PC makes weird, grating sound

[ioanastefana]

Hey guys,
So sorry if this has a solution out on the forum, I haven't found anything to clear things up 100%.

The problem is as follows: my PC has started making a really loud, annoying sound. I don't even know how to describe it, maybe like a constant, high speed revving? Or a fan hitting something. Now this was my first guess, a fan gone/going bad.

Problem is, I cannot for the life of me exactly pinpoint where the sound is coming from. I'm guessing its the PSU, but I can't be 100% sure.

Behavior: starts at boot, will sometimes stop, start back again later. Weirdly enough, it once stopped when I put the PC to sleep for 30 seconds and started it again. 5 minutes later, queue angry motorcycle sound.

It doesnt seem to be correlated with any rise in temps for gpu, cpu, hdd, etc as all those are within normal specs.

I also was wondering if maybe it was the gpu fan/s? Since I noticed that they were running at 1580rpm which seemed high to me for idle pc.

Now, I dont have other components to replace and test the ones in the pc.

Is there anyway I can safely and accurately pinpoint the fan thats dying?

Also, maybe unrelated, but I have a gut feeling ...I've recently bought a Logitech gaming mouse which works like a charm on another Pc. On mine, the lights will stay on for a while, cycle, then shut off suddenly. Start again if unplugging/plugging back the mouse. So one more reason to take s look at the PSU?

Any helpful suggestions are appreciated, thank you in advance!

Rig(if needed)
CPU: i5 7400 Kaby Lake
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060 3GB
Mobo: MSI B150 M3
PSU: nJoy 650w


PS: forgot to mention there is no noticeable drop in performance. I was playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider all throughtout with no issues whatsoever. So far, seems to only be the (terrifying) sound.

 

[Aeacus]

To know where the sound comes, open up the side panel of your case and put your ear next to the PC.

Or if you suspect fans, pushing your finger onto the middle of the fan (fan hub) so the fan stops, would clearly indicate if the fan is making that noise. If putting your finger to the spinning fan feels too risky, unplug the fan power wire from the system when PC is shut down. Repeat the process with all fans.
E.g: PC off - unplug front fan - turn PC on and listen noise - noise present yes/no - turn off the PC - plug front fan back in, unplug top fan - turn on PC to listen noise - etc.

 

[ioanastefana]

To know where the sound comes, open up the side panel of your case and put your ear next to the PC.

Or if you suspect fans, pushing your finger onto the middle of the fan (fan hub) so the fan stops, would clearly indicate if the fan is making that noise. If putting your finger to the spinning fan feels too risky, unplug the fan power wire from the system when PC is shut down. Repeat the process with all fans.
E.g: PC off - unplug front fan - turn PC on and listen noise - noise present yes/no - turn off the PC - plug front fan back in, unplug top fan - turn on PC to listen noise - etc.

That's what I ended up doing, coupled with using a rolled up magazine as a sound funnel lol, since it stopped making the loud sound reliably. However, confirmed it's the PSU, even without the loudness, at boot and ..pretty much always actually, it makes this rotating gears sound.

Thanks!

 

[Aeacus]

That sound sounds like a bad fan bearing.

Do note that your nJoy PSU, either Woden 650 or Storm 650 seems to be crap quality PSU. Specs,
Woden 650, link: https://www.njoy.ro/PSU/woden-650#specificatii
Storm 650, link: https://www.njoy.ro/PSU/storm-650#specificatii

There are 0 reviews about those two PSUs and thing with PSUs is, that PSU is guilty until proven innocent (by reputable reviews). So, get a new PSU and this time, don't cheap out on it, instead get a good quality PSU. Anything from Seasonic in 500W range will do fine. Why 500W range and not 650W?
GTX 1060 is 120W GPU, add the rest of the system at about 200W to it and you're looking 320W, making 550W PSU more than enough for your PC.

That being said, you can go for e.g: M12II-520 EVO (80+ Bronze), Focus+ 550 (80+ Gold), PRIME Ultra 550 (80+ Gold) or PRIME Ultra 550 (80+ Platinum),
pcpp: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/bkp323,9nmxFT,XndxFT,Q9zkcf/

Warranty wise:
M12II EVO: 5 years
Focus+: 10 years
PRIME: 12 years (includes all PRIME models: regular, Fanless, AirTouch, SnowSilent, Ultra)

All my 3 PCs: Skylake, Haswell and AMD are also powered by Seasonic. Full specs with pics in my sig.

You can cheap out on every other component inside the PC except PSU. Since PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC. Also, while the PSU warranty covers the PSU itself and you can RMA the blown PSU, the PSU warranty doesn't cover any other component the PSU fried.

Most people learn the hard way not to cheap out on a PSU when low quality PSU blows and takes part of the system or the whole system with it. Even entire houses have been burned down because of the fire low quality PSU caused when it blowed up.

Like it or not, if you want your PC to work for years to come without any risk of fire and/or damage to your components, you need to hand out some money for good quality PSU. I'm not talking that you need to go with the best PSU available, e.g Seasonic PRIME 80+ Titanium which costs €200+ (and which also powers my Skylake build). Seasonic M12II-520 EVO which i linked above costs €66 and is more than enough for your PC, both wattage and build quality wise.