PC Is Noisy

[kellyapproved]

A couple of days ago, my pc became rather noisy. The noise is nonstop
and loud.

I'm not overly comfortable with opening up the pc, but at work, when
we have issues like this, usually IT staff will isolate the cause to a
failing hard drive or bad fans.

Is there any software that I can use at home to determine the cause of
the noise?

 

[123Jim]

A couple of days ago, my pc became rather noisy. The noise is nonstop
and loud.

I'm not overly comfortable with opening up the pc, but at work, when
we have issues like this, usually IT staff will isolate the cause to a
failing hard drive or bad fans.

Is there any software that I can use at home to determine the cause of
the noise?

No software I know of, but look here:
http://www.murraymoffatt.com/hardware-problem-0004.html for advice on noise
in computers

 

[kellyapproved]

No software I know of, but look here:http://www.murraymoffatt.com/hardware-problem-0004.htmlfor advice on noise
in computers

Thanks for the link. As much as I didn't want to, I did open the pc
case up. Both the cpu and back fan are spinning. As per the link, I
did stick a paper clip for 1 sec into the fan on the back of the pc,
the one in the power supply as well as the one on the cpu. The noise
did not disappear.

However, I noticed that between the fan and the cpu, there is a ton of
dirt that has accumulated. I've tried blowing it out, but no go.
Could a dirty fan cause the noise?

 

[123Jim]

Thanks for the link. As much as I didn't want to, I did open the pc
case up. Both the cpu and back fan are spinning. As per the link, I
did stick a paper clip for 1 sec into the fan on the back of the pc,
the one in the power supply as well as the one on the cpu. The noise
did not disappear.

However, I noticed that between the fan and the cpu, there is a ton of
dirt that has accumulated. I've tried blowing it out, but no go.
Could a dirty fan cause the noise?

Dirt wont cause noise unless something is rubbing against it. You stopped
the CPU fan and the noise continued so it can't be the dirt or the fan there
that is causing the noise. If you have no other fans to test, then most
likely your hard drive is making the noise, that means it's probably going
to fail. You should buy a replacement drive a soon as possible. Don't forget
to backup your data regularly until you can replace the drive.

 

[kellyapproved]

I found the cause. I didn't realize that there was a fan on the
underside of the video card. I cleaned it with canned air, no change.

Does that mean that I have to buy a new video card or is there a way
to replace just this fan? The video card is out of warranty now.

 

[CBFalconer]

A couple of days ago, my pc became rather noisy. The noise is
nonstop and loud.

I'm not overly comfortable with opening up the pc, but at work,
when we have issues like this, usually IT staff will isolate the
cause to a failing hard drive or bad fans.

Is there any software that I can use at home to determine the
cause of the noise?

Yes. It is that gray flabby material that connects your ears.

 

[Grinder]

I found the cause. I didn't realize that there was a fan on the
underside of the video card. I cleaned it with canned air, no change.

Does that mean that I have to buy a new video card or is there a way
to replace just this fan? The video card is out of warranty now.

What video card do you have?

Some manufacturers are fairly good about offering replacements for a
small remuneration, or possibly even for free after the warranty period.
Also, the warranty period may be longer than you suspect.

There are generic replacement kits also:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835110102

I've used that butt ugly thing on a few video cards. Also, if there's a
large heatsink with an inset fan, you might be able to just retrofit a
small fan salvaged from something else. I had an HD cooler go bad, but
one of the fans was still good enough to fix up a video card.

 

[kellyapproved]

What video card do you have?

It is an ATI 9600

 

[John McGaw]

It is an ATI 9600

There are aftermarket heatsink/fan units available for your card (I use the
same card) but finding just the fan might be difficult. At least I've found
enough subtle difference among them that make matching difficult. But the
good news is that replacing the whole assembly is easy and cheap.

Here is one commonly-available cheap unit:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119064

 

[CBFalconer]

LOL, you're becoming as much of a cranky old fart as I am.

I suspect I have had more practice

 

[Grinder]

It is an ATI 9600

Any of the pictures I'm finding for the plain old ATI [Radeon] 9600 are
using passive cooling -- ie, no fan. Perhaps you have a 9600xt or
9600pro? Maybe you have a licensed card, like an *Asus* Radeon 9600.
Maybe you can find a picture online that matches your card.

At any rate, I'm see rigs like this on a lot of those cards:

http://techreport.com/r.x/radeon-9600xt/hsf.jpg

Apart from the four screws holding the fan to the heatsink, there are a
couple of tension pins (or whatever they're called) that mount the
heatsink to the card. The distance between those pins may well fit a
standard, which would make a third-party replacement viable. Clearance
is pretty close, though, so be prepared for complications.

Alternately, you could probably take the existing fan off, and get a
small case fan (40mm) to mount on the remaining heatsink. The card will
end up being wider, so you might have to move some stuff around in your
case to make it fit, but it should cool as well.

 

[Jon Danniken]

It is an ATI 9600

Find a fan and strap it on the card with some wire ties. Connect it to
spare power connector. Done.

Jon