Computer making noise it's the gpu or hard drive

[Confused Idiot]

So, my computer is making a noise that sounds like a coffee pot brewing, hard to explain, I looked inside and since the hard drive and video card are so close together, I could not pinpoint it. It's gotta be the hard drive or video card. I'm going to be honest, my videocard is secured with zipties. Screws were not available. It might be a fan, but there were no wires hitting fans, it can't be the optical drive because it is unplugged.

I just don't know what to do, or if I should worry.

The sound is not that loud, and I assumed a wire was in the way, but I saw none.

I'm not about to take my pc apart completly because of a little noise.


But it does sound very simaler to a coffee machine brewing

 

[harboym]

Sometimes different HDDs can make different noises so you might not be used to the one yours is most likely making. A noise close to brewing coffee, between an HDD and a GPU, is almost definitely the HDD. That being said, as long as you are not experiencing storage issues (files taking too long to load, data missing) your HDD is probably fine, they can just make strange noises compared to other common hardware.

 

[drtweak]

Unplug hard drive power and turn on. If it is still there you know its the GPU probably and if it goes away you know its the hard drive.

hard drive though, even if bad, don't make a whole lot of noise. Most of time when they go bad they either don't turn on at all, or spin up but do nothing, or making a ticking sound (The tick of death as they call it). Sometimes if a hard drive isn't secure or the screws are loose they can make a humming/rattling noise against the metal of the case where it mounts, but other than that not much. Sounds like a GPU Fan issue to me.

 

[terry4536]

My guess is that it is a fan making the noise. You can determine the fan by slowing the individual fan. The noise will change pitch, when you have the right one. I often just use my finger on the hub of the fan to slow it down.

 

[terry4536]

If the fans are not the culprit, then you can use a roll of paper to your ear to help localize the noise.

 

[harboym]

hard drive though, even if bad, don't make a whole lot of noise. Most of time when they go bad they either don't turn on at all, or spin up but do nothing, or making a ticking sound (The tick of death as they call it). Sometimes if a hard drive isn't secure or the screws are loose they can make a humming/rattling noise against the metal of the case where it mounts, but other than that not much. Sounds like a GPU Fan issue to me.

Fans don't sound like percolation when bad, and yes hard drives don't make much sound when they brake, but ones that function can.

I have one of these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpNxovn7yjs People that have this hard drive complain of it's noise but they preform perfectly fine.

My guess is that it is a fan making the noise. You can determine the fan by slowing the individual fan. The noise will change pitch, when you have the right one. I often just use my finger on the hub of the fan to slow it down.

Don't put pressure against your fan motors unless you want to slowly burn them out.

 

[terry4536]

The pressure is just momentary to detect the noise. It doesn't hurt the fan. I've done it for years.

 

[terry4536]

I agree that fans don't usually sound like a percolator but nothing in the PS does. I just had a thought, does the system use a liquid cooler?

 

[Confused Idiot]

No liquid cooling. But what will happen if I unplug hard drive and run PC? Windows is on that hard drive... I don't want to screw up my pc even more

 

[Confused Idiot]

And let me add something,

This just started today, also what happened pretty recently is my PSU is making a coil whine noise, does that correlate with the HDD making a brewing noise?

 

[harboym]

Your power supply shouldn't make noise, that could be cause for investigation.

If you unplug your boot drive (HDD with windows) the computer should start with no issue and load the BIOS instead of windows

 

[terry4536]

The power supply is a possibility. The cooling fan of the power supply may not be cooling the PSU sufficiently. The excess heat may be at the root of the noise. Is the PSU hot to the touch?

 

[Confused Idiot]

This day keeps getting better and better!

My PSU is making a very quiet buzzing noise, people say it is either coil whine or the psu fan bearings. The buzzing also occurs when powered off and gets louder when playing demanding games.

I'll take off the case and look into the hdd brewing noise.

Tbh I'm really freaking out, my PC is my baby lol and it was 1000 dollars, so that's something to worry about. These noises are stressing me out.

 

[terry4536]

Here is a video illustrating the coil whine of a graphics card.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP73edpQwgc

 

[Confused Idiot]

I think it is the PSU that is buzzing, because I hear the buzzing if I put my ear where the cord is coming out of the psu, of course I can hear that buzzing gets louder when the PC is draining more power (Turned on, playing games) It's a faint buzz, not a whine, though I guess you could call it a whine...

ARGGGHHH!!!!

 

[terry4536]

Some people do describe coli whine as a buzzing sound. But the motherboard, graphics cards, and power supplies all contain coils.

 

[Confused Idiot]

Yes, lots of potential sources, but I bet it's the PSU since the coils are in the back near the power wire, and the only way to hear it when it's quiet is to put my ear right where the psu switch is.

 

[terry4536]

I think that you are correct. What wattage is the PSU and graphics card? I would recommend a good power supply from Seasonic or XFX.

 

[Confused Idiot]

Terry, MY psu fan faces up into the rest of the case, might that cause it?

 

[Confused Idiot]

The psu is a evga supernova b2 750 watt, graphics card a amd radeon r9280x.

Apon closer inspection I noticed a layer of plastic on my GPU, I forgot to peel it off when I build this! I removed it and will now retest.


I did unplug hard drive and I think that is the problem, I can literally jiggle the drive rack, makes noise, so it is not stiff as rocks, but it is in place, but it defenatly can jiggle. Maybe the noise is the rack/drive rattling, shaking?

 

[Confused Idiot]

Guys, yes, it is the HDD. I removed hard drive and noise went away. I plugged hdd back in and now the Computer is up and running but there is still the noise from the hard drive. Do you think this might prove problematic in the future?


Do you think the hard drive is failing? It works fine on screen and files load quickly , (tbh I dont have that many 😛)

 

[terry4536]

Remove the hard drive from the tray. if it is the source of the noise, it should stop immediately once it is out of the tray. If that is the noise problem, just reinstall it in another tray. You can purchase hard drive mounts to isolate the vibration from your case.

 

[terry4536]

If it is vibrating that much, it is probably a source of concern. You may want to look into a new hard drive.

 

[Confused Idiot]

I'll try your solution, terry. But I don't think my parents are going to just shell out 80 bucks for a new hard drive.

 

[Confused Idiot]

Taking it out of the cage quieted the noise, but didnt remove it... I'll install in a new cage