A problem I've had for probably a year - the PC randomly making a loud noise from inside the box. Hard to describe really, but it's a groaning noise. It sometimes does it, sometimes doesn't. More often than not, turning the PC off and on again will get rid of it. But lately it's been misbehaving and is leading me to madness.
Just wondered if you had any ideas about what the noise could be (I'm thinking the fan)? And why it would react to turning on and off rather than it being a purely mechanical problem? I've unscrewed the PC and had a look but where the noise appears to be coming from is a contained box I can't open.
Please prevent me carrying out a murder: PC noise
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Gavin Scott
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There aren't many other moving parts, so it's fairly likely to be the fan. It may have worked its way loose from the case or otherwised unbalaced itself. That could account for periodically noisy operation. If it were an electromechanical fault then it's unlikely it would still be operational after a year (as you say).DAS wrote:A problem I've had for probably a year - the PC randomly making a loud noise from inside the box. Hard to describe really, but it's a groaning noise. It sometimes does it, sometimes doesn't. More often than not, turning the PC off and on again will get rid of it. But lately it's been misbehaving and is leading me to madness.
Just wondered if you had any ideas about what the noise could be (I'm thinking the fan)? And why it would react to turning on and off rather than it being a purely mechanical problem? I've unscrewed the PC and had a look but where the noise appears to be coming from is a contained box I can't open.
The box you mentioned is probably the power supply unit, so the fan may be housed between it and the back of the pc case.
If it were me I would wait for it to happen again, then get the PC lid off and see it happening. You can get replacement fans (or power supply units if it comes to that) from dabs.com pretty cheaply. Either that or just keep turning it off and on. What's another year?
One thing I should have said is that if you do go near the power supply when the lid is off, look with your eyes not with your hands. In fact even after being unplugged they hold voltage for a few minutes, so do take care. That's why they put them in boxes, I suppose.
Indeed Gavin, they can give a nasty shock after quite some time! If it IS the power supply fan (which is INSIDE the PSU box, not between it and the case as the very sexy gav implies) then don't be tight - just get a new power supply. If you try and replace just the fan inside it, which can be done, you might get one that's too weak - resulting in a literally smoking computer and a lot more expense. Make sure also it's not the cdrom/dvd/whatever you kids call it these days drive by ensuring it's empty.
Knight knight
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Gavin Scott
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Aye, for £16.99 its a lot easier to replace the whole unit.Sput wrote:Indeed Gavin, they can give a nasty shock after quite some time! If it IS the power supply fan (which is INSIDE the PSU box, not between it and the case as the very sexy gav implies) then don't be tight - just get a new power supply. If you try and replace just the fan inside it, which can be done, you might get one that's too weak - resulting in a literally smoking computer and a lot more expense. Make sure also it's not the cdrom/dvd/whatever you kids call it these days drive by ensuring it's empty.
'Sexy' you say? Cobblers. I'll bet you're tipsy.
Don't go for the cheapest ones you can find either.
Whilst they may do the job the components inside are of a much lower quality and if it does go up the swanny then it can take your whole PC with it.
Have a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/
Food for thought, eh?
Also beware of Dabs. Their customer service is crap, with a capital C.
Whilst they may do the job the components inside are of a much lower quality and if it does go up the swanny then it can take your whole PC with it.
Have a look at http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/
Food for thought, eh?
Also beware of Dabs. Their customer service is crap, with a capital C.
The noise is now insisted it DOES NOT STOP and instead CARRIES ON making a durge. My murder threshold is now exceedingly low and the likelihood of breaking a window very high. Stay well away.
So I unscrewed the PC again and found that it isn't the power box at all. It's the little fan attached to the graphics card.
Does anybody have any suggestions in light of this bombshell? Is it easy to rectify or a tricky bugger?
I've cleaned the dust out as best I can, given it a bit of a shake about and even told it to behave a couple of times. But the noise is still taunting me.
So I unscrewed the PC again and found that it isn't the power box at all. It's the little fan attached to the graphics card.
Does anybody have any suggestions in light of this bombshell? Is it easy to rectify or a tricky bugger?
I've cleaned the dust out as best I can, given it a bit of a shake about and even told it to behave a couple of times. But the noise is still taunting me.
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Big Brother
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Goto your Graphics Card Manufacturers website and check if this is perhaps a known issue which can be easily rectified or even the fan itself replaced.
I don't have a fan on mine so I'm not sure if they can be replaced.
I'd also try searching google with random phrases i.e "COMPANY A'S X4000 GRAPHICS CARD IS MAKING A NOISE" and see what others might have done.
It sounds like the ball bearings within the fan have gone squwifffffff. If the cards old then I'd just replace it anyway - but then anything that requires more work than replacing it just requires to be replaced.
I don't have a fan on mine so I'm not sure if they can be replaced.
I'd also try searching google with random phrases i.e "COMPANY A'S X4000 GRAPHICS CARD IS MAKING A NOISE" and see what others might have done.
It sounds like the ball bearings within the fan have gone squwifffffff. If the cards old then I'd just replace it anyway - but then anything that requires more work than replacing it just requires to be replaced.
Thanks for that - I've had a search around and it would seem that a similar problem has been encountered by others, although their main solutions are essentially to shake the thing up a bit!
I've fired off an e-mail to technical support and we'll see if they can help when they get round to replying...
I've fired off an e-mail to technical support and we'll see if they can help when they get round to replying...
The exact same thing happened to me I can imagine the annoyance it is causing.
Sadly I haven't got any advice as there were also lots of other stuff wrong with it as well, plus with the PC being purchased from the Dixons Group many years ago, its ended up with half the gubbins inside being replaced
Sadly I haven't got any advice as there were also lots of other stuff wrong with it as well, plus with the PC being purchased from the Dixons Group many years ago, its ended up with half the gubbins inside being replaced
Fans that come with graphics cards, like most small PC fans, are usually very cheap sleeve bearing jobbies. In all likelihood, the bearing has simply worn out and the fan will soon fail.
Some graphics cards will actually manage fine without the fan if you make sure the area around it is well ventilated, others really need it. Replacements do exist, but you may have trouble tracking them down. When a similar small fan on my motherboard died, I ended up having to settle for a second hand replacement from a knackered motherboard they had in a computer shop.
Some graphics cards will actually manage fine without the fan if you make sure the area around it is well ventilated, others really need it. Replacements do exist, but you may have trouble tracking them down. When a similar small fan on my motherboard died, I ended up having to settle for a second hand replacement from a knackered motherboard they had in a computer shop.