I fixed the PGG27UQ Fan noise...

[TrevorR]

After using the monitor for close to a year, it has gotten to the point where the fans speed up and slow down constantly. My monitor is perfect, no backlight bleed or dead pixels so instead of submitting for an RMA and getting another panel. I decided to see if there was dust in the fan that I could clean up, so I took off the back panel.

Nope, fan is dust free.. So I took off the Gsync module and disassembled the fan.

Why did ASUS use poor quality thermal paste? It literally peeled off like a sticker and did not *have any type of consistenc whatsoever nor was it completely covering the chip... It was dried up.. My Monitor has a build date of August 2019 so its a little over a year old.





I put some noctua thermal paste and spread it evenly on the chip itself and then put a dot of it in the center for good measure. Using the monitor as I type this for the past 6 hours, the fan is quiet now. I kind of forgot how quiet it used to be.

[Rewerend]

Hello, nice job mate! My fans on the same LCD gone a little wild so I used RMA and they clean out all dust and fans are now silent, but your way is so good too.
Can you provide more pictures of disassembly back plastic plate and G-sync module? I was wondering about how to remove too but I was so afraid of damagind these covers.

Thank you.

[yosefm]

Nice work.

https://pcper.com/2018/06/asus-rog-swift-pg27uq-27-4k-144hz-g-sync-monitor-true-hdr-arrives-on-the-d...

This article has some teardown shots of the insides. I'm interested in doing the same with my PG35VQ, not sure what the differences are inside but I imagine the G-Sync module is largely the same. I wonder if changing out the fans helps too? Looks like they are mini-PWM headers for both the top (intake I think?) and the exhaust over the heatsink.

[Salamihawk]

Oh my god, I've had my PG27UQ since 2018 and this has been bothering me for years. I only just found this thread last week and cracked my monitor open yesterday. I don't think the thermal paste situation was as bad as yours was, as mine was still somewhat liquid. Nevertheless, I used my Noctua thermal paste kit that I had gotten off Amazon, cleaned off the FPGA and the heatsink and reapplied a thin coat to the FPGA using the card method.

I tested the monitor by playing DOOM Eternal at 4k with G-Sync enabled, making the monitor really push the pixels, and it didn't even ramp up the fans at all, whereas before the fans would ramp up to 80-100% just sitting on the desktop.

Now I'm sitting here in home office and I can hear myself think instead of listening to the leaf blower in front of me.

Thanks for posting this, you've saved my sanity and now I can fully enjoy this incredible display.

P.S., for those considering this method: It's a bit of a complicated process, but not too bad if you've ever taken anything apart. The whole thing snaps together via plastic clips around the bezel, so it can be popped open with a metal spudger. Lay the monitor on its back and pop open the seam, being careful around the top where the light sensor is. There's a ribbon cable here that can be damaged if you cut it with the spudger. If you accidentally remove the ribbon cable from the light sensor, no big deal! Just remove the light sensor (it's clipped in), flip up the black plastic lever from the back of the ribbon cable socket, insert the ribbon cable contacts-down and lock the socket by flipping the black plastic lever down again. Rinse and repeat for all the other ribbon cables. The other cables are a bit of a hassle, but with a little bit of gentle prying on the clips on top and to the side they can come off.

iFixit sells an absolutely incredible toolkit filled with screwdriver bits and spudgers that is perfect for the disassembly of electronic devices such as this.

Just be sure to test the monitor before snapping everything back together again!

[Salamihawk]

Just an update: I've been in homeoffice every day since fixing my monitor which has been on running at 120 hz HDR for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. My monitor is still whisper-quiet and my cats have even discovered that the thing is now properly venting heat from the bottom of the display where the ports are. Thanks to OP for this fix, I can now work in peace! (well, except for having to deal with the cats trying to wedge themselves underneath my monitor all the time :D)

[skyhopper01]

Salamihawk wrote:
Just an update: I've been in homeoffice every day since fixing my monitor which has been on running at 120 hz HDR for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. My monitor is still whisper-quiet and my cats have even discovered that the thing is now properly venting heat from the bottom of the display where the ports are. Thanks to OP for this fix, I can now work in peace! (well, except for having to deal with the cats trying to wedge themselves underneath my monitor all the time :D)

Thats epic! Glad to see you were able to fix it without having to do an RMA.

[dlder]

TrevorR wrote:
... I decided to see if there was dust in the fan that I could clean up, so I took off the back panel. ...

That's exactly what I wanna do with my obscenely expensive PG35VQ. But I just don't wanna blow 2k € into the wind, so that's why I wanted to ask: How did you remove the back panel?
Another problem is, that this is a different monitor, but the prinzipal should be the same and I haven't found any video-tutorial on how to do that (pictures or a video would be awesome).

[Gorf_Denroh]

TrevorR wrote:
After using the monitor for close to a year, it has gotten to the point where the fans speed up and slow down constantly. My monitor is perfect, no backlight bleed or dead pixels so instead of submitting for an RMA and getting another panel. I decided to see if there was dust in the fan that I could clean up, so I took off the back panel.

Nope, fan is dust free.. So I took off the Gsync module and disassembled the fan.

Why did ASUS use poor quality thermal paste? It literally peeled off like a sticker and did not *have any type of consistenc whatsoever nor was it completely covering the chip... It was dried up.. My Monitor has a build date of August 2019 so its a little over a year old.

I put some noctua thermal paste and spread it evenly on the chip itself and then put a dot of it in the center for good measure. Using the monitor as I type this for the past 6 hours, the fan is quiet now. I kind of forgot how quiet it used to be.

Bumping this thread to say THANK YOU to everyone, especially the OP. I have had this monitor for years now, and the fan recently started to ramp up and down with a vengeance. I wasn't sure what to do about it, and stumbled across this thread.

I've built dozens of custom PCs and water loops over the past decade. I've never worked on a monitor though. Cracking it open was a breeze, but from there things got a little iffy. I wasn't sure how to disconnect a lot of the cables (especially the flat white ones) but eventually figured it all out.

Once I got down to the G-Sync module, and removed the thin heatsink cover....the thermal pasted was literally cracked, dry and breaking off! I've never seen such a poor quality paste (and job of applying it).

I cleaned it really well, put some new thermal paste on, reassembled everything, and voila! Monitor is quite as a mouse now!

I am so happy and appreciative!

[NiceBolty]

Also bumping again! I bought this monitor used (couldn't pass up the deal @ $350!). I have one of these at my old job and holy **bleep** I didn't know this monitor could actually be quiet. Sure, some people are installing PWM controllers but literally following this thread and just replacing the thermal grease and dusting out the fans made a HUGE difference in my gaming and overall PC quality of life, Haha. Thank you, OP and everyone else here for the inputs. 

[Phrancky]

Excellent job.. Same problem here  with the PG27UQ.
I used it next to a PG279Q that has not had any issues besides 1 dead pixel.
The PG27UQ which was extremely expensive stopped working after a year because of overheating.

Did not open it up but will do so and perform same action.
Thanks!