Z6 G5 CPU cooler - Fan or entire unit replacement?

[Ulf_K]

The CPU cooler fan does vibrate "slightly". I have been having issues with CPU throttleing being reported in the Event Viewer log. CPU idle speed was set to 20% because I did not want the fan to spin up and down as the CPU load varied. I thaught that this "Idle" speed was the lowest speed and that the fan would speed up if the CPU load increased. Correct? I beg to differ. It seems that at least in my workstation, the fan stays in this 20% setting and does NOT spin up if the workload increases (!) This results in some pretty hot air coming out from the rear.

Having opened the case, I can see that the fan is in the middle/inside the CPU heat sink assembly, seemingly impossible to replace without removing the entire assembly, and from other multi-thousand CPU pin designs - this means having the CPU attached to the cooler as the cooler is removed from the mother board.  Something I very much would like NOT like to happen.

At least with other designs, the CPU is first attached to the cooler which is then lowered/placed using pin guides right down into the socet after which the cooler is fastened with several screws in a specific order.

HP has a video that shows how to replace the cooler but in that video, it is not possible to see wether the CPU stays in its socket or if it is lifted up. I have some bad experiences with Intel CPU sockets that in some cases have the fragile pins gotten stuck/almost welded together with CPU pins. It was possible to salvage the CPU but the socket and hence the motherboard was destroyed in this process.

HP documentation mentiones two versions of the CPU cooler. I cannot say if the workstation ever had a CPU upgrade but for 300W of dissipated power IMHO it must have been sold with a high performance cooler.

So my questiona are: Is it possible to order just the fan? Can the fan be replaced without having to remove the entire cooler? Does the BIOS "idle" setting in any way limits the maximum fan speed. There are other settings, like OS or BIOS power/performance control. Does either of these settings also interacts with the CPU fan in an "undesirbale" way?

[Ulf_K · Accepted solution]

Checked the status of this machine.

...Computer is covered under warranty "On site".

The fan assembly will be replaced at no charge.

😁

[Ulf_K]

A service engineer replaced the CPU cooler/fan this morning. We discovered that there was almost no heat transfer paste between the cooler assembly and the CPU. No wonder why the machine had been acting strange with CPU speed throttleing.

(Old to the right...)

After replacement, the CPU fan ran quiet. No vibrations. The idle speed was reduced in the BIOS settings and from what I have seen so far, no more CPU throttleing.