Computer making a funky noise

[Nori]

https://youtu.be/ltUGcizS1OA
I don't know
It's a custom built one that I bought about two months ago. It does the noise when I'm downloading something, and when I play games, thought its less frequent with the games. I'm thinking it could be a fan, but the fact that it's not constant has me iffy about it.
Anyone have any ideas of what it could be?

[slim]

Well try to remove the metal protection and see where the noise comes from, you only need a spanner.
Looks the fan but I'm not sure.

[Timmy Fox]

Sounds like either a fan of hard drive to me.

[saph the sergal]

possibly the fan bearing ( 20 doller fan replacment)

is there any issues with the drive like stutters or haulting?

normaly hard drives have a big life and will make a weird amount of noise one ive heard is clicking

[Nori]

The only weird thing has been that noise, other than that its been running smoothly. When I plugged in my headset to the front jack audio I heard a whirring noise when moving the camera in the online games (did it for WoW, but not Skyrim, etc) that might have been coil noise, but when I plugged my headset into the back jacks it didn't make the sound again. I don't know a thing about computer hardware, and my uncle only knows software fixes with his work, but I'm thinking of taking it in someday when I'm able, but if I could fix the problem without, then that'd be great.

[saph the sergal]

fan bearing then for sure since you havent idicated any weird stops or such

normaly when a hard drive is going you can hear clicking or get stutters and such and there are programs that can tell you the s.m.a.r.t stattus of the drive and give a indication of the drives condition

EDIT: when you can try this

find the noise and if its a fan follow the cable

turn the pc off

take out the fan plug (just pull on the white connector dont pull cable)

turn the pc back on if the noise is gone its for sure that fan

EDIT2: theres also a wire grounding on the case somewhere thats not good

[Nori]

Yup, no clicks or anything, just the wubwub And nothing is giving me error messages in the systems page. Thanks! I'll check and see if HP has any posts about custom built computers being funky, and if not I'll look inside. Might clean it too.

[saph the sergal]

HP wont have a thing about it since it wasnt pre built by them

the front buzzing is the grounding

the fan part you need to do yourself and if it comes from the little fan on a block of aluminium (aussie we spell it diffrent so ) please dont turn the pc on that one is kinda very important if that one is making noise take it to a pc shop who know what they are doing since thats the cpu fan and you dont want to mess that one up if its on the back, top or front those ones you can do

[Nori]

Oh it was built by them I selected what I wanted on their site and ordered it http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/desktops/hp-envy-750z-desktop-n1n01av-aba-1
And thank you again, I'll check it out sometime either today or tomorrow. I just use it for drawing and gaming, so I'm not on it constantly.

[Timmy Fox]

I would say it should be fine to use, since the most likely scenario is that it's just one of the fans causing a bit of noise. If it was a more serious type of noise I'd agree with Saph not to use it but in this case it's such a minor noise it shouldn't be any issue so long it doesn't get worse.

It could be something as simple as that it's using auto-controlled fan speeds using PWM (4-pin connector) and has set itself to a certain fan speed that, with the specific fan, causes a bit of air turbulence, which leads to that sound. How close the fan is to as well as the shape of the fan grill are two major factors for this effect. One of my fans makes a very similar noise at 23%, for example. And if this is indeed the cause there's nothing to worry about; it's normal and caused by the exact same principle that makes whistles and flutes work!

---
As for the front jack noise; Is this heard from the PC or through your headset?

If it comes from the headset, that's unfortunately normal behavior. Front panel audio jacks are generally quite a compromised design and very prone to electrical interference (the same reason why antennas work). This is why many will recommend you use the port at the back instead of the front.

If it comes from the PC, however, it may be more serious. It's hard to diagnose simply based on description but could be anything from a harmless coil noise from the built-in audio components or graphics card or it could be something more serious such as a grounding issue. Might be as simple as checking the cable connection or unplugging and replugging the cable to fix this.

Regardless which one it is, using the port on the back seems to be enough to eliminate this issue as you said. Other possible solutions would be to move around the internal cable to eliminate possible interference or ground loops, though it may require a full replacement of the front audio port or simply a better motherboard. (Pre-made computers are known to not always use the greatest quality of components).

Hope that helps!

[saph the sergal]

just to clarify where i said if it comes from a smaller fan thats where the cpu sits and that is best done by someone who knows how to properly remove the cooler and such since using to much force can rip out the socket and basicly cost you a bit in new motherboard if you dont ruin the cpu (talking from experience i know i did it once)

[Nori]

Thanks guys!! And yeah, it was just coming from the headset

[Timmy Fox]

Glad to assist!
As said, just coming from the headset is usually perfectly normal. It could potentially be resolved by fiddling with the placement and double-checking the connection of the front panel audio cable inside the PC but it's not a guaranteed fix; Thus simply using just the back port is usually preferred.

just to clarify where i said if it comes from a smaller fan thats where the cpu sits and that is best done by someone who knows how to properly remove the cooler and such since using to much force can rip out the socket and basicly cost you a bit in new motherboard if you dont ruin the cpu (talking from experience i know i did it once)

Honestly, I wouldn't consider CPU coolers that hard to replace. If you have to use force you're doing it wrong. A motherboard socket should be more than strong enough and the only way you could really have trouble getting the cooler off would be it you forgot to remove a screw or used superglue or something.

Simply put; If the cooler doesn't come off, make sure you're removed the right screws and/or disengaged whatever locking mechanism it uses instead of pulling harder. And if you're certain you've done it all right and it's probably dried paste or something - give it a bit of a clockwise/counter-clockwise wiggle.

The hardest part of replacing a cooler imho is rather cleaning off the surface of the cpu and re-applying some new paste (both which are very easy).

[saph the sergal]

just to clarify where i said if it comes from a smaller fan thats where the cpu sits and that is best done by someone who knows how to properly remove the cooler and such since using to much force can rip out the socket and basicly cost you a bit in new motherboard if you dont ruin the cpu (talking from experience i know i did it once)

Honestly, I wouldn't consider CPU coolers that hard to replace. If you have to use force you're doing it wrong. A motherboard socket should be more than strong enough and the only way you could really have trouble getting the cooler off would be it you forgot to remove a screw or used superglue or something.

Simply put; If the cooler doesn't come off, make sure you're removed the right screws and/or disengaged whatever locking mechanism it uses instead of pulling harder. And if you're certain you've done it all right and it's probably dried paste or something - give it a bit of a clockwise/counter-clockwise wiggle.

The hardest part of replacing a cooler imho is rather cleaning off the surface of the cpu and re-applying some new paste (both which are very easy).

then explain why the thermal paste was basicly cement and needed force and this was a celeron something chip windows xp days i still have the cpu somewhere since its a reminder of the first pc i pulled apart and got working from 2 computers (pic is below of it :p) also it was my first time dealing with something like this sooo

[Timmy Fox]

then explain why the thermal paste was basicly cement and needed force and this was a celeron something chip windows xp days i still have the cpu somewhere since its a reminder of the first pc i pulled apart and got working from 2 computers (pic is below of it :p) also it was my first time dealing with something like this sooo

Well, that's a very old computer for starters, the build quality wasn't as good back then and thus many components a lot more fragile. Whilst you should always be careful, it's probably not all too relevant for Nori's PC which is a lot newer and less fragile.

Secondly:

And if you're certain you've done it all right and it's probably dried paste or something - give it a bit of a clockwise/counter-clockwise wiggle.

Carefully wiggling it in a rotational motion will break the adhesion without putting any stress on either the CPU or socket and thus allow it to come off on its own without damaging anything