Solved strange noise from PC

[Itaregid]

In the military we called them gremlins.

Yes and I have met a few of them too.

We may be sidetracking a bit, but these are valid concerns about fans. Using compressed air to make them spin while cleaning is not good because they can be forced to spin much faster than design limits and damage the bearings. So holding them stationary when blasting is essential. But of course, you would not, or should not be blasting with power applied so stopping a spinning fan here is not an issue.

But when trying to isolate fan noise with "live" electronics, altering the rotation speeds to change the pitch of the sound can be helpful. Using some device to isolate and channel the sound to our ears can help too - hence the straw/paper towel tube trick.

But I advise against sticking a screwdriver in to the heart of "live" electronics. Screwdrivers are hardened steel, highly conductive, and sharp. One slip can result in gouging out a Grand Canyon sized gorge (microscopically speaking) across several circuit traces or other components on the motherboard - or coming into contact with live circuits, creating shorts. Hence my recommendation to use a wooden Popsicle/glue stick.

The old mechanics trick using a long screwdriver does work, but you have to turn your head to put your ear to the butt of the screwdriver handle, losing sight of where you are putting the hard, sharp, conductive, tip. And again, one slip and irreparable damage may result. If you want to use the screwdriver trick, I would encourage you use a long wooden dowel instead. Not metal objects.

 

[alphanumeric]

Good advice. I've only ever put the screwdriver on the fan's outer case where there are no moving parts and nothing to short out. Or the power supply's case which is grounded. Same deal for a video card, I just touch the heat sink. I place the tip then listen. Like you say though, a chop stick or something similar will work. Keep in mind though that wood also conducts electricity, and a chop stick won't have the non conductive handle a screw driver has. That being said there isn't much on a PC motherboard that you could touch that would give you a shock. The only high voltages are in the power supply and you would have to open it to get at those.

 

[jds63]

Gremlins, huh ? Who took that screw i lost once before looked high and low for it !!

Well,thanks for all the tutorials on do's and don'ts. Most likely the culprit is Video card as sound does occur, but again very intermittently when video card speeds up on restarts and mostly after PC been on awhile, not when it is cool been off for many hours. As said could be bad bearing in one fan as it has dual fans. And this process of it speeding up as you may know i have mentioned is normal test of card at boot or restart, from BIOS.

Only other thought might be PSU, not sure how to check this, unless i had another to test it with. Ways check it's voltage if that will tell me anything. Both Video card and PSU not even a year old.

 

[alphanumeric]

On some cooling fans you can get access to the bearing by carefully pealing back the stick on label in the center of the fan blades. A couple of drops of sewing machine oil or WD 40 may be all you need to keep it quiet for another year or two, or more. If it works its a cheap fix. I've done it a couple of times when I didn't have the cash on hand to buy a new video card. If your careful you can stick the label back down when your done to keep the dust out.

 

[jds63]

On some cooling fans you can get access to the bearing by carefully pealing back the stick on label in the center of the fan blades. A couple of drops of sewing machine oil or WD 40 may be all you need to keep it quiet for another year or two, or more. If it works its a cheap fix. I've done it a couple of times when I didn't have the cash on hand to buy a new video card. If your careful you can stick the label back down when your done to keep the dust out.

Sorry no stickers EVGA - Products - EVGA GeForce GTX 660 FTW w/ EVGA ACX Cooler - 02G-P4-3063-KR

Posted this couple posts back if you saw it, card i have. Had disconnected other case fans to rule them out, both Noctua's. Real quiet made well.

 

[alphanumeric]

OK, just a thought. Case fans are cheap and easy to replace, hardly worth the effort. But replacing an expensive Video card just because of a noisy fan is no fun. Replacing the video card fan, if even possible, could be a real pain too and expensive.

 

[jds63]

OK, just a thought. Case fans are cheap and easy to replace, hardly worth the effort. But replacing an expensive Video card just because of a noisy fan is no fun. Replacing the video card fan, if even possible, could be a real pain too and expensive.

