A fan gets pretty loud when playing games
 

One of the fans in my computer get pretty loud when I play Skyrim (the only game I've been playing on my PC for some months now). I think it is my GPU fan. If I play for a few minutes, it gets loud, and then when I stop playing, a minute later the loud fan stops. It calms down after quitting the game and then things go back to normal in about a minute. Also, I notice the fan isn't working as hard when I pause the game and the screen is darker and there is less visual processing. So I think it is the GPU fan.

This concerns me. Should these things concern me? Or can I play games and things will be just fine. I stopped playing because I was afraid something isn't right. Can I play the game just fine? Is this indicative of a problem? What can I do to fix it?

High end GPUs make a lot of heat, it has to be gotten rid of somehow. Thus either more innovative cooling solutions, or simply faster louder fans.

Has it always been this way, or has it only started being loud? Also, its a good idea to clean your case of dust with a can of compressed air regularly since dust hinders the getting rid of heat so fans need to spin faster to compensate.

It just recently started being really loud. And yes, I need to use a can of compressed air inside my PC. I recently looked inside my PC and had no can of compressed air but thought it didn't look bad. Looks like it really could use a cleaning after all. I'll pick up some compressed air this week and clean the dust out of my computer. Any tips on safely cleaning around the GPU fan?

So, what I'd like to know is, even if the fan is pretty loud, can I still play Skyrim for tonight? :heh: I was looking forward to playing all throughout the day. Would it be bad to play the game with the loud fan, or can I play it for the next few or several days, (and just make sure to clean the inside of my PC by next weekend)?

Also, how can I get a temperature reading on my GPU?

I use HWMonitor to check on GPU temps. Also, a vac set up as a blower can still work to clear out dust.

I downloaded HWMonitor. So I will run the game, and then check the temp right after I quit the game? Or do I do alt+tab while running the game to bring up HWMonitor?

On HWMon, you can see the max and min temps after gameplay, or you can try to alt-tab to check the running temps while playing.

However, I think there some other monitoring programs that you can use to put on top while playing so that it eliminates the need to switch in the middle of a game (and there are some that uses the LCD display on Logitech G-series gaming keyboards to show temps).

Also, depending on what type video card you're using, some mid- to high-end cards can have their heatsinks and fans swapped with after-market kits for better performance and/or lower noise, unless the card uses an integrated blower unit. In my case, I have a card-slot exhaust blower that I use to cool down the lower half of my rig.

If your card was not loud before, but is loud now, it could be a number of things. Is it loud and clacky? Is there a buzzing or rattling sound? If that is the case the fan may have burned out its bearings.

Not loud and clacky and no buzzing or rattling noise. Just seems like the fan works harder than it used to when running Skyrim. I recently started playing Skyrim again, but when I was playing it a lot back in early March, I recall it being quieter.

Also, I used HWMonitor. I played Skyrim for a little bit while it was running, and it kept track of the GPU temperature. Oh, btw, the GPU is a Radeon HD 5750 1 GB. I forget which brand. I'll see what it is when I clean the PC. So the max temperature recorded after 45 minutes of playing Skyrim was 63 degrees Celsius, or 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Is that bad? When I stopped playing, I immediately checked the temperatures, and the current temp was in the mid 50s (degrees Celsius).

What temp should my CPU be at? I have a Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (Quad core, 3.2 GHz). Neither my CPU or GPU are overclocked.

Considering the XFX Radeon 5750 (horrible non-reference cooler) I have in a secondary computer can hit 85°C+ when maxed out at 100% load, not far from its thermal limit of 90°C, a max of 63c isn't bad at all. I'd say your default fan profile is just overkill. Try downloading MSI Afterburner and creating a custom fan curve.

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/5...5750fan.th.png
I use the above curve on the xfx to keep noise as low as possible, but if you have a more efficient cooler on your 5750, you likely don't need anything near as aggressive as mine is. Use the MSI Afterburner OSD to keep an eye on your fanspeed, gpu usage, and gpu temp while gaming. If you ever see temps hit 80c+ on a regular basis, you'll need to re-tweak the fan curve.


If it's your CPU fan going crazy, you'll likely need to check your bios settings to see what tweaking options are available. Max operating temp on the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition is 55°C - 62°C. If that 63°C you recorded was actually your CPU temp instead of your GPU temp, there is your problem. Re-seating/replacing the heatsink and thermal paste may be in order, if it's really your CPU which is overheating.

Thanks for the info, and that temp is my GPU, not CPU.

It might be my CPU fan that is working harder. I played Skyrim and looked at my temps and GPU was fine but the CPU had a max temp of 67 degrees Celsius. So I'll have to clean my CPU fan. That CPU has a fan, right? It must, I would imagine that any higher end CPU has a fan.

I have a Radeon 5870, and ended up buying a Accelero Xtreme cooler to take care of the noise. It's bulky (3 slots!) but I hardly hear anything from the video card now, and temperatures are way lower than before.

I hope you are kidding. Higher end or not, any and all cpu's have a fan. How about take a look inside the computer instead of guessing? See that giant pile of metal on top of CPU? There's a fan attached to that. If there wasn't, your CPU would've melted by now.

67 is high but I wouldn't be that worried about it .. You see, CPU's generate a lot of heat, and with the crappy fan they come with when you buy them, they can only achieve so much. If you want to take care of the noise and prolong the life of your computer, buy an external cooler for it. For example, I have Scythe Ninja 3 on the cpu. It's quite cheap, not the best out there but gets the job done quite well. My temps are while playing about 40-50C depending on a game at minimum fan speed and then 25% off that minimum fan speed by using Speedfan (this way, I can achieve maximum silence). Even without the speedfan setup it's very quiet, and usually idles at below 30C.

