Fan Speed Issues

[bpr5016]

System Specs - Nvidia GTX470, CPU (?), I use an SSD, and screen resolution (?)

 

Graphics driver version and settings:

(?) Updated to most recent driver a week ago, will post settings later tonight

 

Skyrim launcher settings:

STEP Recommended "ultra" settings

 

STEP version and any additional mods used:

Current STEP version (2.2.1), Texture/quality resolution at mostly 1k", all baseline and extra STEP mods, HRDLC, dawnguard, dragonborn

 

Installation method - Wrye Bash

 

*NOTE: I am on a mobile and can't double check my system specs above. I will update when I get home from work tonight! Did my best to fill in what I could.

 

My Issue:

I finally got through the STEP guide and got all of my mods and ini files configured last night. I gave my new skyrim setup a whirl and started a new character. I ran him all the way to whiterun and played around for about an hour.

 

During this whole session, I noticed my fans were cranking away at very high to their max rpm. They used to switch from high to low rpm gradually when I ran with my old STEP install (2.1 or earlier, I believe). As far as game performance goes, everything seemed to run very smoothly.. no real complaints.

 

I'm not very computer savvy, and would really appreciate any comment anyone could offer as to if this is a real problem or if there is anyway to address this issue. Maybe I could reduce some settings to increase my performance? That might help lower my loudly whirring fan speeds, but I'm just guessing. Thanks for your help!

 

Also please let me know if you require any clarification or additional info!

[rootsrat]

Aobove suggest that your GPU is heating up or maybe even overheating. Use a monitor tool (free GPU-Z application has such monitor for example) to see what temperature is your GPU heating up to. When was the last time you cleaned your PC inside? I'm serious - this can help A LOT when it comes to overheating components. Open your case and get that dust out! Best would be to take the components out of the box and clean them properly. It does make a huge difference.

[bpr5016]

Thanks for the reply! I have GPU-Z and took a log before I started the STEP install. I can post later tonight. My GPU temps get up to around 95C (I think?). Haven't rechecked after installing all the STEP mods.

 

But you are right, it is probably due for another dust down. You recommend removing the individual components? I just pop the side off my case and blast it with some "dust off" on my patio.

[rootsrat]

95*C is WAY too high (considering that 100*C is a boiling temperature ;) ). I prefer take my PC apart and precisely clean individual components separately, hoovering dust from all the grills and cleaning all the fans (the only thing I never remove is my CPU fan) and then putting it all back together. However:

1) I haven't got a patio and

2) I'm a bit of a freak :P

 

I presume your way works too, just ensure that all the parts are sitting firmly in their motherboard slots before turning your PC back on.

[bpr5016]

I found this forum post on another board about someone with a similar issue (see below). It looks like issues of this kind for this GPU are not uncommon. In a related note, I've posted on other forums about my PC build and the consensus is that it is a bit choked for air. My case is a medium HP factory default wimp.

 

Maybe I can adjust fan speeds to help bring down my temp, but it sounds like I'm just making the best of my bad situation. I will still clean the dust out tonight and see if that helps.

 

https://www.tomshardware.com/forum/300634-33-temp

[rootsrat]

What make is your card? I can honestly recommend Gigabyte's Windforce series and Asus' DirectCU II series nVidia cards. These cards are excellent value (price vs performance ratio) and the both cooling systems are absolute winners, in both performance and volume they run at. I've had Gigabyte's GTX580 Windforce Super Overclocked edition, which I then swapped for Asus GTX 660 DirectCU II TOP (only because the latter has more VRAM).

 

Both are excellent cards and even when they are on full speed, you can barely hear them! Bearing in mind that Windforce system uses 3 fans and DirectCU II has 2 fans, it's amazing.

[bpr5016]

I'm not sure what the make of my card is, how would I check on that? I remember buying it from newegg back in 2010. And I would most likely hold off on getting any major upgrades until I start putting together a new rig.. so I hope my GPU is one of those "winners" you mentioned!

 

However, I'm fairly sure that a lot of the fan noise is coming from my PSU. It's a Thermaltake (not sure what model, but I can check on that). I've read some reviews and most claim it makes a racket. Maybe I could run GPU-Z and have it log fan speeds? Not sure if it's possible..

 

In a related note, I noticed in that discussion I posted above that it seems that the OP's high temps could be reduced by ensuring good air flow through his case. Perhaps my air flow is out of whack and this is accounting for some of the high temps?

[TechAngel85]

You can log fan level and tachometer in NVIDIA Inspector (I don't know about GPU-Z). You can also control fan speed with Inspector. This is assuming you have the correct sensors and controls on your cards for it.

[bpr5016]

Okay thanks for the input! I unfortunately had to work late last night and didn't get a chance to work on my computer :(

 

I will update once I get a chance to run some logs and clean the dust off my fans.. Thanks!