Is Something Dying??

[RussianMissile1]

i just noticed that a low pitched hum is emmitting from my computer at almost regular intervals of about 1-2 secs each. this hum is loud enough to be heard over my smart fan 2 at full power. along with this hum also comes a vibration that i feel when i touch the monitor cable connector to the video card. i turn down all the case fans to 7v, it does not dissapear/change, it becomes clearer.

i can try to get a recording of the sound if nessesary, but no promises.

it does not come from my speakers because when i unplug them, it still persists.

it must be something that moves inside my case, either the sf2, the hard drive or the NB fan.(video card has no fan)

i sure hope its not the hard drive.

any ideas on what this might be?

[cloasters]

When car engines make weird noises, mechanics touch various parts under the hood with a long neck funnel. The funnel acts as an ear trumpet of old, before hearing aids were available for people that were hard of hearing.

A long shaft screwdriver can also be used. My guess is that PC's aren't as easy. You might try it.

[Kaitain]

Fan bearings are the most common cause of unpleasant buzzing noises in computers, as are bits of cable flapping against unguarded fans...

[cadaveca]

or capacitors..they have been known to make a sound that could be said sounds like a fan rubbing or some such thing. There are a few capacitors that will "click" when used...one of my clients shuttle does this, as well as old P1-P2 cpus

[alexkerhead]

I had the same happen to me, and it turned out to be the PSU fan.
try unplugging the hdd and fans one at a time, until it stops, and if it don't it is the PSU..

[grimwig]

Originally Posted by alexkerhead

I had the same happen to me, and it turned out to be the PSU fan.
try unplugging the hdd and fans one at a time, until it stops, and if it don't it is the PSU..

i had that in another pc i seemed to be my hard drive i fixed it by tapping the case firmly but not too hard

[Pitch]

My DVD drive made a very similer sound.

[lady88]

Originally Posted by RussianMissile1

i just noticed that a low pitched hum is emmitting from my computer at almost regular intervals of about 1-2 secs each. this hum is loud enough to be heard over my smart fan 2 at full power. along with this hum also comes a vibration that i feel when i touch the monitor cable connector to the video card. i turn down all the case fans to 7v, it does not dissapear/change, it becomes clearer.

i can try to get a recording of the sound if nessesary, but no promises.

it does not come from my speakers because when i unplug them, it still persists.

it must be something that moves inside my case, either the sf2, the hard drive or the NB fan.(video card has no fan)

i sure hope its not the hard drive.

any ideas on what this might be?

[Cyberey66]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

or capacitors..they have been known to make a sound that could be said sounds like a fan rubbing or some such thing. There are a few capacitors that will "click" when used...one of my clients shuttle does this, as well as old P1-P2 cpus

Could be them, but they ussually produce a high pitched sound. Having 3 dead psus, all with the capacitors dieing, they DO produce a lot of noise like a dead fan. In fact I got one for free from a computer store, and the guy said all I need to do is replace the fan, but it was the capacitors that were dead. Fixing that is easy and cost only about $1-3 per capacitor from an electronics store. Here is what I would do if you have the time.

First, if you happen to have a multimeter, power the computer, clip the ground wire to the case, and check the voltages, make sure they are stable. You dont have to do this, but it would rule out a bad psu faster.

Strip the computer down to the motherboard, cpu, ram, and connect the psu. Have no fans attached, and either disconnect or stick something to stop the psu fan from starting. Power up the computer and check for noise, dont let it run long, as there is no psu fan. If nothing, then try again with the psu fan on. Keep adding one thing at a time, until the sound occurs. IE, one hardrive at a time, then one cdrom, then one fan. If you still can't find what is causing it, you should check the psu caps. A bad filter cap could cause power fluctations that could cause components to make regular patterns of noise and vibration. This happened on one of my psus and a harddrive, but it was very noticable and the computer wouldnt boot.

Checking the caps, take out the psu, and take precaution as the capacitors can hold a charge that will hurt you. Just take off the top cover with the 4 screws and look at the capacitors, pay attention to the smaller sets. What you are looking for is rounded tops, brown tops, or brownish liquid coming from these. If you see any of those, you have a failed capacitor. You can either get a new psu, or replace them yourself with a soldering iron, and a some time.

If it is the powersupply, I can provide you with information on fixing it and soldering if you wish. It's really easy to fix, you just need to have an electronics store to get capacitors, radio shack does not carry computer grade capacitors.

- good luck -

[RussianMissile1]

the sound went away by itself