GTX 780 Fan Issue

[PoncianoIII]

A have a Inno3D iChiLL GTX 780 HerculeZ X3 Ultra which has been working fine for the past 2 years when my rig was built until 2 nights ago, the GPU's cooler suddenly went from quiet to sounding like a jet engine. It didn't make sense to me since I was only watching Youtube at the time so there's no way for the GPU to have an intensive load. I removed the case's side panel and saw that 1 of 3 fans stopped spinning (the middle one). I guess that something is blocking the motors of the fan which causes it to make whining noises (I'm no tech genius so I could most likely be wrong about this). I've tried removing the card and dusted it off using an air compressor (I didn't dismantle the cooler) and then installed it back into the mobo. I've tried reinstalling drivers yet the problem persists. I've gamed for a couple of hours and then the middle fan slowly spun until it worked normally. Although the problem returned when I rebooted my PC. Here are video and audio samples.

 

Although one fan may be faulty, there are no problems with temps. The temps are the same as when the cooler had three fans spinning. I ran Unigine Valley for about 30 mins and temps never rose beyond 80°C and idle temps are in the 35°C to 40°C range. There may not be issues with temps although the noise kinda bothers me (I can still hear it even with headphones on) and that I might kill the GPU's cooler if it kept on running like this. I've never OC'ed this GPU nor used it for mining. I only use it for gaming, photo, video editing, and watching movies. RMA'ing it is no longer an option since I've bought this card way back in 2014 and Inno3D only has 2-year warranties for GPUs. I have no knowledge and experience in dismantling GPU coolers so I'm guessing that I should just take it to a service center near my location. There is a nearby branch of ActionLabs where I could take my GPU and have them repair it for a fee of PHP 350 (6.69 USD). I'm not sure if they do GPU cooler repairs there but I have trained there for 2 weeks and they fix a lot of stuff, ranging from printers to laptops.

 

What should be my course of action?

[Bcat00]

This is simple to fix, go buy a VGA fan adapter wire so you can mount some noctua fans or other models onto the GPU.

 

The fans/shroud that comes on your card can either be unscrewed and unclipped with minimal effort so that's the cheapest method you have to the issue.

 

[PoncianoIII]

Hmmn... Thanks for the suggestion. I guess I'll try to get it repaired first, see if they can come up with something. If not, then I'll try your solution since I currently don't have the budget to buy case fans at the moment and fan adapters are very difficult to come by in my country. They are only available overseas.

[Crunchy Dragon]

43 minutes ago, PoncianoIII said:

Hmmn... Thanks for the suggestion. I guess I'll try to get it repaired first, see if they can come up with something. If not, then I'll try your solution since I currently don't have the budget to buy case fans at the moment and fan adapters are very difficult to come by in my country. They are only available overseas.

Have you tried setting a fan curve in MSI Afterburner?

 

As far as taking the card apart yourself to investigate the fan problem, taking apart a GPU is fairly easy, watch any teardown guide and you'll have a general idea on how to take apart any GPU.

[PoncianoIII]

42 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Have you tried setting a fan curve in MSI Afterburner?

Yep. Doesn't seem to work for some reason. Setting up a fan curve used to work a year ago. Now, nothing happens when I apply a fan curve. Fans are still loud even though I've already set the fans at 0% at idle temps.

 

Oddly, the GPU cooler is very quiet during post and boot up and then gets loud once Windows loads up.

I'll try to see if I can teardown my GPU, thanks.

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 minute ago, PoncianoIII said:

Yep. Doesn't seem to work for some reason. Setting up a fan curve used to work a year ago. Now, nothing happens when I apply a fan curve. Fans are still loud even though I've already set the fans at 0% at idle temps.

 

Oddly, the GPU cooler is very quiet during post and boot up and then gets loud once Windows loads up.

I'll try to see if I can teardown my GPU, thanks.

Might just be a problem with your GPU itself.

 

Good to find another GTX 780 user, we're not too common in this day and age...

[PoncianoIII]

14 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Good to find another GTX 780 user, we're not too common in this day and age...

Yeah well, in my case, you'd have to travel 5 cities just to buy a high-end components as components available in my city are only mid-range ones (750s and 1050s). I could order them and have them shipped but the shipping fee is kinda way too high. It's better to go to the store and buy it because travelling there is cheaper and they sell at MSRP. And besides, these cards are scarcely available in my location and I don't see the need for an upgrade. I'm very okay with turning down some graphical settings if it means getting playable framerates. Most games looks just fine at medium-high settings and their difference to ultra settings is barely noticeable for me.