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Dell Studio XPS 7100 intermittant fan noise
My wife's 7100 recently started to intermittently rev one of the fans (maybe once every few hours). It boots up fine and everything seems normal until out of nowhere one of the fans get really noisy. I replaced the case fan with a Noctua because I thought that one was the culprit.
When this happens I simply shut down, wait a few minutes, and it boots up normally.
It has a Samsung 850 Pro boot drive and two WD Black data drives; early on I disconnected the HDDs to make sure those weren't the source of the noise
Could this be the PSU fan? I can replace the PSU (available on Amazon).
As per Speccy, temperatures all seem within a safe range; I can't determine why any of the fans would start to race--this has happened when the machine was on but idle (not under any load).
Another thing that's slightly weird is that since I replaced the case fan, when this does happen it isn't as loud as it was when the stock fan was still installed.
I'm stumped.
Vic384
4 Operator
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March 29th, 2018 16:00
Since you replaced the case fan already, it could be the PSU fan. But you may also consider the possibility that it is the CPU fan. You might want to consider installing a program that monitors fan speed but not all motherboards report fan speed and PSU fan speed is usually not reported.
Vic384
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March 29th, 2018 16:00
Since you replaced the case fan already, it could be the PSU fan. But you may also consider the possibility that it is the CPU fan. You might want to consider installing a program that monitors fan speed but not all motherboards report fan speed and PSU fan speed is usually not reported.
dg27
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March 30th, 2018 03:00
Thanks, Vic.
I guess I'm wondering whether a failing PSU could cause the intermittent increase in fan speed.
I did install the freeware Speedfan, but the results were inconclusive.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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March 30th, 2018 09:00
Sometimes it's the fan, sometimes it's the control .
Some Dells (well, any pre-built computer) use proprietary fans. A generic replacement might turn, but not work 100%.
There should be no question at this point about which fan it is or where the noise is coming from... look/listen closer.
dg27
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March 30th, 2018 17:00
Thanks, Tesla.
The difficulty in being absolutely certain which fan is revving is due to the fact that this is only happening sporadically. Today it's been on all day and it hasn't happened at all.
Before I replaced the case fan I was positive it was that one because I had left the side panel off and I could tell it was the orig case fan.
And what's really weird is that since replacing the case fan it has happened far less frequently, when it has acted up it hasn't been nearly as noisy as with the original fan.
I'm still wondering whether a failing PSU could cause the case fan to misbehave.
RoHe
10 Elder
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March 30th, 2018 17:00
You probably should consider the possibility that (a) the heat sink clamps have broken and/or (b) the heat sink locking lever has popped up and/or (c) the thermal paste between the CPU and the heat sink dried up. Any of those could cause the CPU fan to work harder/longer/louder to keep things cool.
You may have to remove the heat sink, clean the top surface of the CPU and bottom of the heat sink and then apply a thin fresh coat of thermal paste, eg. Arctic Silver, to the heat sink, before reinstalling the heat sink.
You can find instructions to remove and reinstall the CPU fan-heat sink module in the Service Manual with locations of the clamps and lever shown in the drawing on page 28 .
Take care to avoid pulling the CPU out of its socket when you remove the heat sink. Also note that the CPU fan and heat sink are a single unit, so do not try to separate them.
And there are lots of youtube vids about applying new thermal paste, if you need more info.
dg27
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March 31st, 2018 06:00
Thanks, Ron, for posting such complete information. I was afraid that the CPU heatsink might be involved. Haven't messed with a CPU since my Dell XPS 8400.
There was a new wrinkle today when the system flashed that message that's pretty impossible to read in its entirety: "Alert! Previous attempts at booting... ." I think it cited checkpoint 8.
I'll post again when I have more info.