MSI Radeon R9 270 Fan issue?

[Rainy]

UPDATE: CPU Fan Issue

So I've just received my MSI Radeon R9 270 OC edition and I'm a little worried. When it's idle you cannot hear it at all (as it should be) even when I play LoL it's still pretty quiet. However, I tested out Batman Arkham Origins, and the fans increased rapidly and consistently until it was very noticeable, I checked the temperature and it said 57/58 degrees, nothing to be worried about right? But why are the fans increasing so rapidly when I've only been in the game for 5 minutes.

Are these fan speeds normal? If anyone else with the same card could tell me if theirs does the same that would be great.

UPDATE: Ok, I wrongly associated the fan noise with the GPU, it is actually my CPU fan that goes crazy when in game, although it didn't when I had my Radeon 6670. I have the Stock fan, and now realize I definitely need a better cooler, any recommendations?

 

[mantadog]

Checked out some reviews online, couldn't see any complaints about fan noise. What % do the fans spin up to? sometimes they hit a point and bang they're loud as hell, my 7870 is fine up to 50% then after that it really ramps up between 50-55%.

Open up whatever your choice of utility is to monitor fan speed, temps etc see what the fan speed is at % wise. At less than 60 degrees I wouldn't expect it to be too loud.

 

[Rainy]

Ok just tested it now with Mirror's edge, everything set to max with 16X AA, MSI afterburner showed the fans to be at 63% at peak, with HW monitor showing the temperature to be around the mid 50's. However, there was a strange conflict, HWMonitor showed the GPU fan to be spinning at around 1020RPM, but a fan with the same name, (FANIN0) in the overview showed it to be spinning at above 5000RPM.

Now i'll be honest, I've never had a higher end GPU, my last card was a Radeon HD 6670, and I could never hear it even when playing Arkham origins, Hitman absolution etc. Perhaps I'm just not used to the sound these sort of cards produce?

UPDATE: Ok so I took my side panel off, played Mirror's edge, couldn't hear the GPU at all, whisper quiet, which kinda sucks because that means I need a new case, currently I have a Zalman ZM-T3, part of the mini series.

New question, is it ok to leave the side panel off until I get my new case?

 

[mantadog]

No room for extra chassis fans on that case? One side fan blowing cool air onto it might solve the problem.

Yes it should be ok to leave it open, so long as you don't have pets or small children that are likely to lick anything inside it...

Higher end cards do make a bit of a noise, 63% at only 50-60 degrees is quite a high speed. My 7870 tops out at about 50% at 70 degrees.

Your other option would be to manually select the fan speed in the AMD catalyst control panel (overdrive section) set it at an acceptable level and game for a while see what the temps do.

 

[Rainy]

UPDATE: Please read first post.

What would be a good CPU cooler to buy for an AMD FX 6300? Thanks for all your help by the way, really appreciate it.

 

[mantadog]

What cooler are you running at the moment, intel or AMD stock or another aftermarket one?

It could be that the GPU was bottlenecking the before and the CPU wasn't having to work so hard to keep up, now the CPU might be working 100% and is not the bottleneck. That could explain it.

Run prime 95 and see if you get the same noise, also take a note of the temps it reaches.

 

[Rainy]

I'm not currently overclocking the CPU so would you still advise running Prime 95?

At the moment I'm using the stock AMD cooler, and from what I've heard, not many people recommend using them to game. That could explain it, however it doesn't explain how when I take the side panel off, the fan doesn't work anywhere near as hard when in game.

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO looks like a great option for me, tons of positive reviews and it's only £25.

 

[mantadog]

Yeah you don't need to be overclocking the CPU to run it. It just stresses the CPU to 100% and that will isolate the CPU from the GPU in terms of noise.

What might be happening her is that you have a small case with inadequate cooling for your setup. Are all the intake/exhaust fans working?

When the GPU and CPU are both pumping heat into the case then the warm air cant be expelled fast enough. Have you got any dust blocking vents etc? When you remove the side panel the air can just hop right out and fresh cooler air comes in.

Anyway...

