Case fan noise!

[thekillerlama]

Hey, I recently bought a couple of cheap zalman 120 mm case fans for my cm 430 elite.
The problem is that when the fans are installed they have an ennoying high pitched hum, which is not apparent when they are not installed. ( Meaning, when I am holding the fans in my hands while they are spinning.)

Any tips or trick you guys can recommend me?

 

[Nebulous]

Hmm, maybe a fan controller ?

 

[freeagent]

You could maybe adjust the fan speed in the power options in your bios

 

[Nebulous]

You could maybe adjust the fan speed in the power options in your bios

Tru dat!

 

[thekillerlama]

Sorry for being unclear as to what actually is the problem. The problem is really the vibrations throughout my case, hence the humming noise. The fans are not loud at all, when they are not installed in the case. If i run them on 12V while holding them in my hands, they are perfectly quiet.

 

[ehume]

Asus mb -- can control fans with Voltage. PWM control only.

OP. Try these. Note the free shipping. You can buy one set and see if they make a difference, and buy more if they help.

BTW -- my Zalman fans came with some of the best vibration isolators on the market. Did yours not?

Another thing to try is to attach your fans with Velcro. It can dampen vibrations too. Check out the link.

 

[thekillerlama]

That is just what I need!! I will try my luck with the fan mounts first, however I would really like to test the Velcro trick too!
And my Zalman fans did not come with vibration isolators, no.
Thanks again though!

 

[thekillerlama]

Ok it turns out it is actually the grill on the case that is the source of the problem. When the fan is positioned blowing the air out from the case, it is silent, whereas if I position the fan blowing air into the case, it makes a horrible sound. What to do??

 

[Mjolnir]

Just FYI; holding fans in your hands will almost always be 'silent' compared to how they sit in a case. Between the turbulence and what not that is caused by the fans spinning; the air they take in; the air they push; etc; this all adds sound. As well as vibrations.

I.e I bought a couple Bitfenix Spectre Pro fans.. I ran them in my hand to see how they sounded. I put them in my case; and they're instantly louder.. Just because of the way the air is moving; it creates a different 'sound' I guess you'd call it.

Which grill btw? Front one? Or rear? I assume front.. yeah you don't really want to have that one as exhaust usually.. If it were up to me I'd buy a different case.. XD. (Not a fan of 95% of CM cases.. Only the 690 and the Cosmos series appeal to me in any way).

But perhaps the fan controller could still help you? If you lower the fan speed a touch; it could make the issue go away? If your fans are 3/4 pin type fans; you could connect them to the motherboard and try different speeds? (assuming your motherboard has the corresponding fan inputs.. as well as the ability to set speed/percentage)

 

[thekillerlama]

I was talking about the rear grill. Using the fan as an exhaust is completely quiet, almost un-audible. Using it as an intake is just horrible, I can't really describe the sound which it outputs, but trust me, you would not want to be in the same room as the fan when its used as an intake fan.
Btw, I have the exact same problem putting the fan in the bottom of the case.

 

[Mjolnir]

You'd generally want a rear fan to be exhaust anyway.. At least IMO.

 

[thekillerlama]

I know, but generally you do not want your bottom fan to be an exhaust fan.

 

[Conumdrum]

Lots of us cut grills out and replace with better grills. Your fan could be vibrating enough, out of balance (bad fan or cheap fan).

Noisy fan? Some are LOTS better than others when next to a grill etc.

What is the fan RPM? Fan controller?

My GT AP 15's at 900 RPM are silent. And over $15 a piece.

 

[ehume]

Rear grill. An elegant tool for removing your rear grill is here. Cheaper nibblers don't work as well. A nibbler leaves a clean cut without distorting metal or producing metal dust.

I run my rigs with no fan at the back. My other fans are filtered intake fans. Since I have removed all the slot covers from my backplane, between the backplane and the place where the grill used to be, the air gets out easily and silently. So I have all intake fans and the pressure never builds up. I call it a positive flow case rather than a positive pressure case.

 

[thekillerlama]

I switched the fans up, so now the fan with a slower rpm is exhausting the air through the rear grill, this has removed the hum completely However, I really am considering getting a fan controller since the fans are still quite loud. Has anyone any experience with the nzxt sentry mesh fan controller or do you have any other recommendations?

 

[thekillerlama]

Btw, I think one of those nibblers might come in handy in the not so distant future too As far as the rpm goes, it is a 900 rpm fan.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

I had this exact same problem with my Cooler Master Elite 430, on mine the side fan resonated making a very annoying hum all the time. Tried three different fans and it did this with all of them.

My solution was attaching a filtered screen to the outside of the case over the side panel's fan, after that the hum went away and I can't even hear that fan now.

 

[thekillerlama]

Good to hear i'm not the only one struggling with this problem! I will definitely test out that trick with the side fan We can't really forget that this is a budged case, and it shows in its rigidity and material quality. But working around its flaws, I really have to say that it does the job quite well! But an extra set of fans is a must if you are going to be gaming/ benching with this case

 

[radmax03]

Remove the grill or glue the grill corners (buy a ~$5 epoxy glue at a hardware store like lowes/home depot).

 

[thekillerlama]

Yeah, removing the grill sure is tempting! I will have to consider it some more