HDD and optical drive problem

[javier2409]

hi there, I'm having some problems with my computer, I would really appreciate if you can help me
- When I log into windows, the computer takes a while to be completely usable, I mean, sometimes the desktop icons appear after a minute and the HDD led stays on for longer than it should (this happens even after a clean windows installation)
- The optical drive takes ages to read a disc and starts making noises, sometimes it doesn't read discs at all. (I noticed this today)
- I don't know if this is related buy there's an electric/buzzing sound coming from the motherboard (CPU zone) when I use the mouse scroll and also when I'm playing 3D games, it is barely noticeable and I can't even hear it when I'm using a headset but I think I should mention it just in case.

I don't really know what could be causing these problems, maybe the drives are just failing, maybe the motherboard SATAs or maybe the PSU. Is there something I can do to be sure?

Specs:
Processor: AMD FX-6300 3.5 GHz (recently upgraded from Athlon II X2 245)
RAM: Kingston HyperX 1x4GB
Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 6770 1GB
Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 (not R2.0)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB
PSU: Topower Nano 650w (maybe bad choice)

 

[davidarad02]

listen to your hard drive and the optical drive and try to see if its making ticking sounds. follow tutorials on youtube to see if your hard drive is failing, and if so, QUICKLY get a new one and backup everything before the hard drive fails.
about sounds from the motherboard/cpu area, if its not the cpu cooler fan, i dont know what else should make noise, so research that as well

 

[sadams04]

Keep it simple (for now). Check for, and apply, any BIOS and chipset / driver updates for your motherboard. Guessing there is a BIOS update AND driver updates available to you... Let us know where you stand after that.

...and yes.. That Topower PSU was a bad choice. It will likely be fine, but if you get a chance swap that out for an XFX or Seasonic offering.

 

[javier2409]

davidarad02: I've checked the HDD, it doesn't make any strange sound and the file transfer speed is ok, I also checked S.M.A.R.T. data and everything's fine except for one thing: http://k33.kn3.net/F/9/3/5/F/1/486.jpg

sadams04: I'll try that and tell you what happens then

 

[javier2409]

Keep it simple (for now). Check for, and apply, any BIOS and chipset / driver updates for your motherboard. Guessing there is a BIOS update AND driver updates available to you... Let us know where you stand after that.

...and yes.. That Topower PSU was a bad choice. It will likely be fine, but if you get a chance swap that out for an XFX or Seasonic offering.

Updated BIOS and chipset drivers. The noise from motherboard was reduced but the HDD and optical drive problems persist

Edited: tested a few DVDs and the first one didn't work at all (that's why I said the problem persisted), the second DVD worked but took a while to read, and after that all the DVDs I tested so far worked fine.
Let's see what happens from now on