Why are some desktops and laptops fans so loud?
In: Technology
The short answer is you get what you pay for.
The longer answer is that size, required CFM, air flow management necessitates a design choice. Powerful CPUs, by nature, generate more heat – needing more air flow for cooling or expensive cooling techniques. Smaller casings necessitate smaller fans which have to operate at higher speeds (more noise). Reducing sizes also means less space for insulation or air flow management. Ultimately the tradeoff is cost, power, noise – and as we learnt in design – you get to pick 2 of these to optimize.
Fans are often rated in cubic feet per minute (cfm). The more cfm the more air is moved per minute and the more you might hear the fan. It isn’t always this easy. Sometimes the bearings inside the fan that let it spin smoothly are not the highest quality and can contribute to the noise. Furthermore, certain computers are designed to operate to very high heat before the fans even turn on to cool it down (MacBooks are the most notable). The longer the computer waits to cool down the faster the fans need to spin.
One reason is dust building up on the fan blades.
Edit: when dust builds up on the blades, they are no longer balanced and the fan wobbles, causing noise. The dust also creates sound as air sweeps over it.
It depends on quite a few things. One of them could be due to the PC/laptop carrying out an intensive task such as gaming or intense video editing. Dust could also be another factor.
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