I don't see any reason to buy an aftermarket CPU cooler unless you're overclocking. I have a Sandy Bridge i5 2400 (no K, therefore it's not overclocked) and I use the stock cooler that came with the CPU.

It's quiet, my CPU stays cool, and I have no problems whatsoever. My computer only gets even slightly loud when playing games, and it's not the CPU fan making the noise, but the pair of fans on the GPU.

^So your CPU is cool with stock cooler. Well good for you. Maybe now you'll go and read the problem of the OP. As it seems, his CPU just might be running some heat with stock cooler, in which case he definitely SHOULD get an aftermarket CPU cooler.

The stock cooler that comes with i5 2500 (Im sure you meant 2500, not 2400..?) might be good, but saying that you would not benefit from aftermarket cooler .. well you're just deceiving yourself. Even without overclocking, you will achieve cooler temperatures. I have i5 2500K, and the K doesn't equal overclocked, just means you can do it if you want, and my CPU is at 30C right now with minimum fan speed. Care to post your temps syn?

All in all, the OP has a heating '' problem '', so for him an aftermarket cooler is the best choice. Bigger fan and bigger heatsink equals less heat, less noise.

How long have you had the card? What kind of PC case do you have? Did you add any components that would block or reduce air going into the intake of the fan? What are your CPU temperatures?

You're case might be dirty and not allowing proper air flow so it's getting warmer over time inside your case and your GPU needs to crank up the RPMs to keep itself cool. Check the cool air intake vents or the fine mesh screen to see if you got dust clogging them.

I'm not familiar with Raedon cards, but if it's a high or middle performance card they're usually design to withstand temperatures up to 90c or more although you would not want the temperature to get that high ever because that shortens the life of your card. I have heard that Raedon

What the others have said is good. Take out the card and clean it or dust it off.

IMO, the cooler you can get your GPU and CPU to be the better. There's a reason why big networking companies use A/C to cool the massive amounts of station servers they. GPU should average between 70-80c max, but 50-60c for optimal operating temperatures. CPUs require lower temperatures because they're sensitive to temperatures due to their ever compacting and complex designs. They should be 60c max or average around 40-50cs. Heat and moisture are electronics worst enemies.

If you're still worry about your computer there are a couple of things to do.

1.) Completely clean the insides of your PC so dust doesn't clogg your cold air intake vents or the heatsink fins. (Free)
2.) Get aftermarket thermal paste and PROPERLY apply it to either your GPU or CPU heatsink and fan. (Cheap)
3.) Buy aftermarket heatsink and fan for your GPU or CPU. (Expensive)

Okay, I haven't been playing Skyrim for awhile. Someone on this board said that the max temp for my CPU is 62 degrees Celsius and they were right.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/27...processor-fami

I was getting a max temp of 68 degrees Celsius before I stopped playing Skyrim. I don't play any PC games now until I solve this problem. I delayed on cleaning the inside of my PC until this weekend, but I don't know if dust is really causing these high temps.

Do you think dust build up could lead to such high temperatures? I think it might be something more than that. The fan isn't as loud as often anymore. I delayed cleaning the inside of my PC since I stopped playing PC games. I monitor temps with HWMonitor. Temps for the CPU while not playing PC games are safe temperatures.

This last paragraph has some important questions. What should I do to help my computer? Also, if I need to lower the voltage, I think I can do that (no experience with that, but shouldn't be too hard), but putting in a better cooler or removing paste and putting new paste on it; I have no experience with those things. Should I try to learn to do them on my own, or should I bring my computer to a computer shop? I know they will charge more than they should, but would that be a good idea for someone with no experience on these things? Do you think at a computer shop, they could diagnose my problem? I'd like to solve these problems as soon as possible. Is going to a computer shop a bad idea? Would it just cost too much money?

Dust can cause high temperature. If a computer is overheating, the most likely problem is too much dust.

I would try cleaning it out first before thinking about undervolting, or paying money for anything.

There is no problem to begin with. 68C temp is not a dangerous temperature. Sure, it's high, but it's not dangerous and it's not that weird considering you have a stock cooler. It's not gonna explode just 'cause you play games -_-. All modern computers will shut themselves off when you reach the heat threshold to avoid any damage.

Go and buy a can of compressed air, open up that case and clean it. Takes 10 minutes tops. And see what the temps are. Why delay something as simple as this when it takes 10 minutes at tops?

If after cleaning it's still running high .. buy a cooler. Something like Mugen 3 or Scythe Ninja should do the job. Paying any more for higher end cooler is stupid if you don't overclock. . Just make sure beforehand the cooler is supported by your MB. Installing the cooler is rather simple if you read the instructions.

All in all : You can play games. It's not going to explode. You can clean it yourself, and you can install the cooler yourself. What you need to do is NOT take it to a computer shop because they are EXPENSIVE. It will definitely cost you $100-200 for just as simple job as installing a cooler.

If you keep telling yourself that you can't do it and you should take it to a shop for them to do it for you, you'll never learn. And you'll pay for simple things for rest of your life .. not recommended. I was like that too, and just recently I built a computer for my mum. It was the first pc I ever built but I figured it can't be THAT hard .. and guess what, it wasn't.

Okay. I'll take your advice. I'm gonna buy a can of air and a paint brush (with camel hair, I hear they are good for cleaning computers).

I have to admit, with so little experience with working with the insides of computers, I'm afraid of screwing up and having a mistake that would cost me $100 or more, but I also know I'm just being too paranoid about things. I shouldn't be so afraid to work on the inside of computers. It just really comes down to a fear of making a mistake that could cost a lot of money.