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Hi,
This has been annoying me since I got the computer (about 2 years ago). Whenever my CPU gets really busy, there's a horrible piercing buzzing sound coming from the computer. Video explains better:
The example I'm using here is ripping a DVD in handbrake (which seems to use the CPU a lot). The percentages I film in the middle are the CPU usage output from conky, one for each core (quad). The second mouse click (near the end) is me resuming the rip.
I built the computer myself, the processor is a sandy bridge i5 2500, I'm using the stock Intel CPU fan. My instinct is that the stock CPU fan isn' great and I should replace it, but thought I'd seek the opinion of others first.
Let me know if there is any information I should add to this
Thanks for reading
Intel i5-6500 / nvidia GTX 960 / Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 EU Motherboard / 8gb RAM / i3 wm
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I've read about some motherboard components actually screeching under load but never seen or heard it first hand. From your video, it seem too abrupt to be a fan IMO. Can you manually control the fan speed? If so, jack it up while idle and see if you hear it. See, https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fan_Speed_Control
You might have better luck asking this question in a hardware or overclocking forum. The fact that you run linux isn't important; stick to the fact that it happens under load.
Suggested venues:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/for … p?59-Intel
http://hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2
CPU-optimized Linux-ck packages @ Repo-ck • AUR packages • Zsh and other configs
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Why don't you just disconnect fan from motherboard when buzzing starts?
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Why don't you just disconnect fan from motherboard when buzzing starts?
Was that meant as a joke?
"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" - Richard Stallman
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Why don't you just disconnect fan from motherboard when buzzing starts?
I think my method is far safer and will get to the same conclusion...
CPU-optimized Linux-ck packages @ Repo-ck • AUR packages • Zsh and other configs
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first disconnect all other fans.
if you can disconnect the cd drive or at least open it.
if it is the cpu fan you can put your hand on it and see if it helps.
maybe a change in the screws tightness will help.
you can also take off the cover of the spindle and oil it - i do it a lot of times and it helps.
if there is dust on the wings cleen it - for better balance.
it can also be the power supply fan.
ezik
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Thanks for the link, pwmconfig seemed to be the 'test your fans' command. Though I don't fully understand what's going on (first time dealing with an issue like this), my understanding is that the noise happens when the CPU gets hot because the fan isn't cooling it enough/going fast enough. Video to show what I mean:
So my uneducated conclusion is that my CPU fan is either not doing a good enough job or my sensors aren't making it go fast enough. Do you reckon a better CPU fan would help?
I considered going to a more focussed forum but I like it here and am already a member so thought I'd try here first
edit: thanks for other responses, didn't see them at time of posting this
Last edited by gav989 (2013-01-05 13:57:08)
Intel i5-6500 / nvidia GTX 960 / Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 EU Motherboard / 8gb RAM / i3 wm
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Šaran wrote:Why don't you just disconnect fan from motherboard when buzzing starts?
Was that meant as a joke?
Well, no. My old PC's cpu fan didn't want to be told how fast to spin (I used windows and speedfan at the time) and pulling the plug seemed like
a perfectly safe option for troubleshooting opposed to sticking anything into fan and and risking damage to it.
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I agree that sticking something in the fan to stop it sounds worse than unplugging it. But that doesn't mean either one is safe.
gav989 - the processor doesn't make sound. The sound is not "because the fan isn't cooling it fast enough". The sound is most likely the fan itself - *because* it is cooling the cpu fast enough. If the fan wasn't propperly cooling the cpu, your computer would shut down.
Graysky's suggestion was so you could crank up the fan speed while nothing else was happening - that way you could confirm that it was actually the fan making the sound you are describing.
"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" - Richard Stallman
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Yes but when that pwmconfig thing stopped the fans completely the tower made the noise, which told me that:
1. It wasn't the fan making the noise (because they weren't going at the time)
2. The noise wasn't because of the CPU load (which was low at the time)
3. The noise is associated with a rise in CPU temperature (which would happen when the fans stopped)
Which has led me to assume that the CPU was not being sufficiently cooled. I don't know much about this so if any of my assumptions here are incorrect please let me know why.
I also didn't understand how best to increase the speed of my fan manually, is there a simple command for this or do I have to reconfigure the sensors?
Intel i5-6500 / nvidia GTX 960 / Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 EU Motherboard / 8gb RAM / i3 wm
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I just installed pwmconfig, it does not necessarily stop fans - it just tests sensors which *may* stop fans on *some* hardware.
"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" - Richard Stallman
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It makes the noise after I said yes to
"Warning!!! This program will stop your fans, one at a time, for approximately 5 seconds each!!!"
So whatever it does after that messages caused the noise, if it doesn't stop the fans, any idea what it is doing?
note: I''m not trying to be rude or confrontational, sorry if it comes across that way, I'm just a bit confused
Intel i5-6500 / nvidia GTX 960 / Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 EU Motherboard / 8gb RAM / i3 wm
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I don't know everything that it does, but read the man page - it sends packets of data to sensors. That is the tools intended purpose. It warns you that it may - as a by product - disable fans one at a time ... but then it reenables them.
So if the cpu temp went up while a fan was temporarily disabled, once it comes back online one would expect the fan to kick in at high speed.
You *may* certainly be right that it is not the fans - I just find it odd that you are using the least conclusive test of that when you can directly manipulate fan speed and see if that is what makes the sound.
EDIT: I see Graysky's link took you to a wiki page that only discussed that tool - I was thinking it was a link to actually controlling fan speeds.
