Pc Making A Strange Noise

[HellFire121 0]

Lately my pc has been making a strange grinding noise, it usually happens once then doesn't come back for another few weeks. Usually bumping the case hard from the side then rebooting fixed it but it kept comming back. It was like a grinding noise, it got louder as the pc booted into windows, so i figured it was a fan issue and i checked to see if anything was blocking it.I tried undoing my case (after a bit of trouble finding that the case actually slides out ) and looking at the fans to see if they can spin freely and that nothing is blocking them. All 4 of them were clear and could spin freely.I left the pc for an hour and an hour later i turned it on, same problem. I took the case off again and turned it on to locate the problem. It was a fan alright, the case fan. There was a build up of dust around it but the strange thing is that it was still spinning normally. When i cleaned it then it was fine.This is a bit strange though, can dust make a moving fan produce weird noises? I don't think it was the dust. What do you think it is?-HellFire

[sparx 0]

some hard disks and optical drives have also been known to make very audible noises, especially as you claim after a period of inactivity of a few weeks.I'd suggest you also check by leaving the case open and then booting up. Keep your ears peeled to locate the source. You can in the meantime, disable non-essential peripherals one by one to narrow down the source of the noise.As you've already surmised in more cases than not, it's the fan that's the culprit, so don't discard that theory under any circumstances either.

[Markymark2 0]

I get an anooying rattle every now and again from my big tower its normally dust and cat hair built up on the fans..One thing I do to stop a build up of dust is too get my vacuum cleaner tuen the PC off!!! take out the power cord..start the pc so it drains any power left in the capacitors in the PSU.I literally hoover the PSU out-make the fans spin round and use a brush for cleaning the floor to dislodge the dust a bit..Also I hoover my CPU and graphics card fans out and make sure that theres no loose dust and fluff lying around the case.This normally solves the problem for a few months.Good Luck!!

[vujsa 0]

That sound is definitely your fan and is caused by dust. Happens to me about every eight or nine months. My home doesn't have a forced air heating and cooling system so there isn't any flow of air through a filter. As a result, we get dust build up on everything. The inside of my case has to be cleaned out every six months or so. If I forget to clean it out, the fans get clogged up and make a bunch of noise.Most cooling fans have bearings which will make noise when they get too dirty. Simply using an air duster every year or so will really help your system. Not only does the dust slow your fans and make them noisy, which reduces their cooling ability; the dust settles on other components which acts like a blanket that traps the heat inside making your system run hotter.Most processors and other PC components work better when they are at room temperature. If your system gets hot, then your performance with be affected. You may notice a slow down or frequent and seemingly random errors. You should unplug your system and wait about 2 minutes and open your case. You systems capacitors will hold electricity for a bit which is why you should wait. Be sure to remove any static charge you may have by touching something metal other than you computer before touching ANYTHING inside your computer. An anti-static wristband is always a good idea.Using an air duster (use 2 or 3 since they freeze up quickly) blow out ALL dust in your system. Don't just blow it around inside the case, really get it out of the system. Some people use a vacuum cleaner to clean the dust out. I don't recommend this practice since spinning air is flowing over a plastic tube which is a great way to generate a lot of static electricity. Use a clean (preferably unused) paintbrush to lightly brush off any stubborn dirt and dust. Also, using the paintbrush can help get the dust that settles in the bottom of the case after your air dusting. Be sure to blow the air duster through both sides of any fans you have. This will help get ALL of the dust out of them. One additional thing to remember when cleaning out your case is that most power supplies have their own fan and because they get pretty hot, tend to trap a lot of dust inside. You may need to open your power supply and clean it out too.There are things that you can do to prevent the build-up of dust in your system. First, never smoke around your system. Smoke is sticky and doesn't simply pass through your system without issue. Smoke sticks to your components and then the dust sticks to the smoke, etc, etc, etc...Using a filter on ALL incoming are fans and vents will trap the dust before it gets into your system. This is easier in some systems than others. If your system has a bunch of vent holes in it, you may have to wrap the entire case with filter material. Be sure to not cover any outgoing fans or vents. You don't want to trap the dust inside. Be sure that you have plenty of outgoing air fans and vents. If all of your fans are inbound then your system will have a positive pressure cooling system which is great for keeping out dust if ALL of your incoming ports are very well filtered. If they are not filtered properly, then MORE dust is trapped in a positive pressure cooling system. Alternatively, having a negative pressure system will actually suck dust into every opening in the case like a vacuum cleaner core. This is when you have to consider wrapping the entire system with filter material. Ideally, you should have a neutral pressure cooling system where as much air is forced into the system as is forced out. For example, you may want two fans in the front blowing cool air in and two fans in the rear blowing hot air out. That would maintain proper air flow and few dead air pockets in the case where dust would settle.Filter material is pretty easy to find. Using a universal window air conditioner foam filter is the most common method. Filter material can also be cut from heating and cooling filters. These are the 1 by 20 by 20 inch (2.54 X 50.8 X 50.8 cm) or similar sized filters. Placing a fabric softener sheet over an outgoing fan port will have your office or computer room smelling like a laundromat. :)If dust is really bad, look into buying a sealed, positive pressure, filtered computer case. These are more expensive but run very cool and trap nearly all of the dust before it enters the system. Hope This Helps. :)vujsa