I would do this with the side panel on. Run prim95 and keep an ear on the noise and correlate that to the temps. Leave it running for as long as possible, just to see what the CPU alone is doing heat wise inside that chassis. If its fine after 30 minutes then its probably fine and your issue lies with GPU and CPU together. A new cooler wont necessarily help that, a new case or extra chassis fans will.

 

[Rainy]

Just ran it for around 30 minutes, the temperature of the CPU maxed at 47 degrees with the fan spinning at 4000 RPM, 0 errors, 0 warnings. From what I heard the fan I'm hearing is definitely the CPU cooler.

So what are my options? Would a new CPU cooler not help in anyway?

From the research I've carried out, an AMD FX 6300 should come no where close to bottlenecking a R9 270. There are also a lot of people saying how when gaming, the AMD FX 6300 stock cooler sounds like a jet taking off. To be perfectly honest the sound of it made me panic, if the temperature is fine, there's no risk of damage right? I would much prefer to eliminate the noise though, whether that be keeping the side off or buying a more sufficient CPU cooler.

 

[tom_gr7]

if its the cpu fan you can hear, then i'd almost certainly get another cpu cooler.

depending on your budget, I'd go for anything that has "noctua" written on it. - check its not too big though.

Avoid coolermaster cpu coolers - i had one, it sounded like a jet engine and it was a right pain in the backside to install.

 

[Rainy]

Out of interest, which coolermaster cooler did you have? I've heard nothing but positive reviews for the CM 212 EVO.

If that is the case then I will definitely go for another make, as the whole point of getting a better cooler is to avoid the jet engine noise.

 

[tom_gr7]

It was the V6GT. - it looked and performed very well, however the fans were very noisy.

So, you need to look at the fans on whichever cooler you choose. There are loads of air coolers that perform well, simply because manufacturers whack 2200rpm fans on them. - at that speed they are not quiet.

 

[Rainy]

I don't suppose you know what brand/model PCS use? My brother has a PC from here and it uses an AMD FX 6300 with triple copper heatpipe cooling, his is whisper quiet even under heavy load.

 

[tom_gr7]

I think the the triple copper coolers are made by titan. But i'd give PCS a call and see if you can buy one, or use the upgrade service.

 

[Rainy]

Yeah, it is a Titan, thanks. I'll think I'll order one of those, they're not too wide and I have evidence that they work really well.

Thanks for all the help guys, always appreciated.

 

[mantadog]

Ah I didn't realise you were running a somewhat modern processor.

CPU's output a fair bit of heat, so if your running a smaller case like the Zalman ZM-T3 you can run into issues if you have a GPU also spitting out heat into the small space within the case.

You have 2 options, go for a quieter cooler with a higher spec, or go to a bigger case. So long as you are keeping the temps in the safe zone, the worst that will happen is you get a noisy pc.

 

[Rainy]

My only issue is I don't want to fork out £40-£50 for a new case only to then see I also need a new cooler. If I can get a decent cooler that will fit, I think, I'll just go with that.

Out of interest, do most coolers require you to remove the mobo? I can access the back of the mobo if I take off the other side of the case.

 

[mantadog]

Not sure about the majority, but higher end ones tend to have their own backplate. Fitting them with the motherboard still in the case can be tricky but is more often than not possible with some patience.

I'm sure if you fit a better cooler it will at least be quieter, if your saying the temps are already kept reasonable then I guess its reasonable to just go for a quieter cooler. The better coolers will have a higher heat carrying capacity so certainly wont cause any problems.

 

[Rainy]

I've found a cooler that's stocked at my local electronics store, it's a Akasa AK-968 X4 Performance Multi Platform CPU Cooler. It looks pretty similar to the Titan.

I've read quite a few reviews, all being positive, some saying it reduced their load temps from 82 degrees (obviously an intel chip) to around 40 degrees under load.

 

[mantadog]

Give it a go, it will certainly be streaks ahead of AMD's stock cooler. Id be amazed if it reduced temps by 40 degrees, might get 10-15 MAYBE 20 but 40 indicates that dude has some other issue other than the stock cooler.