The fan is making a strange noise.

Generally speaking, the noise from a fan is related to its speed, which in turn is linked to the power and performance of a Mini PC. The more powerful the Mini PC, the higher the power supply it needs. A higher power supply generates more heat and temperature, which requires a more efficient cooling system. Unfortunately, a more efficient cooling system tends to produce more fan noise.

So we can only compare the fan noise of the two Mini PCs when their performance and power are similar. It’s impossible for a 36W low-power N100 Mini PC and a 300W high-power Mini PC with an RTX3080 graphics card to have the same fan noise. Without a doubt, the latter will be noisier.

So what exactly is abnormal noise?

1. The fan blades hit a foreign object, making a crisp clashing sound, and the frequency of the sound was related to the fan’s speed. This is usually because the Mini PC’s power cord for the fan shifted during intense shaking, causing it to come into contact with the fan blades. At this point, we need to disassemble the Mini PC and adjust the position of the fan’s power cord to keep it away from the blades.

2.The screws of the fan are loose or the fan’s shaft is off-center, causing the fan to shake intensely when the Mini PC is running. At this point, I need to open up the Mini PC and tighten the fan’s screws to ensure the fan is stable and doesn’t wobble. If the fan still shakes violently after this step, it needs to be replaced.

3.The fan speed settings in the BIOS or EC are unreasonable. For instance, the BIOS settings on a Mini PC have the fan turned off when the CPU temperature is below 40 degrees Celsius. When the temperature exceeds 40 degrees, the fan spins at 2000 rpm. The Mini PC’s CPU temperature hovers around 40 degrees when idle. After a while, when the CPU temperature reaches 41 degrees, the fan kicks in, making noise. Two seconds later, the temperature drops to 39 degrees due to the fan, and it stops. After another five seconds, the temperature climbs back to 41 degrees because the fan has stopped, thus repeating the cycle. As a result, you’ll see the computer’s fan constantly starting and stopping, which, despite not being very loud, the frequent noise changes can be maddening. At this point, we need to report this issue and wait for a BIOS or EC update. Undoubtedly, reducing the fan speed to 1000-1500 rpm and having it start working at temperatures of 20 or 30 degrees would be a more sensible solution.