My PC sounds like a jet engine.

[Woody1999]

I have an old, pre built Packard Bell iXtreme M3720 in which I have upgraded the motherboard, the RAM and the graphics card. You can see it in my signature.

Despite the low power draw of my PC and only the one CPU cooler fan, it makes a sound comparable to a jet engine starting when I boot up the PC. This sound can last all the way until I have been on the desktop for a few minutes, and it is so loud it can be heard next door through two solid walls.

It's been doing this for a while now, and I've got used to it, but our new neighbours are on the brink of smashing through the wall and demolishing my PC with a sledgehammer (their own words).

I have three fans running in my PC, the power supply, the CPU cooler and the graphics card fan. I can't find any evidence on any of the fans which might be causing the noise, and I wouldn't expect anything else to make that kind of noise.

Can someone help me please? It's starting to freak me out, it's almost like the computer is trying to explode!

Woody

 

[te100]

does it have a speed fan function. I dont know if its the same thing but some dells will do that when the mobo starts to fail cause it controls the speed of the fan and will over spin it and its very loud thats what might be going on its spinning the fan really fast to cool cpu. might be something going on with the sensor not reading right or something to that affect.

its speeding up during boot cause its working the cpu harder then once its booted it cpu usage drops and it slows down

 

[hwc1954]

My guess would be that you have a failed bearing in one of the fans. I had one that died that way -- a Dell ball-bearing case fan. Thing sounded like the end of the world was coming when I started the computer. If I recall, it settled down after it warmed up. I lived with it long enough for a replacement fan to arrive Amazon Prime.

If I were you, I'd pull the cover off the computer the next time at startup and put my ear next to each of the fans (but not close enough to get tangle up in them!) and see if I could find the culprit.

 

[Woody1999]

Tonight when I get back on the PC I'll have a listen to the fans. It's not the graphics card because the noise was happening quite a while before I installed it. It will be a pain to take out the CPU cooler, the PC was pre-built and Packard Bell apparently wanted it to be as hard to disassemble as possible. I'm getting a new power supply in a matter of days, so if it is that it will be fixed.

Thanks for the replies!

Woody

 

[hwc1954]

Even replacing the power supply fan isn't that bad. I just replaced mine in a pre-built Dell with a Noctua yesterday.

Just replacing the fan on a CPU and keeping the stock heatsink should be pretty easy. Just screws holding the fan, although they can be tough to remove without stripping the heads.

The biggest problem is figuring out what replacement fan you need. Those stock CPU coolers seem to rely on very high speed fans. No problem getting replacements, you just have to make sure you are getting the right one.

 

[Woody1999]

It turns out that it is the CPU Cooler. I've had a go at removing the fan, but I can't seem to unhook it. It's attached by clips which are the ones that break when you remove them, rendering the heatsink which is clipped to the fan, unusable.

I'll see if I can stop the sound some way. Thanks!

Woody

 

[hwc1954]

If worse comes to worse, you can buy a complete Intel cooler/fan combo for $15. You'd have to clean off the old thermal paste with isopropyl alcohol and put a dab of new thermal paste on the CPU, but the whole thing would probably take under 15 minutes.

Chances are that, if the fan bearings are shot, they are shot and nothing you do will fix them.