fan interview questions
Top fan frequently asked interview questions
I bought a new computer with an ASRock H61M motherboard and XILENCE ICEBREAKER 64 Pro PWM CPU FAN. The problem is that I can't control the speed of the FAN.
I tried settings in the BIOS and with SpeedFan as well as with ASRock extreme tuner. After applying the new configuration the fan is still rotating at full speed (around 2,100 RPM).
How can I solve this issue?
Source: (StackOverflow)
On very cold days, when I first turn my computer on, the fan runs on its highest setting for 20 seconds. On this boot, the computer responds much more slowly than usual. I have to reboot after the computer has been running for a while, then it will turn on with normal fan and operate fine.
What causes this issue and is there anything to do about it?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have a cheap 450W PSU with an exhaust fan at the rear. This fan, however, is very loud.
Is it a good idea to replace the stock PSU fan with a quiet fan with similar airflow? The PSU fan is hard-wired to the PCB in the PSU so I was intending on snipping the stock fan wires and sealing the loose ends with electrical tape. I would then connect the new quiet fan to the PWR_FAN socket on the motherboard.
Has anyone done this before themselves? Is it a good idea in the first place? Considering if my PSU fails, it could take out a couple of other components too.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I know Speedfan does monitor the CPU temperature, but it doesn't have the option to increase the speed manually. I used to have a programme in MAC OS which does that, but is there one for windows 7?
Source: (StackOverflow)
So I have this computer at my work that was giving me an error "Alert! Hard Drive fan failure." Well, I replaced that fan and then when I was bringing that computer back up, I received the following message in the screenshot. It is a Dell Optiplex 755, about 4 years old. What in the world is a pump failure and how do I fix it?
Source: (StackOverflow)
Which direction should I install the corsair tx 750 psu?
Should the fan go on the bottom or top?
It seems the fan should be on the bottom of the case correct?
Update
I have a antec P183 case, so the PSU is to go on the bottom.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have an old Athlon XP computer that I've been using as a Smoothie Router for about 3 years now, after my first Smoothie router (a Pentium 2 266Mhz) died. One of the most aggravating things about this computer is the fact that its noisy. I have built recent computers that have been quiet, but my secret for those is to get high CFU fans and then use the motherboard's fan controllers to make those fans quiet. This computer doesn't have that ability.
Can anyone recommend some super quiet fans in the 80mm and 120mm sizes, as well as a quiet CPU cooler for Socket 754?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I recently picked up an old system with fairly noisy fans. I'd like to replace them, but the fans themselves don't have any mention of their size. Now, I know that there's standard sizes like 40, 60, 80, 92, 120 (and non standard ones, like sticking a box fan on the side of your system).
My question is, how do I measure the size? Is it by the size of the blades, or the square casing they're in?
Source: (StackOverflow)
On my new PC, the component making the most noise is the rear exhaust fan on my case (it is the only exhaust fan in my PC). I tried to disconnect it and watched temperatures in SpeedFan and CPU was usually at about 35 °C, peaking to about 50 °C when the system was under load - this doesn't look too bad.
So I'm considering that I'll leave the exhaust fan disconnected permanently after which the computer is very quiet - the only noise-making components are Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 (CPU fan) and PSU fan (Enermax Pro 82+), both being quiet enough as far as I can tell. (My GPU has a passive cooler.) Also, those two components are moving parts, so they will provide some air flow in the case and, even better, PSU fan sucks the air out of the case, so it kind of is an exhaust fan in itself.
Does anyone run with the exhaust fan disconnected? You don't have to tell me that it's always better to have more air flow than less, I know that, but the noise is also a consideration for me and temperatures around 40 °C should be fine shouldn't they?
(I might also consider getting a quieter case fan, but I'm specifically interested in your opinion on the no exhaust fan scenario.)
Source: (StackOverflow)
So I installed a new fan and upon turning on the computer there was a huge spark with loud bang. Everything stopped working until I unplugged power from motherboard. Now upon boot, computer says one of the fans has failed. Works otherwise. Upon close inspection I see a broken transistor (not sure proper terminology). I mean it cracked open.
The computer is working OK, but I keep worrying about sparks and hence a fire problem. It may not happen immediately. Can someone, with deeper knowledge in hardware, advise whether motherboard change should be done or I shouldn't worry about this or what are the concerns with this situation?
I've included the photo of the damage below, its right next to the fan connector (which now stays unplugged). The model of this seems to be PA102FDG.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I bought my first laptop and the one thing that bothers me about it the fan starts and stops all the time. With normal usage (web browsing) the fan starts for half a minute then the it is silent for half a minute and this cylce is repeated over and over.
Is it normal behavior? Shouldn't the fan blow for longer periods and then stay silent for longer periods? I'm worried about the fan itself if it can take so frequent stops and starts. Is it designed for that? My understanding is it is better for devices to work continuously than start and stop all the time.
