to one end and the other to the cooler.  (That´s kinda how these shrouds work anyway ...)

 

PS: Gut another fan and use it as a shroud?

 

[deltron3030]

1 minute ago, heimdali said:

It´s hard to tell without a good picture.  I was thinking if you offset the fan quite a bit, you´d need to use a shroud.  Perhaps you can screw the fan to the clip that attaches it to the cooler with some offset, or perhaps you don´t even need a shroud even with the fan quite a bit away from it.

 

What would you use for a shroud?  You could attach the fan to one end and the other to the cooler.  (That´s kinda how these shrouds work anyway ...)

 

Oh, so I wouldn't need that much of a gap? How much of a space are you talking?

Hope this pic helps. The fan thickness is a 35mm or 38mm though instead of 25mm stock.

I guess I could leave a gap, but I would need some longer screws with the right threading.

 

As for a shroud, I was thinking about anything that's around me, like cardboard, empty aluminum air cans, whatever. Watching more vids on youtube, there is like a mod where you cut out the inners of a same diameter fan, leaving just the frame. I do have semi broken fan which I might sacrifice.

 

Since, I have another pair of brackets that attach to the heatsink, do you think adding another fan in the back for pull might help in any way? I have the stock 120mm fan which I just have as a backup, but hear they don't last long. That is why I got an aftermarket fan in the first place.

[heimdali]

I was thinking like 1/4" gap, but you can do some more.  The air will go through the gaps between the fins anyway (and not through the fins, obviously ).

 

So the fan is screwed to the clip holding it to the cooler?  If you have something like zip ties, you could thread each one through the screw holes on the fan and a match box or a pile of little cardboard pieces to get the offset you want.  The fan probably doesn´t need to sit exactly straight in front of the fins.  Actually, it might eliminate the noise when the fan doesn´t sit straight, like when you offset only the left or the right side of the fan.  You need to experiment, and you can always hold the fan by hand to figure out the best position.

 

[deltron3030]

19 minutes ago, heimdali said:

I was thinking like 1/4" gap, but you can do some more.  The air will go through the gaps between the fins anyway (and not through the fins, obviously ).

 

So the fan is screwed to the clip holding it to the cooler?  If you have something like zip ties, you could thread each one through the screw holes on the fan and a match box or a pile of little cardboard pieces to get the offset you want.  The fan probably doesn´t need to sit exactly straight in front of the fins.  Actually, it might eliminate the noise when the fan doesn´t sit straight, like when you offset only the left or the right side of the fan.  You need to experiment, and you can always hold the fan by hand to figure out the best position.

 

1/4" isn't too bad, I could probably make improvised washers out of something. I have like 4 leftover rubber grommets for mounting hdd, but they are about half that thickness.

 

Yeah, a screw goes through the clip then onto the fan. On top of the screw head is a rectangular rubber pad, which is sandwiched between the clip and heatsink. Zip ties would work nicely. I wouldn't have to look for or buy the right sized screws.

 

Man, I didn't even think about the forced air going through the fins is what was causing the noise. Good call. I do remember the noise being at around 1300, 1500 RPM. Later, I took it off the heat sink to add a fan grill. When I mounted it back without the fan grill, it did change from I think 1100 RPM. So slight shifts do seem to matter. I will definitely do the basic/simplest methods first before cutting up fans for shrouds. Thank you so much, heimdali and others. Quick help from the community. I love how easy it could be for a fix. I was thinking about cutting up notches to the fan frame to match Noctua's design as a last resort. I know I would've messed that up badly.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

4 hours ago, deltron3030 said:

I do see Noctua's being recommended here, but when I looked at them, they were just ugly, high priced, and lower spec. I was comparing price vs CFM for example. Thinking, "why should I pay 2x more for much less CFM?"

 

I kind of want to avoid spending any more money. Is there a way to modify something to reduce the sound? Like add a cowl or something around the fan?

u can get black noctua fans too the thing wit fans is, there is a curve of how much cooling per cfm goes

 

lets say at 20cfm ul get 100% capacity at 40cfm ul get 120% capacity but at 400cfm ul get only 160% capacity <  it has a curve of how effective it cools :v

 

noctua is aimed at silence + good pressure

[deltron3030]

1 minute ago, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

u can get black noctua fans too the thing wit fans is, there is a curve of how much cooling per cfm goes

 

lets say at 20cfm ul get 100% capacity at 40cfm ul get 120% capacity but at 400cfm ul get only 160% capacity <  it has a curve of how effective it cools :v

 

noctua is aimed at silence + good pressure

Color is a low priority for me. I could probably tolerate the colors if it was lower priced. Doing a quick search those 2000 RPM PWM industrial fans are like $40? that's insane.

