Is this noise coming from my computer normal?

[martin-w 3,235]

The way to determine if its the fans is to disconnect one at a time.

But yes, you say its not a fan, but is it the PSU fan? 

Noise can come from fan bearings, fan resonating with the case due to no rubber mounts, graphics card fan, graphics card heat sink fins rattling, AIO pump noisy and yes coil whine. Coil whine can indeed come from the motherboard.

I couldn't hear anything in your video. 

Edited March 3, 2021 by martin-w

[Tomaz Drnovsek 440]

4 minutes ago, martin-w said:

The way to determine if its the fans is to disconnect one at a time.

But yes, you say its not a fan, but is it the PSU fan? 

Noise can come from fan bearings, fan resonating with the case due to no rubber mounts, graphics card fan, graphics card heat sink fins rattling, AIO pump noisy and yes coil whine. Coil whine can indeed come from the motherboard.

I couldn't hear anything in your video. 

I guess you need to turn up the volume to 11 then 🙂 . If you go to 0:42 and start listening. The sound you hear stops at 0:48 when the computer stops. It's a steady, same pitch humming sound. I guess I made a mistake to show the fans in the video because everybody now assumes the sound is from the fans because it kind of sounds like that and they are looking at that big fan turning. I'm telling you, it's not. I already did everything you mentioned about the fans 🙂 I listened to every one. I stopped every one. It's 200% not from the fans. I located it from the motherboard around the CPU but can't say 100% what is it... MB, CPU or AIO water cooler pump.

I hoped somebody else would experience the same thing. I guess my next move is to unplug the water pump for a few seconds.

[martin-w 3,235]

A "hum" is exactly what the AIO pump sounds like. One of the reasons I stick to air. 

You say there's no software with your AIO... in that case nip into the BIOS and turn down the pump rpm and see if it disappears.

You can disconect the pump temporarily, as AIO's temp to still cool for a while without pump running, unrill they get heat soaked. Not too long though, just enough to determine if it's the cause.

But yes, a hum is normal pump noise.

[Tomaz Drnovsek 440]

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

A "hum" is exactly what the AIO pump sounds like. One of the reasons I stick to air. 

You say there's no software with your AIO... in that case nip into the BIOS and turn down the pump rpm and see if it disappears.

You can disconect the pump temporarily, as AIO's temp to still cool for a while without pump running, unrill they get heat soaked. Not too long though, just enough to determine if it's the cause.

But yes, a hum is normal pump noise.

Well, in that case it's almost certainly the pump then because if it's not the pump is dead silent 🙂

This is my first build with AIO water cooling, I was always on air so I don't have any experience. I actually thought AIO is silent except from fans.

I did unplug it for literally 3 seconds but it was still humming.. maybe it needs more time to shut down? I'm not comfortable with unplugging it for longer. I also didn't find any setting in the BIOS, the pump is on full speed all the time. I think that's by design.

[LABOX 40]

38 minutes ago, Tomaz Drnovsek said:

Well, in that case it's almost certainly the pump then because if it's not the pump is dead silent 🙂

This is my first build with AIO water cooling, I was always on air so I don't have any experience. I actually thought AIO is silent except from fans.

I did unplug it for literally 3 seconds but it was still humming.. maybe it needs more time to shut down? I'm not comfortable with unplugging it for longer. I also didn't find any setting in the BIOS, the pump is on full speed all the time. I think that's by design.

You should be able to control the pump speed via FanXpert, which is part of Asus AI Suite III. I‘m not 100% sure, but I think the software came with my Asus Z-490 Rog Strix Board.  Anyways, you can download it for free on the ASUS site.  
 

FanXpert will let you setup your own fan control profile very quick and easy. 

[Republic3D 1,231]

If the sound is from nearby the CPU, well then it is the AIO pump. It's the only thing that moves in that area of the computer. 

Like some have mentioned, tilt the PC to the side. Or turn it off and flip it upside down for a little while. If there's air in the AIO loop it will move when you move the computer. 

Another thing I usually do if I hear a weird noise is gently push on the different components to see if it helps. It's an easy way to find out where it comes from. But like I said, it's probably the AIO. It could be a good idea to physically check if the AIO pump cable is connected to the correct connector. If it's not, it might be running at a different speed than what it's supposed to be at.

[G-RFRY 1,710]

Check your GPU the fans can spin up. Go back to the PC builder and ask.

Edited March 4, 2021 by G-RFRY

[Tomaz Drnovsek 440]

9 hours ago, Republic3D said:

If the sound is from nearby the CPU, well then it is the AIO pump. It's the only thing that moves in that area of the computer. 

Like some have mentioned, tilt the PC to the side. Or turn it off and flip it upside down for a little while. If there's air in the AIO loop it will move when you move the computer. 

