How to fix the buzzing from the EVGA Hybrid Kit.
EVGA Hybrid Kit
I own the EVGA GTX 1070 FTW edition card, but decided that I wanted to reduce noise and temperatures by opting to upgrade to the EVGA Hybrid Kit. While I was able to achieve much lower temperatures, almost cutting them in half, I did notice a loud buzzing noise coming from the pump. After doing some research online I found that it is quite a common occurrence when it comes to the EVGA Hybrid Kits, but there is a way to fix it.
The Fix
The reason why there is a buzzing sound coming from the pump is that it is running at full speed of about 1800rpm. Unlike some other CPU pumps like the Corsair H100 v2 which can regulate the speed via power, the EVGA pump is not adjustable since it’s only a 2 pin cable. There are two ways that this can be fixed though, one that is easy and keeps the warranty in tact, while the other requires modding and voids the warranty. In this article I will go over the easy method.
For the easy method all you really need to do is to buy a 4 pin mini GPU to 4 pin fan header adapter. Then instead of using the splitter that is used to power the pump and the fan on the card, you’ll simply plug the pump fan in to the adapter and then in to a fan header on your motherboard and power the GPU fan as you normally would by plugging it directly in to the card.
4 Pin Mini GPU to 4 Pin Fan Header Adapter
Once the adapter is installed you will have to manually control the pump fan speed either via the BIOS settings on your motherboard or software. While Speedfan was once the recommended software for controlling fan speed I wasn’t able to have any success with it on the newer motherboards. In my BIOS there are some settings to adjust the fan speed via mode (Quiet/Normal/Performance) or through CPU temperature setting, but I didn’t like either option so I had to look elsewhere. I ended up finding a great application called Argus Monitor which not only allowed me to control the fan speed of the pump manually, but to also adjust the speed based on GPU temperature. What I decided as the final settings was to keep the pump speed at 50% (1400rpm), but have the radiator fan adjust based on a GPU temperature curve. You can find a screenshot below:
Argus Monitor (shareware)
The adapter can be found on eBay and Amazon.
Conclusion
That’s all there is to it. With this simple adapter and with the Argus Monitor software you can reduce the speed of the EVGA Hybrid Kit pump which will virtually eliminate the buzzing sound.
23 Comments
Ambiente · May 25, 2017 at 5:56 am
How are the temps after slowing down the pump?
thegeekfix · May 25, 2017 at 1:55 pm
I haven’t noticed any major change in temps. I can test it out later today.
Ambiente · May 26, 2017 at 1:15 am
I Would highly appreciate it If you could!
thegeekfix · May 26, 2017 at 2:10 am
So I checked while playing Overwatch and it was hovering at 47C. Room is at 79C. Pump speed is at 50%.
alus415 · May 26, 2017 at 5:40 am
hi, mind if I ask did if you had to open the shroud to do this ?
thegeekfix · May 26, 2017 at 2:23 pm
Yes, you have to open the shroud to get to the connections.
alus415 · May 30, 2017 at 5:34 am
Hi again,
Thanks for your reply, I finally got the 4pin cable adapter and I’m going to try to do this tomorrow so once I open the shroud I will see a splitter cable , now since i never seen the inside of the card so I hope is not too confusing as to what cables I need to unplug and such , do you by any chance have some pics or video on how you did this?
Also I have a question on your article you mention that you are now abke to control both the pump and the pump fan? I was under the impression that you can only control the pump fan not the pump itself, or can you control both? Thanks in advance for your answer.
thegeekfix · May 30, 2017 at 2:42 pm
I don’t have have any pics or videos but there are some on YouTube. This video shows someone upgrading to the hybrid, but the disassembly will be similar. This timestamp talks about the cable that goes from the pump to the pcb connector.
I’m able to control the pump fan and radiator fan using third party software and can control the PCB fan using EVGA software.
Ambiente · June 6, 2017 at 1:41 pm
Got the adapter from modDYI and plugged my pump into my MB, works perfectly. Hugely appreciate this article, now my hybrid finally runs cool AND quiet, for me there are no changes in the temperature, at worst maybe like +1C. Kinda weird that for such high price you can’t control the pump out of the box… But hey, I’m glad that I got it fixed thanks to this article!
thegeekfix · June 6, 2017 at 1:45 pm
Nice. It is a little disappointing to have to go this route since there is a lack of pump control. Glad it worked for you.
arc · July 25, 2017 at 12:54 am
How did you route the new cable from inside the shroud to the outside?
thegeekfix · July 25, 2017 at 5:00 am
I just used the existing hole. I was thinking of possibly adding a small notch on the backside and route it that way.
arc · July 31, 2017 at 2:52 pm
I got the cable and connected it to the mobo. I tried setting it to 50% but it looks like it’s still at full speed. The temp doesn’t increase when lowering the speed. What am I doing wrong? I’m currently using an MSI board and using their MSI Command Center software to control fan speed.
arc · August 1, 2017 at 6:43 am
I may be reading your fix incorrectly. You say plug the pump fan into the adapter. Do you mean the fan that is on the radiator???
thegeekfix · August 29, 2017 at 10:05 pm
Sorry for the late response, but I plugged the fan that is on the radiator into a header on the motherboard. Using the adapter I plugged the pump (cable comes from the pump) to a pin header on the motherboard. This will allow you to control the pump speed.
Shine · December 20, 2017 at 4:10 pm
hello
Just a question: The pump connector is a 2 pin I guess, so to make it vary (thanks to the 4 pin mini GPU to 4 pin fan header adapter), you plug it on a DC (3 pin) FAN header on the mobo, and not a PWM (4 pin) header I guess?
Otherwise it wouln’t be able to change the pump speed.
On the other hand, the VRM fan is PWM, and can be connected on a PWM (4 pin) header on the mobo.
I am right ?
Thanks!
thegeekfix · December 21, 2017 at 2:52 am
It should be controlled by voltage using an outside program like Argus.
Shine · December 21, 2017 at 10:28 am
Well, I was condidering plugin it on a SYS_FAN (3 pin) on my MSI Z170 mobo, and use the BIOS hardware monitor facility to control it (set a custom curve).
I wonder if maybe the BIOS would scream because the 3rd pin (tachometer) is missing.
Did you face such a problem?
Shine
thegeekfix · December 21, 2017 at 4:10 pm
You can try to control it through the BIOS as well, I ended up doing it using software.
YY · March 2, 2018 at 6:09 pm
Thanks so much for the guide. I just bought the cable. I hope it works because the pump noise is unbearable!
Did you use a PWM splitter on the motherboard fan header to connect both the pump and radiator fan to the same header? Or did you connect them to separate headers?
thegeekfix · March 3, 2018 at 6:34 am
I connected them to different headers.
Restive · February 24, 2021 at 11:51 am
Thank you for the guide! I just made the modification to my EVGA 1080 ti FTW3 Hybrid after I got the cable from the States. I’m running the pump via Corsair Commander Pro at the speed of 80% – no more buzzing sound! Perfect!
I monitor the GPU radiotor temps also with CP, I noticed practically no changes to the exhaust temps of the radiator after the change.
Restive · April 23, 2021 at 8:32 am
Thanks for the instructions, silenced mine a lot – I’m running now 45% RPM. I can’t notice any difference with the temperatures compared to very noisy 100% RPM.