Intel Arc A310 ECO's fan is still very noisy

[yosiox]

Previous Topic 

There's nothing to talk about.
All reports have been done and there is nothing to do other than report that there is no improvement.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Yosiox,

Thank you for continuing the thread that you posted before in Intel Communities.

First and foremost, I am humbly sorry that you still have not experienced an improvement for the behavior that you reported months ago. Please allow me to continue assisting you.

I know that you may have submitted this already in the previous thread; however, we need your cooperation to provide a fresh set of information:

1. It would really help us if we can get more information about your system. Please download and run our Intel® System Support Utility from this page. To run it, please press "Scan". After the scan is finished, click next and there will be a save button, giving you an option to save the logs to a text file, please do so and attach the file on your reply. You can refer to How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows* for instructions.

2. Kindly provide your current fan settings in Arc Control

3. Please provide a recent video of the readings that you are getting with the fan when the system is under load and idle.

We will be looking forward to your response.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Yosiox,

I wanted to check if you had the chance to read the questions that we posted. Please let me know at your earliest convenience so that we can determine the best course of action to resolve this matter.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[yosiox]

there is no new information.
this issue is caused by a defect in the video card's VBIOS and leaves no trace on the system.
If you want to know what's going on, the previous thread has all the information.

the only thing that is different from back then is that current driver version is 32.0.101.5972.
there have been several driver updates to date but are all the same.

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Yosiox,

Thank you for your patience in waiting for an update.

Due to the complexity of the issue, please allow us more time to check on your concern.

We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Yosiox,

Thank you for waiting for our update.

As confirmed with our engineers, the latest driver 101.5989 (and even 101.5972 which you have already installed) already contained the firmware update for Sparkle Eco A310 (FW version 20.0.1068).

This said, please check if your Sparkle Eco A310's FW got updated, best to install 101.5989 (using DDU). In Arc Control, go to Settings -> System Info -> Hardware -> IFWI (V-BIOS) and get a screenshot of that. It should show 20.0.1068 which is the latest FW.

We look forward to your feedback regarding our post.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support Technician

[yosiox]

Hi Alfred.

I've uploaded some screenshots, a recording of the fan noise, and the SSU log.

noise when the fan speed fixed seems to be "slightly better" than before.
In the case of fan speed auto, it still makes noise (like waves).
A310 is running AV1 hardware encoding with OBS.

system info, IFWIGPU clock, temp, Activityfan speed, etc (fan auto)fan speed, etc (fan fixed 30%)

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Yosiox,

Thank you for your quickly carrying out our engineer’s recommendations and providing more details regarding the issue,

We will continue checking this and the information that provided is invaluable to us.

Please allow us some time to check on your concern. We hope for your understanding regarding this

We will get back to you as soon as we have developments.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi yosiox,

Thank you for waiting for our update.

Our team would like to look closely on your issue and we need your cooperation to provide exact steps and configuration that you do. It is imperative that we get this date to accurately replicate your workload/case?

We look forward to your feedback regarding our post.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[yosiox]

The Intel Arc A310 is installed in the PCIE2 slot of the ASRock X870E Taichi and is connected via PCIE Gen4x8. No display is connected to the A310. The A310 uses QSV in OBS Studio to perform AV1 encoding.

The AMD Radeon RX7900XTX is installed in the PCIE1 slot and is connected via PCIE Gen4x8. The 7900XTX is connected to a 2560x1440 60Hz monitor and a 3840x2160 60Hz monitor. Final Fantasy XIV is being played on the 2560x1440 monitor.

OBS Studio targets Final Fantasy XIV with window capture as the source, using DWM copy (for Windows 10) as the capture method. Application audio capture is also utilized.

It simultaneously streams and records locally.

Video settings: Resolution: 2560x1440, 60fps

Audio encoder: FFmpeg AAC 640Kbps 5.1ch

Video encoder: QuickSync AV1

Renderer: Direct3D 11 Color: NV12 Color space: Rec.709 Range: Limited

Streaming settings:

Rate control: CBR Bitrate: 12000Kbps Target: TU4: Balanced Profile: main Keyframe: Auto Delay: normal B-frames: 3

Local recording settings:

Rate control: CBR Bitrate: 25600Kbps Target: TU4: Balanced Profile: main Keyframe: Auto Delay: normal B-frames: 3

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Yosiox,

Thank you providing those information.

Please allow us some time to check on this. 

We will get back to you as soon as we have updates.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[yosiox]

hello...

All users reporting this issue are wondering:

"why does Intel Arc Control not have the function to fix the fan speed?"
"why minimum target is 30%?"
"why does it stop the fan when temperature drops below the threshold?"

in the case of Sparkle A310LP ECO at 30% fan speed from 0 to 3000 rpm.
in my use case if lock fan speed at 1500 rpm, GPU temperature should be below the threshold.

we no need to change fan speed automatically.
don't stop the fan.

[FabianX2]

Hey,

any news? I have the exact same Problem. Noisy modulating fan on idle A310LP. 

