PSU suddenly louder

[eklass]

I have an Ultra Xfinity 600 (ULT-XF600) power supply

I just came home, and I instantly noticed that the computer is significantly louder than before. I check it out, and it's definitely the PSU - in fact the fans are pushing much more air than previously.

I know the fans adjust speed based on operating temperature. I don't know of any way to directly monitor the temps, but the unit feels completely cool to the touch. I turned it off for about 15 minutes, unhooked all components (aside from motherboard), but no resolution on power up.

My best guess, is that some component is going bad, overheating, causing the PSU to overwork to compensate. Ambient temperature is ~76F, and the computer was on and functioning perfectly fine. In fact, I fired up some 3D games earlier in the day.

Is there anything I can to to monitor the health of the power supply or further troubleshoot the issue without cracking open the case?

 

[panfist]

I don't have any direct experience with this, but I hear that the fan controllers on Ultra's are known to go bad, causing them to always spin at 100%. Whatever the issue is, you probably will have to call Ultra and RMA your unit.

 

[eklass]

do you have any references you can point me to? i did several searches, but couldn't turn up any reports of this particular issue

 

[mpilchfamily]

If its not the fan controller in the unit it could just be the fan is wearing out so its making more noise. It could also be from dust buildup in the fan.

 

[eklass]

The noise is specifically from the fan spinning faster; the fan is not going bad. This first thing I did when I opened up my case was to check for excess dust buildup. There was a small amount of expected dust, but no bunnies. Of course, I took a can of air to it, but the fan sped did not correct.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Fan controller failure. Call Ultra and get an advanced replacement shipped to you.

Good news? I heard that they've completely discontinued that old X-Finity 600W so you're bound to get an "upgrade". Perhaps a 600W EE (Andyson built) or an X3?

 

[eklass]

Called Ultra... they were very helpful, and although the gentleman could not find any similar issues (I guess in their internal KB), he was happy to do an advance swap for the X-Pro 600W EE. He has to put the charge on my card, and refund once he receives my broken unit, but that doesn't really bother me.

Strange issue, but I was thoroughly pleased that Ultra's customer support was superb.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: eklass
...although the gentleman could not find any similar issues (I guess in their internal KB)...

Yeah. It's called "lazy techs/CSR's." I have the same problem where I'm at now. They either mark the PSU as "good" or "no post" even though the problem could be transformer squeal, low voltages, dead fan, burnt wires.....