[SOLVED] Occasional click/snap sound coming from PC case

[jach.paul]

Hello,

I have been hearing weird clicks coming out from my PC over some time now and I kinda ran out of options for finding the problem. I recorded this video, you can hear the click in second 27 and 41 sec (you might hear me clicking the mouse around that time but thats not it).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DemBCKz4XhM&feature=youtu.be

My setup:

CPU i7 4790 3.6GHz
CPU cooler SilentiumPC Fera 3
Motherboard Asus Vanguard B85
PSU SILENTIUMPC ENDURO FM1 GOLD 650W
Case Corsair 330r
GPU Geforce Asus GTX 970 STRIX
RAM Kingston Fury 4x4gb 1600mhz
SSD Samsung 840, Crucial CT128mx
both of my 1tb HDDs were disconnected at the time of recording video so I ruled it out.

This is what I determined so far:

Click doesnt affect performance
It is irregular - can be every 10-15 sec for few minutes or every hour even less often.
It doesnt seem to appear when PC is idle
There are no components or cables that might be hitting fans
PSU is fine - noise was there before I got this one about 2 months ago
HDD is OK as I disconnected both and the sound remained
Motherboard is fine too - got it only recently and the noise was there before i swapped it - it used to be worse before change but this could be due to better acustic case
Case is OK - i got it only several months ago. With old case the noise was more noticeable
On the software monitors I could not find any correlation between the sound and fan speeds or voltage

Any ideas?

 

[Albionm00n]

Greetings!

Here is an odd question...What case do you have, and is it plastic or aluminum? The reason why I ask this is because if your case (and the last one) were plastic, then I can propose this for a potential: You mentioned that it never happens when you are in idle and only occurs under load...now, your temps are fine as you said, but the temps inside the case and of the components will be higher under load than when idling, and this heat will conduct to the case to some degree (yes, pun intended). My theory is (if you have/had plastic cases) that when the computer heats up it warms the plastic, which will expand slightly and the edges of case pieces may actually make a pop on occasion as the case reforms/transforms (of course very minutely) under the effects of temperature. You have probably noticed a similar effect with some TVs and other electronics. Heck, the reason most houses make subtle noises (especially at night) is due to temperature variation.

Of course, this is all speculation, but it was what my ears registered I may have been hearing in your video.

Hope this helps!

 

[jach.paul]

Hello, the case is corsair 330 r and it's mainly made out of alu or other metal with plastic elements. I was considering it but the click comes more from inside of the case.

The case has a lot of noise reduction but this sound is relatively loud to fans or my 970 spinning/whining

Component temps are fine approx 50-65 on CPU with spikes to 70. GPU usual doesn't exceed 65-75 range. Oddly enough this happens more often on medium load. On high load - so high demanding game - I hear it less often

 

[jach.paul]

Greetings!

Here is an odd question...What case do you have, and is it plastic or aluminum? The reason why I ask this is because if your case (and the last one) were plastic, then I can propose this for a potential: You mentioned that it never happens when you are in idle and only occurs under load...now, your temps are fine as you said, but the temps inside the case and of the components will be higher under load than when idling, and this heat will conduct to the case to some degree (yes, pun intended). My theory is (if you have/had plastic cases) that when the computer heats up it warms the plastic, which will expand slightly and the edges of case pieces may actually make a pop on occasion as the case reforms/transforms (of course very minutely) under the effects of temperature. You have probably noticed a similar effect with some TVs and other electronics. Heck, the reason most houses make subtle noises (especially at night) is due to temperature variation.

Of course, this is all speculation, but it was what my ears registered I may have been hearing in your video.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

I have another observation - I removed panels from the case and put the PC on the desk so I can see all components when I use my computer. The noise is reduced but not eliminated and I noticed it comes from my Grahphics Card - ASUS GTX 970. It is noticeable when the fans are not working and the cooling is on radiators. Is it possible that on this power profile radiators and other PC components might expand due to temperature hence the sound?

 

[Javdan]

Greetings!

Here is an odd question...What case do you have, and is it plastic or aluminum? The reason why I ask this is because if your case (and the last one) were plastic, then I can propose this for a potential: You mentioned that it never happens when you are in idle and only occurs under load...now, your temps are fine as you said, but the temps inside the case and of the components will be higher under load than when idling, and this heat will conduct to the case to some degree (yes, pun intended). My theory is (if you have/had plastic cases) that when the computer heats up it warms the plastic, which will expand slightly and the edges of case pieces may actually make a pop on occasion as the case reforms/transforms (of course very minutely) under the effects of temperature. You have probably noticed a similar effect with some TVs and other electronics. Heck, the reason most houses make subtle noises (especially at night) is due to temperature variation.

Of course, this is all speculation, but it was what my ears registered I may have been hearing in your video.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

I have another observation - I removed panels from the case and put the PC on the desk so I can see all components when I use my computer. The noise is reduced but not eliminated and I noticed it comes from my Grahphics Card - ASUS GTX 970. It is noticeable when the fans are not working and the cooling is on radiators. Is it possible that on this power profile radiators and other PC components might expand due to temperature hence the sound?

Did you fix the problem? I have the same problem with case, pooping every few minutes especially when loading a game.

 

[scout_03]

set your gpu fan on auto and try the gpu-z rendering option to see if the sound comes on and use hwinfo sensor page to check values of it for temp fans speed and voltages ,