What is your experience? Does your laptop fan do the same?
I'm thinking about running some CPU intensive task in the background (like Folding@Home), so that the fan can spin all the time and it doesn't have to stop so frequently.
Source: (StackOverflow)
This is the Windows Vista problem, seen, I think, mostly on dual processor laptops, where % CPU suddenly shoots to about 45% and stays there. Once this has happened, % CPU will never return to normal on its own, though, curiously, "sleeping" the box for a few seconds will reset the condition.
I've seen this happen many times (Sony VGN-CS215J laptop with Intel dual core CPU) when the box is sitting there doing nothing, with only the normal 2-3% background CPU, then suddenly -- BOOM!
"Process Explorer" shows that the CPU in one of these episodes is being consumed by "Interrupts", rather than any specific program.
It is definitely the case that this condition is "real", and not just a problem with CPU metering. When it occurs the box slows down, and sometimes particular applications slow to a crawl (tasks that would take ten seconds take ten minutes, eg). In addition, on my laptop the fan takes off at high speed.
Google searches show that this is a fairly common problem, and many supposed "causes" have been "identified", though they always turn out to be false leads. The problem tends to come and go (it appears that the likelihood of it varies from IPL to IPL, with some IPLs hardly ever doing it and others doing it every ten minutes), so it's easy to get the false impression that the problem has been "cured", only to have it come back.
Microsoft, of course, denies all knowledge of the problem, even though it occurs on several different brands of system.
One clue I have is that it doesn't seem to happen when my laptop is running on battery (though of course with the variability of the symptom it's hard to say this with any certainty). But I tried playing with the CPU speed controls (under advanced power options) and that didn't cure it.
Update 1:
I've checked several times, and there aren't any new drivers available for my box. (There is a new display driver, but Sony hasn't respun it with their special hooks, so it won't work on this box.)
I don't see that "walking the stack" would do any good since the "looping" is in interrupts, not any specific process. I suppose I could try to do an interrupt trace, but it would likely take a lot of time that I don't have.
Update 2:
Update: Today I experienced the failure while running on battery, the first time that has happened. So I know of no conditions that prevent the failure.
Re turning off Windows services such as search indexing, I did that a long time ago.
Update 3: (5/21/11)
On a whim I unplugged the network cable and have been running wireless at home and at work for the past two days. (I don't generally like to run wireless if I don't need to since I figure there's already too much RF pollution.) No episodes have occurred. Weird.
Update 4: (5/30/11)
I've been running for the past 11 or so days, using wireless only. (Not something I normally like to do, since I feel there's too much RF pollution already and no need to add more when a wired connection is available.) And for the past 11 days I've not had an "incident" -- by far the longest incident-free time I've seen. In a day or two I'll start plugging in again and see what happens.
Update 5: (6/2/11)
As a result of a wireless router outage at work, I had to use the wired connection there for two days, and the old behavior (40% or so "events" after 30-60 minutes of up-time) returned. Curious thing, though: On both days, when I brought the laptop home and connected to wireless, the problem would recur within a few minutes. But once I did a "sleep" and "reawaken" the problem would be permanently gone.
To bring the laptop home I'd sleep it, but somehow the "bug" survived through that. Or, quite possibly, the wired interface didn't get reset until after reawakening, and it did something nasty during those few seconds.
Just for reference, the wired adapter is a "Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller". It would be interesting to know if the same adapter is associated with other cases of this problem.
Update 6: (6/6/11)
I'm beginning to suspect that somehow the wireless adapter is the culprit. When it's turned off it can somehow corrupt the system. I say this because the router at work is a little "funky" and I sometimes have to turn the wireless off and back on (via a mechanical switch on the front of the laptop) to get a connection. When I do this, inevitably within a few minutes (not immediately) I get the interrupts back. Sleeping and reawakening the laptop clears the interrupt problem, seemingly permanently (until the next time the wireless is turned off). For the record, the wireless adapter is a "Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN", though it could be more of a problem with the way the switch is implemented.
Update 7: (7/5/11)
I've been running for over a month now on the wireless network adapter (vs hardwired) and the problem has essentially gone away. A few times (due to losing connectivity for some reason) I've turned the adapter off for several seconds and then back on, to reset it. In all but one of these cases, as good as I can remember, I got the 50% CPU problem after the off/on cycle, though, curiously, in several cases the problem didn't appear for 30 minutes or more after the off/on.
Update 8: (7/18/13)
About 10 months ago I had to completely restore my system from backup, and since then I've not seen the 50% cpu problem. (Haven't tried to deliberately provoke it, but the radio has been accidentally turned off on several occasions.) Of course, no Windows bug ever goes away completely, so now I have a problem with Open Office crashing, but I guess I can live with that.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have a MacBook Air with OS X Lion and the fan started running loudly. I presume it is because the system is overheating and would like to determine the cause.
What tool can I use to see what is driving the system to become overheated?
Source: (StackOverflow)