 

Yeah, I'm finding out now that having all that extra power doesn't even really matter. When they designed the cooler, they knew that having the lower powered Cooler Master fan was good enough. When I maxed out the 3800RPM on the Delta, it basically had the same CPU temp as the stock fan. I wish I could've just stuck with the stock from the beginning except I heard they break quickly.

[heimdali]

$40 for an industrial fan is very cheap.

 

I have some Delta fans here which feature non-rotating fins through which the air flows.  I guess those are to create a straight flow of air rather than a swirling one.  That´s a nice design.

 

Now I can imagine that a swirling flow of air hitting the straight fins of a cooler could create some noise which gets worse the closer the blades of the fan are to the fins, or perhaps it takes just the right distance (and fan speed) for the noise to be created.  Airflow about the blades of a fan is probably a very complex thing, and putting an obstacle into the flow doesn´t make it any less complicated ...

 

[deltron3030]

On 10/22/2017 at 5:44 PM, heimdali said:

$40 for an industrial fan is very cheap.

 

I have some Delta fans here which feature non-rotating fins through which the air flows.  I guess those are to create a straight flow of air rather than a swirling one.  That´s a nice design.

 

Now I can imagine that a swirling flow of air hitting the straight fins of a cooler could create some noise which gets worse the closer the blades of the fan are to the fins, or perhaps it takes just the right distance (and fan speed) for the noise to be created.  Airflow about the blades of a fan is probably a very complex thing, and putting an obstacle into the flow doesn´t make it any less complicated ...

 

Money must be flowing there in Germany. $40 is really high to me. Actual price seems to be little under $30, which is still high in my opinion. Current fan was around $10. I don't think I can afford to pay 2-3x more for a fan just to be completely silent, but I may splurge on a beefier Noctua cooler for a new pc build when the time comes.

[heimdali]

You need to consider that a failed fan may cost you 40k or more, that´s one of the reasons you buy industrial quality and pay the price.  Even when just someone needs to order a new fan and install it, it´ll cost you much more than 40 --- even when you have a spare already on stock.  There can also insurance issues be involved, and saving 20 on a fan may cost you millions when the place burns down because of it.  Remember that oil company a couple years ago that saved a few hundred or so on a valve, and it cost them billions.  Saving money doesn´t always pay out, and often times, you end up buying twice, or worse.
 

BTW, are there any long-term reviews or tests about fans?  What fan should one buy that is quiet, moves enough air and doesn´t fail after a couple years or earlier?

 

[deltron3030]

6 minutes ago, heimdali said:

You need to consider that a failed fan may cost you 40k or more, that´s one of the reasons you buy industrial quality and pay the price.  Even when just someone needs to order a new fan and install it, it´ll cost you much more than 40 --- even when you have a spare already on stock.  There can also insurance issues be involved, and saving 20 on a fan may cost you millions when the place burns down because of it.  Remember that oil company a couple years ago that saved a few hundred or so on a valve, and it cost them billions.  Saving money doesn´t always pay out, and often times, you end up buying twice, or worse.
 

BTW, are there any long-term reviews or tests about fans?  What fan should one buy that is quiet, moves enough air and doesn´t fail after a couple years or earlier?

 

I'm not sure what you think I do, but I don't have anything close to millions in value. This fan is for a home PC. If a fan goes bad, it should just stop working. If it stops working, PC should not fully start up throwing errors.

 

I'm not too sure about tests (if others know, please share them), but I kept hearing Delta brand being thrown around as a reputable name. I figured if businesses use them, why not? I just had no idea they were mainly used for servers and such. They seem to have good value for their performance, just loud depending on their model. I've owned 2 different prebuilt PCs and never had a fan go bad in over a decade. Only time 1 started to go bad was when I went with a Scythe fan for a custom build. I kept hearing how great their Grand Typhoon fans were. They were discontinued, so I went with what I thought were their replacements. That fan lasted only 3 years and became unusable. I have no contact from the manufacturer. For that reason, I refuse to buy another Scythe branded item. I also kept hearing Noctua's are great, but always thought they were overpriced for their specs. Now that I know they are static fans, quiet, and provide a 6 year warranty, I may buy from them later. Just can't really afford them now.

[heimdali]

The $40 industrial fan simply targets a different market in which $40 for a fan is really cheap and where the buyers have good reasons to pay the price for industrial quality.

 

Delta fans seem to be used for servers a lot for which it is more important that they do not fail and move enough air than it is to be quiet.  I have a bunch here and they seem good quality --- but they´re loud.

 

I almost said Noctua makes their fans quiet by designing them so that they don´t flow much air, but looking at the specs and comparing them with another manufacturer, I have to admit that they do get them way more quiet at about the same airflow.  Noctua also specifies like double the MTBF as other manufacturers.  As I need three 120mm fans, perhaps I should try their industrial ones after all ... but that would be a lot of money.