True case fans are cheaper, although Noctua's are not the cheapest ones, but one of best, real quiet. Just doing your straw idea, i used a tube.
Rebooted several times, no noises. Kind of hard laying on floor, and needed leave case closed because this is when it happens only. All sounded fine. Maybe compressed air caused problem and it worked itself out, some liquids got on inside fan, maybe!

Keep trying see how it goes, thanks guys !!

 

[elbmek]

this happened to me on my new pc, it was a cable touching the fan

 

[jds63]

this happened to me on my new pc, it was a cable touching the fan

One my first thoughts too or something else was touching it, i became pretty good with cable management inside case.
One issue with these video cards nowadays i they take up 2 slots, which makes it very close to my other PCI sound card, not enough slots left to move it away.

1 x PCI - Have a TV tuner card , near bottom of case

2 x PCI-e x 1 Sound card , second to the bottom of case + one part taken up by Video card

1 x PCI-e x 16 Video card

Well, still been testing it, so far noises (Gremlins) are not there.

 

[CountMike]

It may also happen when different fan speeds get their sounds into resonance and suddenly a new sound which you could not hear before becomes audible. It happens a lot with other things, multiengined propeller planes for instance are most audible examples. It may explain why you had different sounds with case closed and opened.

 

[Itaregid]

Keep in mind though that wood also conducts electricity

What? Ummm, no it doesn't - except in EXTREME and very rare circumstances. If it is wet, or painted or has some other conductive finish applied to it, then it can. If exposed to 1000s of volts of RF or lightning, it can. But wood, as in unfinished boards, dowels, Popsicle/glue sticks are insulators, not conductors. Inside the computer case, 12VDC is the highest you will see. Inside the PSU, you might encounter deadly AC voltages if you are stupid and stuck a screwdriver or fingers in there while plugged into the wall. But not a dry, wooden glue stick. So don't chop off a branch from a live tree, soak it in water and stick it in live, high-voltage electronics, or your PSU.

Replacing the video card fan, if even possible, could be a real pain too and expensive.

What? I've done it more times than I can remember. A pain and expensive? ??? I guess that depends on what you think is a pain and expensive. One screw and the card comes out. Typically 3 or 4 small screws and fan comes off (a couple more screws if the card cooler has a cover). The hard part is determining the size fan needed. You need to know how to use a ruler for that. But expensive? No! Not unless you really want to go with something serious.

 

[jds63]

If it's the fan on Video card still under warranty, so no need to try to replace a fan, when i can just return it for a new one. So far problem is gone. May have been some of compressed air when sprayed either too much or in wrong way of holding can could of went inside fans somehow causing this and eventually worked itself out.

Seems like has not been happening in a few days now. As said i am usually careful how i clean inside of PC and it's parts.
Cleaning cards i remove them. Thanks for all your methods and even ways to fix them. Not saying i am afraid to try anything i never done before, like replacing a part, see no need as it's under warranty if needed.


Update: Believe it is coming from video card using trick with a tube it seems location came by video card, since this sound is so quick and happens not often enough on restarts makes it hard to be sure by hearing it again. Hate to keep rebooting so many times in a row.

 

[elbmek]

Has a buzzing fan in my new pc. opened case and moved a cable, buzzing stopped. manufacturer was getting it back anyway as I wanted something added (second hdd) and they voluntarily changed the fan too as 'it might have strained the motor a bit' - nice one lads.

 

[jds63]

Has a buzzing fan in my new pc. opened case and moved a cable, buzzing stopped. manufacturer was getting it back anyway as I wanted something added (second hdd) and they voluntarily changed the fan too as 'it might have strained the motor a bit' - nice one lads.

Nice of them, wishing mine was as simple !!

 

[jds63]

Update to my thread, found the problem with the noise inside the PC case. As thought in my past post here it was my Graphics card fan making this noise, thought it went away as it did for a day or so then it came back. Had a spare video card to use and seems that problem has been resolved. If i find that something else was the problem instaed of this i will post a new thread again, thanks for all that replied to this thread.