The PSU or Power Supply Unit is one of the most important parts of a computer, it’s sometimes the cause of a lot of issues, with time of using electronic devices you start to notice some annoying issues like the one we’re going to talk about today, when deciding to buy a PSU for the time you have to remember one thing first, don’t go cheap, the reason why I’m telling you this is because the PSU is the part that’s empowering the other important parts of your computer like the motherboard and processor, if it goes down it might take other parts with it, it’s like a guard who can’t fail to protect the kingdom, OK, enough with the drama part, let’s get right into it.
Why does the PSU fan spin quickly
The PSU fan speed is related to the power consumption and temperature, the more power you use or draw and the warmer the PSU gets the faster your PSU fan will be.
How to fix a fast spinning PSU fan
Clean out the dust
Dust is bad, too much dust is even worse, every once in a while you should open up the case and start cleaning out the dust, this time you should focus on the PSU itself and not the rest of the parts, you may use a can of compressed air or electrical oil to lubricate the fan’s bearings.
You’re reaching the max capacity
Some PSUs are 500, 600 or even more than 700 watts, this the maximum power a PSU can handle, if you get near that number the PSU fan will run like crazy, it’s recommended to watch your power consumption from time to time, especially if you were a hardcore gamer, there are also some tools online to calculate the power consumption expected for your PC here’s one I found
Is the fan ticking?
If it is, I wouldn’t open the PSU up if it was still under warranty, the ticking sound is due to the bearings, they are might not be lubricated well, take the fan out carefully and try to lubricate the bearings, that should get the job done and get you rid of that annoying sound.
Update The BIOS Version
Someone suggested to update the BIOS version because it has worked for him, he said it was because of a Windows update, so if you noticed this issue after a Windows update then it’s likely the cause.
Is it old?
If your PSU has been around for a long time then maybe it’s the right time to replace it, it might have failed or got broken.
Ventilation
Tell your PSU to calm down, wait, what?! OK, sorry I was trying to be dramatic and funny at the same time, anyway, remember when I told you that the PSU fan will speed up if the temperature goes up? Well, another solution would be to cool down, have some space for it, don’t let some other part if your PC block the ventilation holes, let the air flow in … etc, you get the point, right?
What have you done lately?
This question sometimes comes to mind my head when somebody asks for my help to fix their computer, What was the last thing you did before this issue occurred?
Answering this question sometimes tells you what’s wrong with any problem, whatever you did before this undo it or reverse it.
Replace the fan
A really good option is to replace the PSU fan, it worked for some and may work for you as well. People always emphasize on getting a reputable PSU unit because you get what you pay for so don’t pick cheap ones, the saying applies to the PSU fan as well if you want to replace it.
How to reduce PSU fan noise if it’s too loud
Basically, with a fan spinning too fast it should be loud as well, so it means if you fix the speed issue the noise issue may get fixed as well, but below I’m going to list a few tips which you can follow to reduce the noise even further.
Use headphones
Not a smart option I know but someone on a forum suggested it so I decided to list it here, using a really good type of headphones which can cover all of your ears is a good option to ignore the noise, especially if you were playing advanced games.