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H110i GT - stock fan #2 speed fluctuates for no reason


jdj9

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Hello everyone.

 

I own a H110i GT for a while and I've noticed a strange behavior. I wanted to ask here if anyone had/has a similar problem before i try anything.

 

One of the fans continuously changes its speed and it is really annoying. I hear the fan speed going up and down all the time. For example while it is spinning in quiet mode at about 900+ RPM it goes up to 1400+ RPM and then drops back to 900+ and then again. It doesn't always go up to 1400+ ... sometimes it goes up to 1100+ or 1200+. This happens every 20-25 seconds. Maybe less, or more.. i can't tell for sure, there is no specific pattern. It might stop doing this for 30 minutes and start again... or it might not start again. I can't tell for sure, i am going nuts. The other fan behaves OK, no problems with that one.

 

It stops for a while and then it starts out of nowhere, it is just random.

 

I have it set on quiet mode i never needed to increase the speed, it does a really good job even under CPU pressure.

 

Could it be a faulty fan? Seems unlikely to me, i think the problem could be with what regulates the fan speeds... Any ideas?

 

The software operates as it should and i can change the profiles (quiet/balance/performance) with no issues.

 

Please help, it is driving me crazy =/

 

Thanks.

 

J.

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Switch the position of the two fan connectors on the y splitter. If the same fan is still acting quirky, it might be the fan. You could then move it to the motherboard to confirm the behavior. If the odd speed changes move to the other fan after the swap, it may be an issue with the controller or if lucky, the splitter.

 

Also, make sure your fans are set to the H110GT Temp group and not packagetemp for testing purposes.

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Switch the position of the two fan connectors on the y splitter. If the same fan is still acting quirky, it might be the fan. You could then move it to the motherboard to confirm the behavior. If the odd speed changes move to the other fan after the swap, it may be an issue with the controller or if lucky, the splitter.

 

Also, make sure your fans are set to the H110GT Temp group and not packagetemp for testing purposes.

 

 

Ok I'll try this. What do you mean by "make sure your fans are set to the H110GT Temp group and not packagetemp for testing purposes"?

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The cooler is intended to alter fan speed in accordance with the water temperature inside the system. This is your "H110iGT Temp" in the Link program. If you select the fans from within the Configuration panel, you should see the H110iGT Temp listed as the Group. This is likely accessible in a few places. On some coolers you can set this to CPU Package temp, but it is somewhat unpredictable in behavior and it certainly will cause the fans to change speed constantly as they needlessly try to keep up with rapid changes in CPU temperature. The H110i GT Water temp group is slow to change temperature and the fans should be steady up and down. From what you've described, it does not sound like the fan is reacting to CPU temp, but it is one of the first things you should check and in this case it is necessary to monitor fan behavior.
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OK, I've tried the first thing you have suggested and it seems that the problem could be the fan. I switched the fans and the same fan behaves the same way. Previously, in the "configure" section of the software I've placed the blue boxes which show the fans speed on the top side (where the radiator is), just like they are placed in the case, next to each other. The fan #2 (right one) was the one having this issue. After i switched the fans, the right one #2 still had the problem. I will try to test both fans one at a time to make sure that i found the problem. I will connect only one and then the other on both connectors of the splitter (not actually a splitter, the cables are connected directly on the pump). Be back later.
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Well i guess I'm unlucky. I disconnected both fans and then I tested fan #1 alone on both connectors. On one of the connectors the fan behaves the same way as i described above. The other connector is fine. I knew that this would be the problem, it seemed unlikely that the fan would behave like this on its own.

 

The other thing i noticed right now which i haven't noticed before, is that this behavior happens when i do something on the PC. For example when i open the browser on Youtube, extract something from a RAR file, open a video file, etc... anything that has CPU activity but not heavy load. If i just let the PC sit there idle this problem is not appearing. Remember that this happens on one cable of the "splitter". I can't make any sense out of it. Why does it start fluctuating when there is CPU activity? I set the profile on quiet mode which does not change its speed automatically (or does it?).

 

Also, if this is not a problem and the fans SHOULD behave like that, i.e. fluctuating along with CPU activity (which i doubt that this is the case), why on one fan only?

 

Maybe if i reinstall the drivers/software? I'll try this now and get back to you.