IFWI: 20.0.1068

Arc Controll: 1.80.5684.2

Driver: 32.0.101.6127

Fan will ramp up and down even in fixed mode. Temps are arround 38 celsius. No diffrence if its used in a vm or bare metal, Linux or Windows.

Is there any fix yet or a way to contribute? And if not will there be an improfment any time soon? Thinking about sending the ARC card back to get a Nivida Card insted.

Really stupid bug. Beside the noise I am really happy with the card but at this state its unusable. 

[NormanS_Intel]

Hello @yosiox and @FabianX2,

Thank you for waiting. After investigating, we found that larger fans are generally quieter because they don't need to spin as fast to move the same amount of air. You can find a detailed explanation in this forum: fan sizes and noise | AnandTech Forums: Technology, Hardware, Software, and Deals

The key factor in reducing noise is fan speed; lower speeds result in less noise. However, due to the small form factor and design, some fan noise is inevitable. I recommend contacting the Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) for further assistance, as they are responsible for the GPU design.

Additionally, it appears that this issue is known with Sparkle products. You can read more about it here: Intel Arc A310 ECO - Revving fan issue : r/SparkleComputer. It seems they are aware of the problem, but it hasn't been resolved yet.

Best regards,

Norman S.

Intel Customer Support Engineer

[FabianX2]

Frustrating to read your take on the problem. I can only reiterate what @yosiox is saying: We shurely know to expect a little radial fan on a single slot low profile card to be more noisy than a big one. Thats to be expected and not a problem.

The Problem ist the modulation. A fan ramping up and down permanently every second (!) is what makes the card impossible to live with. So to repeat what has already been sayed more than once: We want to be able to probably control the fan speed manually. At least in a fixed manner. To prevent ramping up and down all the time. Wich would not be ideal but a first step. In my case at around 20% speed would be ideal.

I "solved" the problem for now by replacing the fan with a resistor, and using a separated power source (old fan control) to provide the fan with constant power. So to be clear: Same Fan, now manually fixed, problem solved, no heat issue at all. The fan can run at around 18% speed constantly in my use case.

[yosiox]

hi...

It seems that Intel doesn't understand our opinion properly.

The problem is that Sparkle's VBIOS tuning is not good in the first place,
but we are saying that the Intel driver (or Intel Arc Control) is not functioning properly because it does not allow users to deal with it.

If the fan speed is set to auto, it's fine if the fan repeatedly overshoots and undershoots due to "poor control"
but the Intel Arc device driver does not provide users with a way to completely fixed fan speed.

We are demanding a way to completely fixed fan speed.

Intel developer, customers, and Sparkle, don't need to look for "defects," "misconfigurations," or "design specifications."

All you're need to do is provide a way to completely "fixed" fan speed.

[NormanS_Intel]

Hello @yosiox and @FabianX2,

I understand your frustration and appreciate your detailed feedback. However, I would like to inform you that Sparkle is aware of the issue. Please refer to this page - Sparkle FAQ - Question 9:

"Why does my A310 ECO or A380 GENIE fan repeatedly switch on and off?"

The issue has been solved by revising the fan curve by Sparkle. Please download the latest driver from SPARKLE - Download Center that could keep the fan spinning without any switching on and off issues with default settings on A310 ECO or A380 GENIE.

For concerns like this, we highly recommend providing feedback directly to Sparkle, as they are the designers of the card/model.

Best regards,

Norman S.

Intel Customer Support Engineer

[yosiox]

we need some information to contact Sparkle.

when we set fan speed control setting to "fixed" in Intel Arc Control, fan speed is not fixed.
even if we set it to "fixed fan speed ​​control any%", the fan stops when the temperature drops below a certain value.

does the device driver or Intel Arc Control provide a function to fixed fan speed?

(In reality, the fan speed is not fixed, but rather on and off, etc, as we have reported many times.)

Is this because of Sparkle's VBIOS?

we can't set the fan speed control to a value between 1% and 29%.

Is it also because of Sparkle's VBIOS?

[NormanS_Intel]

Hello yosiox,

There is an option in Arc Control to adjust the fan speed. However, please note that the Sparkle Arc Card uses different custom hardware. Therefore, we highly recommend checking with Sparkle, as they are the designers of the card/model.

Best regards,

Norman S.

Intel Customer Support Engineer

[yosiox]

Hi Norman

That's not the answer I want.
To clarify where the blame lies, Intel should clarify whether or not the Intel device driver or Intel Arc Control has the ability to fully control the fans.

I will not go into the details of what features they are requesting, as I have reported them many times before (as I have replied to them by phone).

[crom]

Assuming everyone's card acts like mine, it's as if the fans control speed is wildly overshooting and undershooting it's set speed. Like there is a PI or PID control loop that is untuned resulting in this unstable output. I'd be a little surprised if Intel could fix this. It's not that arc control does nothing, you can set a new curve or speed and there is an effect. It's just as if the card is incapable of settling in atany setpoint arc would prescribe.