You can explore /sys/devices/* to find your fan control. You may have several fans, each with a files stating their max, min, and current speeds, and often one file each storing a 0 or 1 for whether they are manually controlled. As root, you can set one fan at a time to manual by echoing a "1" to the right file, then echo a speed near the max to the speed file. You'll hear the fan spin up. Then echo a "0" back to the manual file and speeds will be controlled automatically again, and that fan will spin down to a more reasonable speed.
This way you have direct control of WHEN fans speed up and you can hear the result, AND you'll know exactly which fan - if any - are causing the sound.
For example, on my iMac I did the following:
/sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768$ ls
hwmon fan2_input fan3_max light temp4_input
power fan2_label fan3_min modalias temp4_label
driver fan2_manual fan3_output name temp5_input
fan1_input fan2_max fan3_safe subsystem temp5_label
fan1_label fan2_min key_at_index temp1_input temp6_input
fan1_manual fan2_output key_at_index_data temp1_label temp6_label
fan1_max fan2_safe key_at_index_data_length temp2_input temp7_input
fan1_min fan3_input key_at_index_name temp2_label temp7_label
fan1_output fan3_label key_at_index_type temp3_input uevent
fan1_safe fan3_manual key_count temp3_label
/sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768$ cat fan*_output
1000
1252
1000
/sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768$ cat fan*_manual
0
0
0
/sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768$ su
Password:
# cat fan1_max
5200
# cat fan1_output
1000
# echo 1 > fan1_manual
# echo 3000 > fan1_output
# echo 0 > fan1_manual
# exit
Last edited by Trilby (2013-01-05 15:44:18)
"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" - Richard Stallman
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OK I had a poke around and continued to find everything confusing, but I found this directory:
/sys/devices/platform/it87.656
which contained
[root@gavdesktop it87.656]# ls
alarms in0_beep in4_alarm in7_min temp1_alarm
driver in0_input in4_beep in8_input temp1_beep
fan1_alarm in0_max in4_input in8_label temp1_input
fan1_beep in0_min in4_max intrusion0_alarm temp1_max
fan1_input in1_alarm in4_min modalias temp1_min
fan1_min in1_beep in5_alarm name temp1_type
fan2_alarm in1_input in5_beep power temp2_alarm
fan2_beep in1_max in5_input pwm1 temp2_beep
fan2_input in1_min in5_max pwm1_auto_channels_temp temp2_input
fan2_min in2_alarm in5_min pwm1_enable temp2_max
fan3_alarm in2_beep in6_alarm pwm1_freq temp2_min
fan3_beep in2_input in6_beep pwm2 temp2_type
fan3_input in2_max in6_input pwm2_auto_channels_temp temp3_alarm
fan3_min in2_min in6_max pwm2_enable temp3_beep
fan4_alarm in3_alarm in6_min pwm2_freq temp3_input
fan4_beep in3_beep in7_alarm pwm3 temp3_max
fan4_input in3_input in7_beep pwm3_auto_channels_temp temp3_min
fan4_min in3_label in7_input pwm3_enable temp3_type
hwmon in3_max in7_label pwm3_freq uevent
in0_alarm in3_min in7_max subsystem
I noticed in the wiki page Graysky linked me to it says: "If at any time during tweaking you notice the CPU temperature start to rise dramatically, do a echo "255" > /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon0/device/pwm1 to spin up the fan all the way until things cool down"
So I played around with the pwm1 and pwm1_enable files in that directory and this was the result (again, I have made a video and, again, I have made assumptions about what I'm doing):
I didn't have any fan1_manual or fan1_max type files like you did, are there any other files in that directory you think I should test?
Intel i5-6500 / nvidia GTX 960 / Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 EU Motherboard / 8gb RAM / i3 wm
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OK, thanks. It does seem that this is not a fan making the noise. Sorry to doubt you, but I just wanted to make sure we could close that door confidently before other things were investigated.
It does seem odd that the sound came on so quickly after not having the fan on full. If it was a temperature issue, you'd think it'd take at least a few moments - that seems almost instantaneous: fan goes off, 'buzz' comes on. This is not based on much, but it makes me wonder if there could be a power regulation issue - fans running at full speed will draw a good amount of power - when the fans turn off, that draw is gone. [Note: this part is complete ignorant speculation.]
Can you monitor temperatures to see if there is a certain temperature range it starts in?
Last edited by Trilby (2013-01-05 23:39:19)
"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" - Richard Stallman
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Please don't apologise, I appreciate you taking the time to write and help me.
I agree that it is strange how quickly it starts buzzing, I'll try a handbrake rip tomorrow and monitor the cpu temperature - it usually starts about a minute or so into the rip which would make sense if it was a rise in temperature causing the noise
Intel i5-6500 / nvidia GTX 960 / Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 EU Motherboard / 8gb RAM / i3 wm
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Sounds like it could be coil whine, in which case there's not much you can do about it. From my experience, coil whine can kick in under slight fluctuations in power consumption but it depends on which component is actually causing the problem.
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sorry to bump old thread but I've been busy and problem persists
I tried encoding using handbrake again and the temperature didn't alter much (lingered around 35C) but the noise started after a minute or so
neilzium: thanks for the tip, not heard of that before so I'll look into it
EDIT:
turns out either i'm an idiot or conky is lying to me
either way this noise starts when the cpu temperature goes over 80°C, I think it's just a BIOS controlled warning noise, just ordering an awesome CPU fan to help fix the problem
Last edited by gav989 (2013-03-03 16:15:04)
Intel i5-6500 / nvidia GTX 960 / Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 EU Motherboard / 8gb RAM / i3 wm
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