 

In the meantime, i am very interested to hear your opinion on this.

 

Thanks.

J.

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Another update: I've uninstalled again the software and installed the previous version v4.2.4.25. The problem disappeared. It is OK now.

 

Still confused though... How??

 

What do you think?

 

I'll keep monitoring and get back if i notice anything. I'm still interested to hear your opinion. Sorry for the multiple replies.

 

Thanks.

J.

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The other thing i noticed right now which i haven't noticed before, is that this behavior happens when i do something on the PC. For example when i open the browser on Youtube, extract something from a RAR file, open a video file, etc... anything that has CPU activity but not heavy load. If i just let the PC sit there idle this problem is not appearing. Remember that this happens on one cable of the "splitter". I can't make any sense out of it. Why does it start fluctuating when there is CPU activity? I set the profile on quiet mode which does not change its speed automatically (or does it?).

 

This did cross my mind and was the reason for including the blurb about setting both fans to the H110i GT Temp group. Unlike some of the other coolers, the H110i/GT supposedly has independent controls for both fans. I wondered if the misbehaving fan had been set to CPU package temp while the other remained on water temperature. If you uninstall Link, but don't manually clean out the Corsair profiles from C/User/AppData folder, it is likely the prior settings remain, even after re-installation. Going backward to another version may have forced the program to create another profile and it reset to the default H110GT Temp group control.

 

It is also possible there is a bug in the software. This is just a possibility and I don't have the hardware or Link to test it. You might pass this on to Corsair directly through the support ticket system and see what they think.

 

I do not think you have a hardware problem (which is good). I would continue on with the older version of Link and see how it goes.

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This did cross my mind and was the reason for including the blurb about setting both fans to the H110i GT Temp group. Unlike some of the other coolers, the H110i/GT supposedly has independent controls for both fans. I wondered if the misbehaving fan had been set to CPU package temp while the other remained on water temperature. If you uninstall Link, but don't manually clean out the Corsair profiles from C/User/AppData folder, it is likely the prior settings remain, even after re-installation. Going backward to another version may have forced the program to create another profile and it reset to the default H110GT Temp group control.

 

It is also possible there is a bug in the software. This is just a possibility and I don't have the hardware or Link to test it. You might pass this on to Corsair directly through the support ticket system and see what they think.

 

I do not think you have a hardware problem (which is good). I would continue on with the older version of Link and see how it goes.

 

Yeap, so far seems OK. I'll check the directories to see if indeed a new profile was created with the older version like you said. Most probably I'll also contact Corsair as well.

 

Thank you very much.

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This has started happening again with my H110GT. Two changes. I overclocked to 4.6ghz last night updated to the latest version of link today. Even going to a new webpage revs the fans. The fan curve is set to H110GT Temp which is only fluctuating by 0.2-0.4ºc when clicking a new webpage. One of the cores spikes to 50 or so for a second or two. That shouldn't matter though when I have the fans set to the H110GT Temp.
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Did that and its still reving on a simple webpage change.

 

....and then it occured to me that it might be my case fans revving. I remembered changing the fan speed range setting on the Thermaltake Riing fan controllers that night too. Set them back to low speed and sure enough the revving is gone, so it turns out it was one of the case fan sets revving. I'll be rectifying that in due course because I intend to get a Fan controller to power the case fans anyway because my Asus Z170-A fan headers aren't supplying enough voltage on startup for the fan LED's to come on. Nearly every boot cycle I have to manually press the Riing controller boxes to get the LED's to light up on some or all of the Riings. The Riings connected to my H110iGT light up first time every time. These Riings have turned out to be nearly more trouble than they are worth.

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How many control boxes do you have on a single motherboard header? If I remember, you have at least three sets and three boxes. I ran my set with 3x140 for about 6 weeks. After I moved into a new Air 740 chassis, I yanked them after a few days. The Riing fans are too grindy when inverted, something you are avoiding with the side lying orientation. Two up top and two at the bottom was too much. However, I did not have any issues with the lighting dimming or behaving in strange ways, with one set on 'High' speed and the other on 'Low'.
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  • 2 weeks later...
How many control boxes do you have on a single motherboard header? If I remember, you have at least three sets and three boxes. I ran my set with 3x140 for about 6 weeks. After I moved into a new Air 740 chassis, I yanked them after a few days. The Riing fans are too grindy when inverted, something you are avoiding with the side lying orientation. Two up top and two at the bottom was too much. However, I did not have any issues with the lighting dimming or behaving in strange ways, with one set on 'High' speed and the other on 'Low'.

