Clicking noise from the computer, HWMonitor might be related?

[alewares]

Hello, I have what you might call a very unique "problem." Nothing performance-wise is affected, but the noise can sometimes be a distraction.

Occasionally, my computer will emit these faint clicking noises that are very uniform in nature. They also disappear without a warning.

The other day, I realized that running the program HWmonitor actually produces noises similar to the random clicking I hear sometimes. When I open the HWmonitor program, my computer immediately begins to repeat "click-CLICK" every 1.5 seconds until I close the program. It is 100% related to having the program open, but I can still get these noises sometimes even without the program. This leads me to believe that the program does something with the computer constantly which causes the noise, while the computer does this "something" occasionally too, allowing for the random instances of the noise.

As I am not very familiar with the inner workings of the HWmonitor program, does anyone more knowledgeable about it know why this might be the case? How can a program that just monitors my computers' stats produce these clicking noises from inside my case? I think it might be my motherboard, which is why I posted it here. I have an ASUS Z87 Pro currently.

I have uploaded a video of these noises:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADAtTqor7MY&feature=youtu.be

 

[RedFalconHayabusa]

That sounds like a failing hard drive to me.

I had the almost exact same noise and I found out it was coming from the hard drive.
A few hours later my computer went insanely slow to the point where it couldn't boot anymore.

Open up your case and try and find out where the noise is coming from.

 

[alewares]

Ok, I will try, but I am not sure I can locate the direction of the sound. I am using a SSD as my main disk so maybe I can disconnect the two HDDs and try that.

For reference, the HDDs I am using are 2TB and 1TB WD Caviar Blacks, purchased new ~27 days ago. I had the issue ever since purchase, but thought it was something to do with the program gathering data constantly about my computer. Guess not..

 

[ddy]

I ear the same thing, a regular clicking noise every 1-2 sec
no noise when my WD20EZRX (4 days old) is sleeping
no noise when I shut hwmonitor down

note: mobo is gigabyte H87-hd3

 

[newuser995]

It is certainly HWMonitor that is causing your HDD to make the noise. I have the same problem, and have already returned a 2TB WD Black thinking it was a failing drive, but my new identical drive makes the same noise. My programs run on a SSD, and the HDD is for data files. I troubleshooted the issue by unplugging/plugging different devices and pinpointed the HDD as the noise maker. I assume that HWMonitor is asking the drive its temp, and the drive is making the noise, but am not sure, and am also not sure if this is damage causing. I wrote into CPUID a week ago, and they have not replied.

 

[Akane K]

I built a new rig about a week ago and I've been trying to diagnose this bloody rhythmical clicking noise ever since. I've had case fans wound down and span up again one by one. I've tried spinning down the CPU fan. I've tried spinning down the PSU fan. I've disconnected and reconnected everything and I still couldn't work out what was causing it.

By chance, I noticed that it disappeared today when I turned off HWmonitor, did a search and ended up on this thread. This would explain why I hear it occasionally when I am playing Bioshock which is installed to my WD 1TB Caviar Blue, but don't hear it when I'm playing everything else - all my other games are currently installed on an SSD. I've noticed since that HWInfo will make it do the noise for a couple of seconds and then it disappears - probably because it's not requesting constant temperature readings.

I guess it's pointless RMAing the drive if it's going to do it with every one of them. I wonder if there is any way to prevent this noise without stopping use of HWmonitor altogether?

 

[Snyp3r]

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but was there any solution to this? I really don't like the clicky sounds, or rather the potential for the sounds to turn into actual damage, but I want to be monitoring temps from when I turn the computer on...

 

[WastedJoker]

Try using a different application such as openhardwaremonitor or realtemp?

 

[Snyp3r]

Try using a different application such as openhardwaremonitor or realtemp?

Thanks for that, OpenHardwareMonitor works perfect