[SOLVED] Can anyone help me identify this new sound my computer started making?

[daydreamingdude]

Hi all, I started noticing a new sound my computer has been making last night and into today. As of right now, it only makes it while I'm gaming, and I'm just playing Skyrim but with a few mods, so it shouldn't be anything too intensive. I've had my basic setup for a few years now and this is the first time I've ever heard something like this, so I'm a wee bit worried that a part is failing and I'd like to identify it before it does. I managed to record the sound twice with my phone and I edited them both into one four second audio clip, uploaded to soundcloud here (I raised the gain on it so you could hear it but if you still can't hear it, try turning up the volume a bit):

https://soundcloud.com/user-89358244%2Fcomputer-sound

View: https://soundcloud.com/user-89358244/computer-sound


To me, at first, this sounded like a hard drive sound. I have four hard drives in my PC and two of them are mechanical, but the thing is, my OS is on a Samsung EVO 850 SSD and all my games are being loaded off an Intel 660p M.2 2280, and as far as I know, both of those should not be emitting disc writing sounds, and the other two HDDs should not be in use during gameplay. Otherwise, I'm thinking it might be the fan on my GPU, PSU, or a case fan? I'm leaning toward GPU or PSU since I only hear it during gameplay. Can anyone listen and share what they think? Might this sound indicate a component failure coming my way in the future? If its a fan on a GPU or PSU, best tips on how to clean it? I will admit I don't often dust my PC because I can see inside the window and airflow is pretty good as to keep most dust in the case filters, which I don't clean on a semi-regular basis, but I acknowledge that dust can still get trapped inside components and I haven't done my due diligence on cleaning them.

My specs for reference can be viewed at https://pcpartpicker.com/user/howtobefreaky/saved/#view=rbyV7P

Thank you in advance to anyone willing to share their thoughts.

 

[AppleGwava]

Its quite hard to make it out from the audio but it sounds like a squeak?

My guesses are similar, its either a hdd sound or the friction from fans rubbing.
Perhaps when a fan ramps up it destabilizes/wobbles and rubs against something, it does sound a bit like when a fan blade strikes

Your best bet would be to unplug the hdds and listen/ run a stress test

 

[daydreamingdude]

Other than just playing the game, what would you recommend for a stress test? I'd really like a program that would run my fans at maximum but I don't want to blow my GPU or anything. I'll try unplugging the HDDs in the meantime though and seeing if that does anything.

 

[AppleGwava]

Other than just playing the game, what would you recommend for a stress test? I'd really like a program that would run my fans at maximum but I don't want to blow my GPU or anything. I'll try unplugging the HDDs in the meantime though and seeing if that does anything.

A normal stress test shouldnt blow a gpu, after all its designed to be run at that level (In theory)

What i can suggest is either
a stress test (Could be testing cpu or gpu only)
Eg, intel burn test, furmark, prime95, or most benchmark tools

A fan control software (Depending if they can be controlled)

Fan control in bios

Alvis.

 

[daydreamingdude]

Thanks for the recommendation. I download furmark and had it run both my GPU and my CPU. Both ran at max temp for a while and the fans ran but I didn't hear the sound. The GPU was even running much hotter and at a much higher load than while playing Skyrim. At this point I can only guess that it's a hard drive issue, since I would think that a problem with the fans wouldn't be so intermittent. I'll make sure to disconnect both HDDs tomorrow when I sit down to play, but would there really be any reason for either of those hard drives to be making sound if they weren't in use by the OS or program? Also, HD Tune gives all drives except for the Intel drive (the one running Skyrim) a check on the S.M.A.R.T. test, and the Intel drive it merely says N/A, which I'm assuming is more about a potential driver issue than a failing drive.

I'm really at a loss as to what is making the sound. I think I'll go ahead and dust out the PC this weekend to be safe, but beyond that and disconnecting the HDDs, I'm not sure what else I can do to identify the sound. The sound itself only slightly bugs my OCD-ness, moreso it just makes me worried that a component is failing but perhaps this is something I won't know is failing until it just does.

 

[daydreamingdude]

Ok actually I found this video and it is making similar sounds as I'm hearing:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS-BHI667po


So I suspect it is simply the m.2 drive now. It is unsettling that it just started doing this in the last couple days and not in the last year since I bought it, but I guess we'll see how it fairs over time. It only has games on it so if it dies its not the end of the world.