Odd noise

[Garry Russell]

HI guys

I turned my PC on this morning and after about ten minuets I heard a strange noise.

The guy across the road has been doing DIY and I thought he was using a circular saw.

The noise was just like that but sounded a bit distant...alas no it was my PC making this sound. :o

I quick got a DVD to backup my latest work ......just in case , but before the DVD was finished the noise had stopped.

The PC never flinched or did anything strange throughout.....just a noise.

I have limitedd knowledge of such things.......limited to nothing but I wonder if it may be the internal fan.........could a dust build up make a noise like this.?

I have restarted the PC and all is fine and quiet. :think:

Garry

[DaveB]

Hi Mr R

Yup.. it sounds very much like an internal fan. The PC I'm on at the mo went through a phase of doing that when I first tuned it on.. but not every time :roll: Don't ya love PC's

As long as it's a case fan, you won't have a problem changing it. A CPU fan or Graphics card fan can be slightly more traumatic depending on type. Next time it starts.. zip one of the side covers off to see if you can find exactly which one is playing up ;-)
EDIT>>
Garry.. it could also be that a wire (or group of wires) has slipped in the case slightly and is touching the blades on one of the fans (this is if the chainsaw sound is like it's a chainsaw actually cutting something!! Worth taking the side cover off anyway just to make sure there are no wires in the near proximity to any of your fans ;-)
ATB

DaveB :tab:

[ianhind]

I agree that it sounds like a bearing going in a fan - could also be the northbridge fan (the little one next to the CPU) or even one of the PSU fans. I have had both of those cause noise.

[AndyG]

Dave's suggestion about the wires sounds good to me, they do tend to get in the way on occasion! :@ I've just replace the IDE cables in my PC with those nice round ones you can now purchase, which makes for a substantially less cramped setup.

Garry, if you do "zip off one of the side covers" it's worth checking out if your fans etc are very dusty, I took the opportunity to give mine a 'clean' with a nice can of compressed air.

Andy

[Garry Russell]

Thanks chaps.

The northbridge fan went once before and that just failed......it is a problem on these particular boards according to the dealers .....luckily there is four year warranty on that.

The noise was like the saw cutting something.

I take the covers off and check anyway and clean off any muck.

Just a bit wary now after hearing that.

Thanks again for all the response.

Garry

[DispatchDragon]

Garry

Living as we do in "dust" central - I get a similar noise from the main CPU fan when it gets too dusty - As Andy says - pull the side panels and
blast it out with compressed air (or if Like me you have a SWMBO with a heart - you can use the Twee little vacuum cleaner she bought me
a couple of months back - plugs into a USB port and actually does a good job of removing dust, and also getting that "stuff" that collects inside
your keyboard )


Leif

[jonesey2k]

Mine has recently started doing that when powered up after being powered off for a while. A good thump on the top of the case stopped it but I wasn't happy as it could be a HDD motor on its way out. Turned out to be the northbridge chipset fan and was cured with a good blast or air. Normally I would take noisy fans apart and clean & oil the axle but I couldn't be bothered taking the heatsink off.

I'm too cheap to buy cans of compressed air so I just use a footpump for an old airbed with a very fine nozzle. It seems to give the dust in my computer the good news rather well too
I used to have filters on the air intakes but I found it less hassle to just give the inside a good blast now and again rather then fiddle about with cleaning filters ect.

*edit* I personally wouldn't use a hover or anything else with bristles as its a sure way of giving the parts inside the good news with static electricity.

[Garry Russell]

I've heard that about hoovers before about the magnetic field ..but I know some who do it and get away with it. Perhaps ir's OK it you know what you're doing.

My other computer once developed a screech that was cured by cleaning.

This noise was new to me.

I have taken the cover off. The vents in the cover were quite dusty,

Inside I couldn't see anything specific but I cleaned arround as best I could.

The large case fan was the worst wit a rough edge of beaten dust.

All is still quiet and the first occurance was the only one. I guess I will need to wait until tomorrow to see how it starts after an overnight.

Thanks again everyone.

Garry

[ianhind]

Aaaah - one of my PCs has just started a groaning noise. A quick thump fixed it (just like Jonesy). And since there is no hard disk in it no chance of wrecking that [firewall PC boots off a CF card].

Remember the days when you fixed a TV with a hefty thump to the top of it

[delticbob]

Remember the days when you fixed a TV with a hefty thump to the top of it

Yes I do thanks

Several weeks ago I had two small extra internal fans fitted into may case. In the last month or so one fan has started buzzing away like an angry wasp at switch on in the morning. After a couple of minutes it stops & then all is well for the rest of the day. Even if the machine is switched off for a few hours, its OK when restarted, but the next morning Buzzzzz.

Have been inside & dusted, so that is not a problem, but its one I know about & it does not bother me, nor the machine, just now.

Bob