Z620 fan suddenly very noisy

[apache-2]

I have 2 Z620 workstations, both approx 5 yrs old.  One of them suddenly started making constant growling noises (sounds like a Mongolian warrior from the year 1400), coming from the fan on top of the graphics card.   The label on the side of the fan says "Nvidia Quadro 2000".   

I tried cleaning the fan with compressed air, but after 2 hrs the noise returned.

I'm 100% sure the noise is from this fan because when I stop the fan (with my finger), the noise stops.

Googling implies that it's not possible to replace just the fan, as it's firmly attached the board via thermal paste.   I'm trying to figure out what the specs are on the graphics card, but the "dxdiag.exe" tool is reporting 2 different values.

When I run "dxdiag.exe" the first time, it reports:

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: NVIDIA Quadro 2000
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: Quadro 2000
           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DD8&SUBSYS_084A103C&REV_A1
     Display Memory: 4095 MB  <------------------ ????
   Dedicated Memory: 979 MB
      Shared Memory: 3116 MB
       Current Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (59Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: DELL U2415

However when I click the "Run 64-bit dxdiag" button on the bottom of the dxdiag window, it reports a different value for the card memory:

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: NVIDIA Quadro 2000
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: Quadro 2000
           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0DD8&SUBSYS_084A103C&REV_A1
     Display Memory: 685 MB  <--------------------????
   Dedicated Memory: 979 MB
      Shared Memory: 3801 MB
       Current Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (59Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
      Monitor Model: DELL U2415

Q#1: any idea which one is correct?  (I'm running 64-bit Win7 Enterprise)

Q#2: would this ebay graphics card work?   https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Nvidia-Quadro-2000-1GB-GDDR5-PCI-E-Video-Graphics-Card-616075-001/222809...

Q#3: is there a better place to get a replacement graphics card?  I don't care if it's a few bucks more, my objective is to replace the card with as little tweaking and driver-reinstalling as possible.   This machine is NOT used for gaming, just boring software engineering tasks, so 3-D and other fancy capabilities are not needed.

Thanks in advance!

-Ted

[SDH]

We use a lot of those cards.... very reliable.  Rare to have a fan go bad, but it does happen.

I'd get a used one off eBay to replace that one.  However, did you take the card out to use compressed air from all angles?  I have a compressor in our garage and can blow video cards clean with that.  If you do that be sure to keep the fan from spinning at full speed with a finger on its hub.  You don't want to over-rev the bearings.  nVidia has used a thermal compound impregnated delicate fabric-like interface over some of the chips, and sometimes a small chunk of that breaks loose and gives trouble.

If you're happy with that card I'd not change to another model, but I would not buy one new now unless you found it for a great price on eBay.

[Brian1965]

Hi apache-2,

I've had a few Quadro cards, and as with virtually all GPU cards that have fans, dust and fluff gets trapped along the vanes of the GPU heatsink over time, especially adjacent to the fan. The fan spins faster but it is unable to cool the GPU since the airflow is blocked. If you remove the face plate from the heatsink you will see what I mean, i.e. the fluff is so compressed that it has a density similar to felt material and can't simply be blown out with compressed air. Simply use a small screwdriver or tooth pick to remove the big pieces, give it a quick blast of compressed air, then refit the heatsink face plate. Should only take about 10 minutes to do and you should notice your GPU will be considerably cooler and quieter.

[apache-2]

Hi Brian1965,

Thanks for the very detailed reply, much appreciated. 

 I tried your suggestion, found the felt-like dust build-up, cleaned it out, but when I reinstalled the card and powered the Z620 backup, the growling noise immediately returned.  It sounds like this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L-Q3KCmr50&t=21s

For this particular graphics card, the lint cleaning procedure was complicated by 2 factors:

1) the face plate was attached on with 4 screws (not a simple friction fit), and one of the screws was positioned in such a way that it was inaccessible until I unscrewed the fan assembly from the graphics card, which lead to problem (2):

2) when I unscrewed the fan assembly, it exposed the thermal paste b/n the GPU chip and the fan assembly.   Fortunately I had some thermal paste lying around, so I just applied some new paste.  But this is a "gotcha" others may not be prepared for.

So at the end of the day, it looks like I will be needed a replacement Quadro card like I had originally suspected.

Do you have any thoughts as to whether or not the eBay card in my original post will work?   My only concern is the wierd conflicting reports I got from dxdiag (vs 64-bit dxdiag) w/r/t the card's memory capacity.

Thanks,

-Ted

[Brian1965 · Accepted solution]

It does sound more like the bearings have gone on the fan.

Unfortunately I can't see any images on the eBay listing in your post but here's a link to the HP Quadro 2000 quickspecs.

From what I can read, the card in the listing should be a simple swap.

[apache-2]

Thanks for the link to the card specs, Brian1965, very interesting!

I've ordered the eBay card, will be here in a week or so.  Fingers crossed.

[apache-2]

New ebay video card arrived, and so far (knock on wood) works fine.

Interesting that the new card had the fan cover mounting screws mounted on top (rather than underneath) the case, meaning the ebay video card is easier to service (don't need to break the thermal paste connection  with the GPU chip).

[Brian1965]

I also found conflicting images when I searched for your Quadro 2000 card on the internet with what appears to be a genuine HP Quadro 2000 card;

I assume your original card looked like this;

And the second card I found, (which I assume is your replacement card), looks more like this;

[SDH]

Brian,

The older version 1 of the Q2000 card is the one with squared off heatsink/fan cover, more silver.  That is the one I like better because of its larger quieter fan.

The newer version 2 is more black with the rounded off rear.  Smaller faster fan, somewhat more noise.  Both have exactly same performance and drivers.

There also is the 2000D version with two Dual Link DVI ports rather than one plus two DisplayPort ports.  Some of our high resolution grayscale monitors only can run through Dual Link DVI ports so that is the one we use if we're running two of those monitors in a 4 monitor system.  I've only seen those with the more silver squared off look.