Another thing I usually do if I hear a weird noise is gently push on the different components to see if it helps. It's an easy way to find out where it comes from. But like I said, it's probably the AIO. It could be a good idea to physically check if the AIO pump cable is connected to the correct connector. If it's not, it might be running at a different speed than what it's supposed to be at.

Thanks, I'll do that.

But I guess that's just how this pump rolls. I found a few posts on the internet with exactly the same description and it's the "normal" sound the pump makes. I just don't know if just certain pumps make this sound or only a few people have AIO water coolers because if I stumble upon a post like that in the future I'll know immediately what's the issue.

If there are also completely silent pumps I'll actually consider buying one of those because this humming can get pretty annoying.

[martin-w 3,235]

1 hour ago, Tomaz Drnovsek said:

Thanks, I'll do that.

But I guess that's just how this pump rolls. I found a few posts on the internet with exactly the same description and it's the "normal" sound the pump makes. I just don't know if just certain pumps make this sound or only a few people have AIO water coolers because if I stumble upon a post like that in the future I'll know immediately what's the issue.

If there are also completely silent pumps I'll actually consider buying one of those because this humming can get pretty annoying.

 

It's something that varies. I built a mini ITX rig for my daughter and went with a Corsair H100i. Cooled well, and fit inside the small case nicely. But yes, you could definitely hear the pump, even on low speed. In fact I could even hear it humming in the toilet directly below her room. 😁 I think because it was on her desk, and resonating.

I'm surprised your AIO doesn't have software with it. Most do. That way you would have control over your pump RPM. Pumps don't have to run at 100%. I'm presuming your pump is connected to the motherboard header and is thus controlled by PWM. Or it could be that whoever built your system configured it to always run at 100%.

But yes, you can enter the BIOS, find the section in the BIOS that deals with fan headers and you will find the pump or fan header that its plugged into. You can then alter the RPM. 

And as suggested before, Asus Fan Xpert is very good, I always use it to control my fans. You can set up a pump speed profile that way. In fact, modern Asus boards allow you to do the same from within the BIOS, no need to install Fan Xpert. 

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by martin-w

[rayharris108 259]

There’s some great support here no doubt, but why couldn’t you just ring your supplier if you only got the machine a week ago? I’m sure you won’t look like a fool - after all you’re a paying customer who’s not 100% happy after spending a good bit of cash with them...
 

Sorry if I Missed something I’m on the iPhone....

[Tomaz Drnovsek 440]

1 hour ago, rayharris108 said:

There’s some great support here no doubt, but why couldn’t you just ring your supplier if you only got the machine a week ago? I’m sure you won’t look like a fool - after all you’re a paying customer who’s not 100% happy after spending a good bit of cash with them...

That would be my last step if I thought something is actually wrong with one of the hardware components. Before doing that I just wanted to do a bit of a research myself and also ask others if they experience the same thing or have any ideas what could it be. Aren't forums a good place to do such a thing? As it turned out this noise is normal for AIO pumps with which I previously had no experience and didn't know they make any noise. Why would I immediately ring a supplier or a repair shop without trying to figure it out what am I dealing here by myself first? If I worked there I wouldn't like people calling all day with basic questions like this, although I'm sure they would be professional and try to answer my question anyway.

[Tomaz Drnovsek 440]

It was the pump running at 100% all the time. I downloaded Asus AI Suite and set the fan curve with FanXpert and now it's almost silent when computer is not doing much work. Why do they set it to run at 100% all the time by default? Anyways, problem solved!

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Tomaz Drnovsek

[Tomaz Drnovsek 440]

Some say on the internet that pumps should always run at 100%. Are there any negative effects setting the pump on a curve?

[Ted Striker 338]

That is a question for the manufacturer of the pump and your own testing. Consult the manfuacturer and the AIO literature to make sure the pump motor is designed for variable speed. Once confirmed put a load on your machine either with stress test software or a high load situation with your flight sim. Reduce the pump speed 10% and watch the CPU temperatures. After the temperatures are stable record the temp and reduce the speed another 10%. Repeat until temperatures get uncomfortably high. Only your testing will be able to determine how much you can safely reduce your pump speed plus you will learn a lot about the cooling characteristics of your machine. The testing will also give you the knowledge and confidence to create a curve for the pump. You can do the same with the radiator fans also although you need to be careful in testing that only either the fan or pump speed is changing during each test.

Ted

[LABOX 40]

15 hours ago, Tomaz Drnovsek said:

Some say on the internet that pumps should always run at 100%. Are there any negative effects setting the pump on a curve?

Great you figured it out! I have mine at 45% with 75° Celsius set as critical temperature and it´s working fine. Been like that for months. Temps are in the 30s to 40s. When running P3D 4.5 it peaks at 79, but only with tons of AI traffic in dense areas with addon airports and dirty weather.

This is with a Meshify S2 case with 3 stock fans and an Arctic Liquid Cooler 360. 10850k running at stock speed (turbo at 4.8/4.9ghz; HT off).

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by LABOX