sparkle Intel Arc A310 fan control not improved in 5379 and 5382

[yosiox]

these drivers include dg2_sparkle_lp-eco-a310_config-data.bin and dg2_acer_predator-bifrost-a770_config-data.bin
My Sparkle Intel Arc A310 ECO's firmware was updated when I updated the driver, but nothing improved the poor fan controls. It keeps repeating 0-3000🤬
I stop this poor fan, install a heat sink, and use a 140mm fan to blow air from the side.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello yosiox,

Thank you for posting in the communities. I noticed you are experiencing fan issues in your system and mentions it keeps repeating 0-3000. Are you referring to the fan rpm? When using Intel Arc Control On Screen Display, what temperature is showing up? This will help us identify if there is are overheating issues. May I please know what is the heatsink model that you have used in your system? Please also tell us more about the behavior of your Intel Arc so we can help you. I will be waiting for your reply. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[yosiox]

Hello,

Yes, this is regarding the fan speed.
https://www.sparkle.com.tw/en/A310-ECO 
I am currently using the Sparkle Intel Arc A310 ECO as an AV1 encoder, and no display is connected.
I have set the fan control to automatic and will upload a screenshot of the performance graph in Intel Arc Control during AV1 encoding.
However, please note that this longer interval of 0-3000 RPM repeating is due to additional cooling provided by an extra heatsink and fan.
Without additional cooling, the 0-3000 RPM intervals would be shorter.

I use a custom fan curve to set the fan to 0%,
install multiple heat sinks used for general FPGAs and ICs and use additional fans for cooling.
With this cooling, the GPU temperature seems to be stable at around 54℃.
(This is because the original fan starts when the GPU temperature exceeds the fan curve setting)

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello yosiox, 

Thank you for sharing this information. I will be checking this internally with our team and get back to you as soon as possible. 

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello yosiox, 

Thank you for patiently waiting. Upon coordinating with my team, we want to further investigate this for you. As such, please share the following details: 

1. Are you experiencing the similar situation with Acer BiFrost A770 as described in this article? 
2. Were you able to do a clean uninstall of the Arc GPU driver using DDU before installing the latest version?
3. When you said "install multiple heat sinks used for general FPGAs and ICs and use additional fans for cooling", where did you install the heat sinks? 
4. Do you have ample cooling for the PC Chassis (not just the heatsink installed and additional fan directed at the GPU). The reason we ask is we want to isolate for overheating issues. You may also visit this article for reference: Overheating and Thermal Issues on Intel® Arc Graphics.
5. To be more familiar with your configuration and check for possible errors, please share with us your SSU logs.

I will be waiting for your reply.

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[yosiox]

Hello,

1. No, this issue is different. The simplest solution would be to abandon controlling the fan speed through the driver or VBIOS and instead add a feature that allows users to specify the fan speed. The current fan control method is too poor in terms of control, resulting in failed feedback control and repeated overshoot and undershoot. Normally you should use PID control like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional%E2%80%93integral%E2%80%93derivative_controller 

2. No, reinstalling Windows won’t change anything. The method of installing drivers is not relevant.

3. The heat sink uses thermal pads and is attached to the back of the board, but this issue is not related.

4. This problem is not due to overheating. It’s not an error either. The configuration is also not relevant.
5. I don't think you can get any information from the SSU log, but I'll attach it.

[Italiandevil0505]

I also have the Sparkle A310 ECO and it has the same behavior. I have ample cooling in the case but the fan speed is all over the place and extremely annoying. It is so bad that I just took the card out until these drivers get fixed. Happy to provide any information need to turn this into something usable instead of the $150 paper weight that it currently is.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello yosiox, 

Thank you for being active with our questions. I will proceed in coordinating this details with our team and get back on this thread as soon as possible. 

As for Italiandevil0505. I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing issues similar to yosiox. I highly encourage you to create a new thread so we can give you the full focus of our support. Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello yosiox, 

Thank you for patiently waiting. We are currently investigating this for you. We do require additional details in order to do this., kindly please send us a screenshot with the whole picture of the fan curve that you have set when you encountered this issue as this might help us understand why this is occurring. I will be waiting for your reply. 

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[yosiox]

It seems like Intel developers still don't understand what the problem is, so I've prepared some additional information.

This is the performance graph when the fan control is set to target 100%.

And this is the link to the file that recorded the fan sound in 100% case
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S-JcXxc9uoJDtJ5G324mwPnqAOr8Mr4c/view?usp=sharing 

This is a performance graph when the fan control is set to auto.

And this is the link to the file that recorded the fan sound in case of auto

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RyKkaSRsx19s60BESDsFcaa7JBUAH8dY/view?usp=sharing 


And this is a graph that shows the fan speed at idle that we users want.
(red line)


I have set the fan curve as below to stop this very noisy fan.


And I installed an additional heat sink and fan to control the temperature to around 55℃ even while QSV AV1 encoding.
There is no need to talk about the undesirability of 55℃.
The case has enough airflow to ensure that the temperature inside the case does not rise

Why does the fan speed keep going up and down?
I've been working with computers since before MS-DOS, but I don't know of any video card other than the Intel Arc that makes the fans so noisy even when the temperature is constant.

Is this product an industrial grade product?
It shouldn't be.
Temperature is definitely a priority for automatic control, but noise should be a priority as well.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello yosiox, 

Thank you for sharing this information. I assure you that we are asking this details as we want to be able to arrive with a correct resolution for you. I will proceed in coordinating this back with our team for a proper investigation and get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Ramyer M.

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[yosiox]

Sorry, I noticed that the Google Drive link did not have the correct sharing permissions because I received a request.

Fixed so that it can be access without request.

[RamyerM_Intel]

Hello yosiox, 

Thank you for patiently waiting. We appreciate the details you have sent and for fixing the Google driver permissions. Upon coordinating with our team, I want to let you know that we have already notified (Sparkle) about this issue and a fix is on its way. For further information we highly recommend contacting Sparkle. 

I will be closing this case for now but should you have new questions, feel free to create a new thread as this one will no longer be monitored. 

Ramyer M. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[yosiox]

I received a message from sparkle saying that this fan on/off problem has been resolved in 5534.

but not resolved.

I set the fan curve to auto, fan still keeps on and off.
even if I fix the fan curve, fan keeps on and off.

It's useless. 🤬
I will also consider removing the GPU fan from the A310 and controlling it externally.

[ignabe]

I have the same problem with my Sparkle a310-ECO.
Has there been an update to fix this?

[eagle_941]

The "fixed" upgrade did not solve the annoying fans. It still dips constantly and sitting next to it while it's doing that dipping drives me nuts. It's extremely annoying to the point where I am genuinely considering returning the card altogether and not even using a GPU on the system. See those constant dips on the graphs? They are VERY AUDIBLE and very frustrating. They happen regardless of the temperature. Also, graph setting is intended not to allow any value between 0-30%? It's either 0 or 30% and nothing in between? On average use I don't need it at 30%, I can make do with 15%-25%, the customization of the curve is horrible all around. I want to see FLAT lines when the temperature is flat.

[desmin88]

Can also report this issue this persists. I am baffled this made it through QA. This is completely unexpected fan behavior for a GPU. Will be returning.