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Weird behavior of a fan

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So I bought Corsair AF140 after reading a few reviews. They promised super performance and silence.
Reality is somewhat different, although I am very confused.
I mounted the fan to the top hole of my case, slowed it down to some 900RPM, which produced completely sufficient performance, and after a short while noticed VERY annoying sounds. It was annoying as hell even at lower speed. Somewhere between buzzing and whirling, I don't know. After some time I switched the PC off and took it out, because it was way too much for me to bear. Today I plugged the fan in and experimented with it a little, and noticed extremely weird thing. I' placed it on top of the hole on the case, and it was buzzing. Naturally. But then I lifted it up like 1cm, and it was perfectly quiet. WTF? The moment it touches the case the stupid sound starts. BUT it's not rezonating at all, the case is perfectly fine. I don't get it.
What do you think? What should I do? Except for returning it to the store, of course - which I don't really want to do, because I do need the fan :p
 
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use a toothpick or something to make that gap.

or buy a silicone fan dampener
 

de.das.dude

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cut some slices off the an eraser. use those.
 
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How restrictive is the fan hole in the case? The more restrictive it is, the more noise it'll make as the air is forced through.
 
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How restrictive is the fan hole in the case? The more restrictive it is, the more noise it'll make as the air is forced through.
Hm, it's just an usual rectangular hole with round corners, looking just like an average fan. I just measured it and it's 128mm across. Not exactly 140, yea.

Or do you mean if there is any grill in the way of the air? In that case, no.
 
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Then I'm not sure, it's most probably vibrations.
 
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Not vibrations at all, if nothing else, I am sure of that.
Very small portion of the fan is hidden under the top side of the case btw, but it's maybe little under 5mm on each side. Not sure if that can cause that much noise.
 
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Can you do an audio recording for me? But yes, it's quite possible.
 
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I'm afraid it would sound completely different than what it sounds like. But it might be, because when I placed the fan on the case next to the hole, it was pretty much silent, but when I moved it just a little bit over the hole, it started to make high pitched sound. So I think I am fucked since I don't want to cut this semi-expensive case.
 
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some fan motor bearings start making weird noises when upside down I had a fan like that don't remeber the name but when it was upside dow it make a buzzy/clicky noise. could you show a pic of how it's mounted.
 
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I believe it sounds the same no matter how I position it. It't not even upside down anyway, the sticker points upwards.
I guess I will have to find someone with the right equipment to recess the hole a bit.
 
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