Arctic P12 emitting a powerful, unusual deep sound around 800+ RPM
Arctic P12 emitting a powerful, unusual deep sound around 800+ RPM
Hello everyone! I just bought a Cooler Master NR200P from Facebook Marketplace. The detailed specs are at the end of this post. I’ve observed that the two Arctic P12 PWM fans at the bottom make a surprisingly loud noise when the speed goes above about 800 RPM, and it gets louder as you increase the speed. A video with me adjusting the speed using the Fan Control tool is attached. I’m trying to figure out what’s causing this. At first, I thought it might be bad bearings, but even if that’s the case, what should I do to fix it? Or is there another explanation? Any tips or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks! Specs: OS Windows 10 Pro, CPU Ryzen 5 3600, GPU EVGA GeForce RTX 2060, RAM 16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB @ 3600MHz, motherboard Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX rev. 1.0, PSU Corsair SF600 80 Plus Gold SFX Modular, 600W, cooler Noctua NH-L9a, storage 1TB Crucial P1 M.2, fans include two Arctic P12 PWM 120mm mounted at the bottom, two Cooler Master SickleFlow 120mm at the top, and one Noctua NF-B9 redux-1600 PWM 92mm in the rear. IMG_6212.mov
Take them out and check them. Likely the bearings are damaged and will require replacement. If you leave them connected and remove the screws, you can quickly identify the faulty one by applying pressure to the hub to halt movement. If the sound ceases, the part is broken.
During quick testing I gathered two insights: First, the "bottom fans" setting I created in the Fan Control app actually manages both top and bottom fans, but the top fans keep spinning even when set to 0 RPM or 0%, increasing speed as the slider moves. Second, the noise issue stems from the top-mounted SickleFlow fans (including the NR200P), not the Arctic P12 units. This brings some comfort since I planned to replace them eventually. It seems the SickleFlow fans are indeed quite loud, though not at full volume. Since both seem affected, it might just be a bad batch. Any suggestions would be appreciated! I’ll update my original post accordingly.