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Should my fans audibly change speed under different loads?

dug777

dug777

Lifer
When i crank a bench or a game, i can hear my fans (CPU(Q-fan off), 2 80mm Blue LED jobs, PSU, and 9800 Pro fan), audibly change speed- sounds like they slow down a bit 😛

Its kinda annoying but i am assumuing its the nasty 380w no-name PSU? (That's a whole story it itself 😛 ,380w my ass, or at least completely sh*thouse quality- i've only got an A7V8X, xp2000+ running at 2600+, the 9800 Pro, 160GB WD, 512mb PC3200, the 2 case fans and DVD drive hooked up- and if i connect my FDD, other HDD, or my burner everytime i crank any hardcore 3d action (d3, far cry, even sims 2) i get HDD crash almost straight up 😛 😛 )

Have any of u folks had a similar problem,

Cheers 🙂
 
No, your fans should not change speed/slow down. The noname PSU is an excellent place to start to solve your problems. Quality PSU's are not all that expensive and everything in your box depends on it.
 
cheers, i tried putting an extra 512mb stick in, and it kept doing the same thing- so PSU will be my first upgrade i think 🙂
 
Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
No, your fans should not change speed/slow down. The noname PSU is an excellent place to start to solve your problems. Quality PSU's are not all that expensive and everything in your box depends on it.
Click to expand...

I read this post this morning and was afraid to respond, but I was thinking, if his PSU is so weak that it is causing his fans to audibly slow down when the CPU is processing, you would think it would just shut down. Computers are real picky about having enough power and if your PSU is that bad I would think you would get a lot of reboots. If you are getting a lot of reboots than it is probably the PSU, if not I think something else maybe at fault, but I have no idea what.

If you do replace the PSU, please reply to this post with results, because I am curious.

kd
 
thanks for the input guv 🙂

It's kinda wierd because it's only started happening recently, i mean the HDD crashes with my other devices attached- i could run them all fine until about three weeks ago, and now i can't even drop in another stick of RAM without the HDD crashing in heavy 3d apps 😛

Ne way it will be a while before i can afford to buy a new PSU, but i'll certainly post and let u know the result
 
Measure the voltage on a molex connector, using a digital volt meter, while you recreate the problem. Does the 12V voltage drop? How much?
How about the 5V voltage?

That is the best way to monitor the voltages.
 
best i can do is recreate it- but watch the voltages on the ASUS probe history- i'm broke, so there's no chance i'll able to get my hands on a digital volt meter 🙁

Just gave Sims 2 a whirl- 1280*1024, everything maximum shinyness on the in-game setup-but with the disconnected stuff still disconnected, so no crashing, and my voltages changed thusly:
12v- from 11.872v at idle, to 12.384v
5v-from 4.892v at idle, to 4.703v

nothing else changed- all stable- whaddya reckon folks?
 
oops- supposed to be an edit to the message above- but here goes, i did get those voltage changes the right way round- b4 anyone asks 🙂
 
I've seen computers that the fans sounded like a truck shifting gears on a steep hill about every time you clicked the mouse and everything worked fine. The components require certain signal levels to operate. As long as the voltage is above those levels it doesn't matter if it varies some. For instance, a gate is looking for a trigger level in a certain range. As long as the signal is within that range all is well but if the trigger plus whatever noise is riding on it wanders out of that range things become erratic. There are millions of these events every second in your computer. The closer the signal levels approach the operating margin the more likely you are to have trouble. A good engineer designs for worse case conditions but an adverse accumulation of tolerances still produces trouble. Sometimes it is handy to have a power supply that you can vary the output easily. With the computer operating you vary the voltage up or down while observing operation and determine just what the safe margin is. The rub here is that there are an infinite number of combinations of events that take place in a computer and the most sensitive one may take place only once in a my excellent compatriot's age but that one can be the little devil that reboots your computer once a week.
 
It seems to me from what I have read the problem is a bad power supply. Also this mobo has q-fan capabilities which could cause fans to speed up and slow down depending on temps although they should increase when you apply a load because temps will increase also. If you can't afford a voltmeter, grab any 12v light bulb and use it with two wires, if you own a car you own a 12v light bulb. In my car it is very easy to access the tail lightbulbs if the light bulbs dims when plug it in and start a test you have a problem.

Brian
 
cheers for the feedback folks, i am sure it isnt q-fan as i have disabled it, and it doesnt seem 2 work ne way atm- just slows down the proper 10/15 ratio- so back 2 about 2200 from 3400rpm (those numbers from the top of my head), then won't speed up whatever the load or temp 🙁

i might give the lightbulb trick a go, (i have the car, but no money 2 put fuel in it 🙁 ), are those figures from ASUS an*l probe any use above- the 12v certainly seems 2 be fluctuating a lot?
 
If you want to use software to measure the voltages, use Motherboard Monitor.
http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

You can get a digital volt meter for about $15.00 or less from places like Lowes or Home Hardwre.

The problem is that you cannot rely on the software utilities.

It may be that your PSU provides a higher voltage than 12 at idle. But, under load, it may go down to 12V. This may provide an audible difference in the fan noise.
As long as the voltage never drops too much, it should be OK.
 
I had the same problem with my Powermax 400W PSU. Everytime I would place the slightest load on the CPU, I could hear the fans slow/strain. I just upgraded to an Antec 500W it's like driving a Hot Rod with a big V8 with huge torque - nothing boggs it down anymore. The Powermax PSU's are real POS's.
 
i can't get MBM working on my A7V8X- think that its a common problem- i googled it ages ago and found loads of folks with the same problem.

I am stuck with ASUS an*l probe- and i really don't believe a word it says- esp as it reckons my 12v line increases under load- i am pretty sure that isnt supposed 2 happen 😛
 
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