Hey everyone.
Got a new system a couple of weeks ago.

Asus Maximus Formula
Intel Q9450 with stock cooler
ATi HD3850
GSkill 4GB PC6400 kit

Kept the case, the PSU and drives.


Now, from time to time, some fan is running faster.
It accurs in a 5 minutes interval.
5 minutes normal, 5 minutes running faster, 5 minutes normal...
But I don't know what is it. Can tell just looking at it.
I know it isn't the cooler, because I tried a 3RSystem Iceage and it does the same.

Everest tells my cooler and case fan are running at the same speed all the time.
So I don't know what can be.
Maybe the VGA fan or the PSU fan.
Don't know how to check what is the problem.

Any clue?

Take the side panel of your case off and listen to it. It should be pretty obvious where the sound is coming from if you can hear it as easily as you are.

I'm also thinking it's the vidcard or PSU. For Vidcard, grab Rivatuner and monitor your fans. Perhaps set the fan speed as well and see what happens.

For PSU fan, there's not much you can do about it. You can put your ear right next to it, but thats about it. Even if it's the problem, you can't replace the fan without voiding the warranty.

Make sure it's not your DVD/CD/Blueray drive. Take out any disks if you haven't done so.

I did it.
But it's hard to say where the sound comes from.

Hmmm didn't try Rivatuner. Tried only GPU-Z, but it doesn't show the fan speed. Gonna try it.

It's not the DVD drive also. I openned the drive while the fan was faster and it kept fast.

Thanx for the replies, guys.

I have a 3850 video card too. It seems to do the samthing that your describing. It will some times randomly just increase its fan speed. (While gaming not at idle). I think when its getting to hot after a while it just spins up for a few minutes, and then once its temps are lower it slowes down again. Its normal I assume.

So yes it sounds like its your video card.

Hmmm good to know.
It may be normal, but it's annoying.
Gonna try to find a solution here. Maybe lock the fan speed or something.
BTW, it happens when idle, constantly.

Yes, the faster fan is from the VGA.
GPU-Z shows the fan speed always at 0%. When the fan gets faster it rises to 13%.
I found a bios for the Sapphire VGAs that claim to fix this problem.
It's here http://foro.hardlimit.com/tarjetas [...] 54329.html
in spanish.
But I don't know if it's worth the try.

So, does anyone think it's a good idea to try that?
I never updated a VGA bios. Dunno if I can have big problems. I think not.

Ive never actually tried updating a VGA bios, but i know if you mess up, it can ruin the card to the point where its impossible to repair. So be carefull. If i where you, id just spend some money on a VGA cooler. It might cost you some, but theres no risk of ruining your card, and it will give you lower temps and make you system quieter (and make it look cooler lol)

If I screw up I'll need another PCI-E or PCI card to be able to flash the HD3850 bios again
And I don't have it
I need to put a second cooler on my case. If the problem is the temp on the VGA it may help a little.
Or not

if you put another fan in it then you are adding more noise at default.so why not just use rivatuner to up the speed of the fan or change it to manual and adjust to the speed you like. then it wouldnt be as annoying because it keep speed up and down.

I'm running Windows Vista x64 Ultimate and, for what I read (and tried), RivaTuner (and others) don't work on Vista64 yet.
Can't access any option.
Tried RivaTuner and another one that I don't remember now. Both didn't work.
That's why changing the VGA cooler, updating BIOS or adding a new fan to the case became my options.
I'm sure a good fan on the case will not make it noisier than the VGA cooler on fast speeds.

thats one of my reason why i stick with 32bit windows specially XP.