Fan Noise Dell OptiPlex GX280. SOLVED

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I refurbish computers and have worked on my share of Dells but I have a GX280 that emits fan noise like none I’ve heard.

It runs a 3.2 P4 chip and I assume it must run relatively hot, but the fans I have had in it all sound a jet airplanes. I’m on my third fan and there seems to be no difference. I removed the heat sink, cleaned the processor and heat sink and applied Artic Silver thinking that might make a difference but there was no improvement. Any chance the mobo is contributing to the problem or does this combo just run really, really loud?

TIA for your thoughts…

Ron

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Check the bios to see if their is a limit setting for the fan.You can also download a free system monitor here;My link

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Unfortunately Dells use proprietary fan ducts, and you can’t fit a larger but slower fan. When/if the ambient temperature rises in the summer my Dell Dimension 8300 (P4, 3.0 GHz) also sounds like a jet fighter. The same applies to one of our servers, a PowerEdge 2900-III. The only way I’ve found to reduce the problem is to lower the ambient temperature with air-conditioning/cooling.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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I agree with chowur, check the bios for settings that “limit” fan noise/speed. While your at it you can also check temperatures from within the bios.

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I agree with chowur, check the bios for settings that “limit” fan noise/speed. While your at it you can also check temperatures from within the bios.

Unfortunately Dell BIOSes, in my experience, have no such fan speed-limiting options nor any CPU temperature information. Neither do any of the popular temperature-display programs give information about CPU temperatures. Dell presumably didn’t want the motherboards to include temperature sensing information! (You can find hard disk temperatures because Dell couldn’t specify the features on these…)

And if you look at it logically, making available a fan-speed-limiting BIOS option could enable the user to have a completely quiet PC – because the CPU had fried itself!

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate your taking time to respond.

Unfortunately, Dell BIOS provide no means to control fan speed. I’ve downloaded the recommended system monitor and will see if it might help. I’ve used similar programs in the past successfully, but if I recall, they depend on information gleaned from the BIOS. We’ll see…

I’ll add an additional bit of info. I have an identical GX280 with the same 3.2 processor that’s quiet as a pin. I’m really beginning to think this may be a mobo issue.

Thanks again.

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I was able to solve the problem associated with my Dell Optiplex GX280 this morning.

Apparently the extremely loud fan was caused by a poorly engineered heat sink that was used initially by Dell. I’m uncertain if Dell replaced the poorly engineered heatsink with the improved version, or simply offered the new version to those who complained about the noise. When a read a description of re-engineered heatsink, it sounded familiar and I found I had one among my other salvaged parts.

I’ve attached pics for anyone who might be interested. The heatsink with two copper tubes is the one that came with the PC. The other one with added copper tubing is the improved version. Changing heatsinks resolved the problem.

Thanks again to all who were willing to offer help with this problem.

Ron

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I was able to solve the problem associated with my Dell Optiplex GX280 this morning.

Apparently the extremely loud fan was caused by a poorly engineered heat sink that was used initially by Dell. I’m uncertain if Dell replaced the poorly engineered heatsink with the improved version, or simply offered the new version to those who complained about the noise. When a read a description of re-engineered heatsink, it sounded familiar and I found I had one among my other salvaged parts.

I’ve attached pics for anyone who might be interested. The heatsink with two copper tubes is the one that came with the PC. The other one with added copper tubing is the improved version. Changing heatsinks resolved the problem.

Thanks again to all who were willing to offer help with this problem.

Ron

Do you have a part number for the good heatsink you can pass along? I’ve got the same problem and replacing the fan did no good. This sounds like it could be the fix for me also.
Thanks!

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I turned off the hyper threading setting in the BIOS and it really stopped the loud screaming of the CPU fan. So far it is working to cut the noise.
No guarantee, but worth trying.
Zorba

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I had a weird problem. The computer worked fine when in use but as soon as my GX280 was turned off (!) the CPU fan started running at full speed. I had it sitting to the side for months before I just now figured out the cause.

Every time I opened the case it was okay but when I closed the case and the computer was off, it would start racing again. I thought it was a ground or maybe the case opened/closed switch, but no. Then I noticed that the power supply cable bundle at the main board was crimped and one wire even had the insulator cut near the MB connector.

This is a “small form factor” GX280, all the components fit tightly inside the case with little room to spare. Further checking confirmed that when the case was closed, the drives, attached to the case cover, descended and a corner of the hard drive cut into the power supply wires right near the connection to the mainboard. The result was that a green wire, if not others too, were grounded to the chassis and somehow that triggered the fan to start when the computer was turned off.

Solution? Wrap the exposed wire with black electrical tape and then press the wires to lay on the opposite side of the connector away from the drives. It was that simple!

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Changing the heat sink worked. I had another dead gx280 with the extra pipes heat sink. I’ve seen them on ebay for folks who are looking.

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I tried everything suggested here but nothing helped. Finally, I re-applied new heat-sink compound (for the 3rd time). This time, however, after thouroughly cleaning the old compound off of both the heat sink and the chip, I used my finger to spread the compound around (on the chip), leaving a thin layer that covered the entire surface of the chip. Previously, I had been putting a small glob in the center of the chip and then just setting the heat sink down on top of it thinking it would spread itself just fine. Obviously, it didn’t because now my system is running quietly and obviously, much cooler.

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I tried everything suggested here but nothing helped. Finally, I re-applied new heat-sink compound (for the 3rd time). This time, however, after thouroughly cleaning the old compound off of both the heat sink and the chip, I used my finger to spread the compound around (on the chip), leaving a thin layer that covered the entire surface of the chip. Previously, I had been putting a small glob in the center of the chip and then just setting the heat sink down on top of it thinking it would spread itself just fine. Obviously, it didn’t because now my system is running quietly and obviously, much cooler.

Normally putting a dap the size of a grain of rice works well enough, but one has to wiggle the heat sink around prior to lock seating it into place, to get it to spread.
Using a finger imparts impurities and oils that can have a detrimental effect.

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Thanks for posting back with your resolution.

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Thanks, Ron – interesting solution that I was entirely unaware of. I tried to get a better fan/fan duct for my Dimension 8300 which in hot weather sounds like a jet engine, only to be told that it was entirely Dell-specific.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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When my CPU goes at more than 25% usage the noise increases. I will try the solutions from here. But i think i have already the “good” heatshink model.

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Thermal Paste Application Techniques: http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Thermal-Paste-Application-Techniques-170/

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