 

Sorry C-Attack, I haven't logged back into the forums for over a week, I've email notifications off. Only seeing this now.

 

4 control boxes one of which with 2 fans connected is connected to one of the H110iGT fan connectors. This pair of fans on the H110iGT always works perfectly. I have this one set to High Speed on the control box. LED's light up first time every time.

 

The 3 other control boxes are connected to 3 different fan headers on the motherboard. These are all set to the Low speed setting on the control box. I've set these mobo headers/control boxes to full speed in the bios. They all light up when I power on but when Windows loads and Fan Xpert in Windows takes over from Qfan in the Bios, the fans stop spinning for a second or two during the boot and then as Fan Xpert takes control the fans all spin up at the set fan profile speeds but some or all the LED's go out. Today for example the LED's on all fans did actually re-light. Other times one control box set of fans will light up but the others won,t. Other times 2 out of 3 control box sets will light up. Most confusingly of all, sometimes 1 of the 3 fans on a single control box won't relight but the oither 2 fans on that control box will.

 

I really wish I'd known theres was Hi/Low speed control on these fans which seem to be the root of the problems. I bought them thinking the boxes only controlled the lights.

 

Anyway, I ordered the Thermaltake Commander FT 5.25" Fan controller to connect the control boxes to. Hopefully this will solve the LED issue and at the same time I can position the temp probe that comes with it in or around the GPU Heatsink so that the GPU can more directly control the speeds of these fans. Its only when my internally exhausting Palit Super Jetstream GTX1080 is working hard and pumping heat into the case that I need to ramp up the case exhaust fan and the 5 intake fans (to feed the 1080 with cool air and to increase the case positive pressure to push the GPU exhausted air out of the case.)

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but had I known about the new Corsair LED fans, I probably would have gone for them instead.

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Hmm.. the only thing I can think of is the fan headers in Q-Fan in the E-Z BIOS are set to DC mode and then that control box is having trouble with the reduced voltage. Make sure the three box headers are set to PWM. The exact fan profile (Standard, Turbo, Quiet, Full) should not matter after that -- other than for the 17 seconds in takes Windows to load up. I don't know about the Z170 BIOS, but the X99 coloring is a bit counter-intuitive on the PWM vs DC selection. The color scheme and makes it seems like on should be off and vice-versa. You know you are on the PWM mode when the standard fan curve goes down to 25%. On DC mode is has a minimum of 60%.

 

Don't feel too bad about missing out on the Corsair RGBs. It would set you back quite a bit at the current prices. Also, the controller scheme works a little different. I don't have any either, but it's not exactly the same as the Riing. This might also be of interest... I picked up a black 740 just to check it out. It more or less addresses all of the shortcoming on the 540, particularly the bottom area. Of note, the bottom feet are completely removable and I really like that case on it's side, perhaps even better than the standard position. Native bottom fan placements help it looks much better and I can put it on my right hand side without fussing about the bottom. It's only available in black right now, but I though I would pass that along. I am back in my white 540, with good old fashioned R-G-Wh SP/AF140 LEDs for the holidays. Maybe I am being nostalgic, but this very simple arrangement is rather pleasing.

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  • 2 years later...
So, after a very long time i finally found the solution to this annoying issue. Firstly, the radiator fans where configured to respond to the 'CPU package' instead of the 'H110i GT temp', being the temp of the liquid in the radiator, just like mentioned above. I changed it to the latter and the problem was solved partially. This was a long time ago. I am not sure if the version of Corsair Link played any part in this. I'll try the newest version and report back. However, the case fans continued to rev up and down and i could not find the solution until now. I got used to it but lately it started annoying me again. So, in the BIOS/UEFI, the chassis fans where also set to respond according to the CPU temp/activity. I changed it from 'CPU' to 'motherboard' and the problem was solved (DC mode). I feel stupid that this hasn't crossed my mind for so long.
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