Computer makes an annoying clicking sound when starting.

[interlaced]

Well, I may just be acting picky, but when I first boot my computer I hear a low clicking noise, like... Imagine a fan hitting the corner of a piece of paper. It lasts for around a minute maybe 2 after boot, and then you can only hear the low hum of the fan, I don't know if it's the CPU fan, or the Case fans, or what it is... But it's really irritating me, I like all of my tech stuff to be ABSOLUTELY perfect, I'm quite OCD about it.

Any advice?

 

[lookerup]

how tidy is ur pc? It may be hitting a wire. zip ties may help with wire management.

 

[Outlander_04]

check to see if anything is hitting the fans

 

[nukemaster]

Some fans vibrate at certain speeds. it sucks, but can happen.

Maybe the system starts the fans slow and they speed up as it warms up getting past that speed.

I had a fan that at about 750rpm vibrates just enough to annoy me. Under and over is fine, I pushed it to 800 and the problem is all gone.

Come to think about it, my Fractal 120mm fans make a clicking noise as well.

 

[interlaced]

Well, my case definitely isn't as tidy as all of you guy's I'm sure, but I did pretty good I have all the cables in the backplate. so, i dont see any cable that could be bothering it... Nukemaster, that kinda sounds like it might be what's going on.

It makes a lot of sense. But, I don't necessarily know how to control my fans speeds, Speedfan doesnt work for me.

 

[goodguy713]

buying a fan speed controller is pretty much your best option.

 

[ngengerous]

Some fans just get old and noisy, the PSU fan is the culprit most of the time. If it is the PSU, you're probably just going to have to grin and bear it, my old one sounded like a train at startup.

 

[nukemaster]

If the fans are connected to the MB, then you should have options for speed in the bios.

You could try to isolate it by disconnecting all but the cpu fan and listening for the sound.

My sound was not too bad, but I did have a fan that did it louder and over a larger range of speed. 1 RMA later and this one just has it in one spot(within maybe 40-50 rpm) and most users would not hear it.

It was for me more when the system was idle and cool it would sort of oscillate its frequency(with the slight change in speed) and that was the part of it that made it noticeable.

I used my MB bios to set a slightly higher minimum fan speed(3% more speed at idle).

ngengerous, I had an OCZ do that well after warranty. I swapped that sucker out. Problems solved

 

[interlaced]

Well, I'll have to check it out a little later. I've only had this pc a month... I'm thinking about returning my case and my psu, and buying a corsair h80 or h100 if it is the cpu fan. The case was SILENT at first, now It just hums. It's irritating... I don't even have a GPU right now.

 

[ngengerous]

ngengerous, I had an OCZ do that well after warranty. I swapped that sucker out. Problems solved

Looks like that's what I need to do...

 

[interlaced]

Gah, This is really pissing me off, It sounds like a jet engine. Unless I'm just being too picky. I doubt it though. It seems like its gotten a LOT louder.

 

[nukemaster]

What fans do you have? What heatsink? and What Motherboard.

Maybe we can try to tweak it a bit or at least isolate the noisy device.

When I test fans, I power each one external from a fan controller and VERY slowly increase and decrease the fan speed. I send the wires in the PCI slot covers because the noise can be a combination of the fan and case being caused to vibrate, so I want to sides on and everything.

If you can hear it with the case open you can try to disconnect then one at a time and see if it gets better(If you have an aftermarket cooler for the cpu, you can even disconnect the cpu fan for a while when idle in windows(at idle the cpu generates very little heat).

 

[interlaced]

Full build info. I have stock fan's in the case.

Cooler:
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ Evo


DVD:
Asus DVD/RW


Monitor:
Asus VS228


HDD:
Seagate 1tb


RAM:
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB


SSD:
Samsung 830 Series 128gb


CPU:
Intel Ivy Bridge 3570k


PSU:
Corsair CX650


MOBO:
ASRock Z77 Extreme 4


Case:
Corsair Carbide 400R

 

[manofchalk]

buying a corsair h80 or h100 if it is the cpu fan.

That wont solve the issue, water-cooling loops still require fans to move heat from the radiator. From what I have heard, the fans on the H100 are pretty loud as well. Also with water-cooling you are introducing the possibility of a noisy pump (which I am currently experiencing. Fans are dead silent and have a noisy pump )


I would just pop open the case and disconnect every fan (except the CPU) until the sound disappears. Then just replace the offending fan with an aftermarket one that's known to be quiet.

 

[nukemaster]

Follow the above poster.

You can even disconnect the cpu fan(it will not heat up fast) when idle in windows to see if it is that.

 

[lookerup]

to be honest, water coolers for cpu are pretty quiet including w/ fans because i have one. The kuhler 620 i believe.Most of the time you don't even notice the sound.