[HellFire121 0]

whoa thanks for the replies, anyway it definatly wasn't the hard drive (which is at the front, the noise was comming from the far back).so the next time i hear this noise i'll just get all the dust out with a compressed air can.thanks -HellFire

[iGuest 3]

Ive cleaned out my pc the fans and everything a few times am it was fine for a day but got even louder so I looked in my case to see anything wrong but nothing seems wrong I cant see any thing but dust so I clean the whole thing out and nothing it still makes louder noisesUnless I hit the side of my tower really hard then it gets quieter but I cam still hear hummingThanks

-reply by Tara

[Atomic0 0]

My PC is noisier than standard computers since I use a rack system to hold the hard disk in the computer (i.e. the rack system allows me to change hard disks easily so I can use multiple sets of hard disks on the same computer). The rack system annoyingly includes integrated fans which makes very loud noise even though there isn't much dust in the fan.@HellFire121,Have you checked out the power supply fan? On my old computer, there was a small design fault in the power supply that caused it to produce strange grinding noises from within the computer. It would usually get worse in cold weather and make much louder grinding noises.You should try opening up your computer case while it is running and try to identify the source of the noise, although you will need to be careful not to touch any moving parts e.g. fans.

[HannahI 0]

I'm guessing that you are using to much energy.

[H.O.D 0]

I faced this "grinding" problem till a few days ago - and then I opened up everything and cleaned them out. For the first few days everything was alright. Then the noise returned, although muffled a bit - so I opened everything again and was surprised to see dust again - I guess proper air circulation is necessary to stop the dust and that is something I didn't have earlier. Anyway I'm glad I'm not the only one who faces these grinding noises - everyone who used to hear them said "Your PC is one of a kind!"

[Soviet Rathe 1]

Last time my computer made a grinding sound my hard drive died x_x

[levimage 0]

If it is not a hard drive going bad, your fans might need to be replaced. It could be your dustys lint filled fans. Fan's typically have a long life. But there are times when too much fine dust, dirty, smoke, or other airborne contaminents can affect the noise output by fans. Also on a side note if you pc is full of lint and dust, it may tend to run hotter because of less clean surface area to expel the heat. This will lead to the cpu, chassis, and other system fans to run faster and therefore louder than normal. They might run from a 50% speed to as much as 110% the fan's maximum rated speed.Overclocking also has this negative effect.

[iGuest 3]

Fan noisePc Making A Strange Noise

My PC made a grinding noise too. Turns out it was the little fan on the graphics card. I never thought to clean it, I just moved it back and forth until the noise stopped. The card ended up dying because of overheating, the new card I got has the same problem, but just lightly touching the fan fixes it, I think I'm gonna clean it out sometime.

-reply by Fullmetal

[iGuest 3]

The fan makes a grinding noise if the barrings are dirty or if the fan itself is shot.

My computer's power supply fan long ago was making that sound whir rr r  r  r  r  r ..

It did that for a while then one day the noise was gone...

I thought oh cool it resolved itself..

Umm no...What did happen.. 

I was using the computer and poof it turned itself off like someone pulled out the plug out..

I booted it back up and it kept turning off all by itself..

itTurns up the power supply cooling fan had died.. The computer has aFinal fail safe system that shuts the computer off if the computerOverheats due to a blocked or dead cooling fan.. (hey!! good info toKnow you all think?? and that info should be in BIG LETTERS in allComputer instruction books because how the heck are we suppose to knowThat other wise???? it took me 3 months to find out what was wrong withMy computer.. Its no fun to be in the middle of something say like whatWe are doing here and suddenly the computer just shuts off!) IReplaced the fan and everything returned to normal.. No more noise.. NoMore shutting off

replace YOUR fan!

problem will be solved... Period... They don't cost much and are very easy to replace. Radio shack should have them..

[iGuest 3]

computer noise while starting Pc Making A Strange Noise

hey my computer make that whir rr r  r  r  r  r .. Sound when I start my computer. When I kick or shake the CPU it stop and start again in aonther 30seconds ,I  hav clean all the hardware but it only work for a day and goes back to that normal sound

What should I do with this noise?

-reply by kapani