Mysterious Whirr

Every now and then, there is this strange whirring noise that eminates from the chasis of my computer.

It only happens when the computer boots, and it doesn't happen
immediately during booting. After the BIOS screen and the SATA
driver loads, the sound occurs. It lasts only for about one
second, and then it goes away. It doesn't happen with every boot
either.

I had opened up my case two days ago to investigate, but I could not
see any wiring or parts that could get tangled up in the CPU fan, the
graphics card fan, the power supply fan, or the chasis fan.

Besides the annoying and disconcerting noise, there's nothing else
wrong with my computer. The temperature remains cool, and
everything performs perfectly.

I would like to solicit some suggestions as to the origin of the
noise. Otherwise, it'll just have to go down in history as one of
the mysteries of mankind, like the Lochness monster and Big Foot.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I used to get a far longer start up whirr that would go after about 3
minutes or so. Seemed to be my graphics card fan, and hence its no
longer a problem since I replaced the card. Was mighty annoying though
it must be said. I also used to occasionally get a chassis style
rattling, but I think that was down to having too many excess PSU
cables stashed up between the PSU and the top of the case. I'm afraid
I've no suggestions as to what could be causing your own one.

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

There's not many moving parts. So, it's probably a wire hitting a fan. Even if it doesn't seem like it.

There's also the chance, like Reno had, that a fan could be all funked up.

Look harder? If you look at the fans, do it while the computer is on. Also, you'd be able to hear the sound better and determine its loation.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Not to contradict any of my learned peers (and to point out my negligence in reading this thread through) but,

When a cooling fan begins to wear out its bushing can make a whirring noise when you first turn on a pc. Sometimes it quits once the bushing warms up, sometimes not but I have had a few fans do this before they finally go out.

If this has been pointed out already forget I posted, if not then I posted new info.

Hope this helps.

---

There is no history until something happens, then there is.

My GPU fan made that sound when its ball-bearing got jammed with dust.
If the sound is from there try putting a few drops of oil in the bearings at the centre of the GPU
fan (or any other fan, for that matter).

I am starting to suspect that it's the GPU fan that's making the noise. It's not really dusty inside the chasis, but it doesn't hurt to vacuum it anyway.

I'll try that. Thanks everyone.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Have you tried looking inside while the PC is on...Or when it makes that noise so you can locate where it comes from. What about the fan...Is it old?

If it bothers you that much then try touching things and removing components until it stops.

I find that if you have a fan that gets noisy and you can't replace it, you can soak it down with "silicon lubricant" or lock lubricant, then use a can of the compressed air to get rid of all of exces oil. then run it and it'll work like a charm!!!

We used to get about 3 "my computer is making growling noises!" repair requests at work there for awhile...

---

I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Be aware that any lubrication that is moist should be used either sparingly, or not at all. Things like teflon sprays or graphite are much better. Dry lubricants are preferable.

You can easily obtain graphite from any auto parts store. Ask for door key lubricant.

Teflon sprays are harder to obtain, and much more expensive. They are also wet when applied and dry in moments so be sure the power is off until the drying is completed.

Oil based lubricants stay wet from the time they are applied until they finally ruin your machine. I would avoid them unless its absolutely necessary.

This advice is given freely so do with it what you will. It is also given with no disrespect intended to anyone who posted contrary advice to mine.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Sounds like one of my fans is going too... :sad:

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

wil5on said:
Sounds like one of my fans is going too... :sad:

i know it's hard to accept, but after the water melon incident, well, i just can't admire you like i used to......

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i eat paint

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting fishy</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>
<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting wil5on</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Sounds like one of my fans is going too... :sad: </DIV></DIV>

i know it's hard to accept, but after the water melon incident, well, i just can't admire you like i used to......

</DIV></DIV>

Just in case no one else says so, that has got to be the funniest thing I have read in here in weeks.
My hats off to'ya.

You are the master of subtle humor.

---

There is no history until something happens, then there is.

We were all out of dry lubricants unfortunately. but that's why you spray it all out with compresed air

and only the tiniest amount it left in the fan..

---

I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Strangely I get a weird rubbing sound apparently coming from the
processor fan. What's truly weird is that I don't get this sound when
playing hl2 with HDR on (which totally kills my display adaptor and analrapes my processor), only
when playing diablo 2 which is by far a game that doesn't rape my
resources given it's age.

Most likely a coincidence then, fan speed should generally stay constant independent of processor load in a desktop. Unless you have some sort of temperature control system, but the fans should be running at their fastest all the time anyway.

---

"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

If I am correct, there are only five fans in my computer--the PSU fan,
the CPU fan, the GPU fan, the front case fan, and the side chassis fan.

I am currently running with my computer's bowl exposed, and all the
fans seem to be running fine. No wiring or other components is in
the way of the fan.

The problem happens rarely, so I may never find out the reason for the
noise. But at least for now I know nothing is failing.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I finally figured out that the whirring noise is coming from the side
chassis fan. Since it's not that important (I think) anyway, I
unplugged it, and the noise never returned.

However, I just noticed this morning that the front chassis fan failed
also. It didn't emit any death throes--it just stopped turning.

Now, should I be concerned that both of my chassis fans failed?
How important are they to keep the components cool? I am under
the impression that as long as I have a functional fan for the PSU, the
CPU, and the graphics card, I should be fine. Ventilation is
still very good through my case, as I don't have too many cards beside
the video card and a small network card.

---

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

satchmo said:
Now, should I be concerned that both of my chassis fans failed? How important are they to keep the components cool? I am under the impression that as long as I have a functional fan for the PSU, the CPU, and the graphics card, I should be fine. Ventilation is still very good through my case, as I don't have too many cards beside the video card and a small network card.

One can never have to many fans functioning.

I would replace them as soon as possible since your idea of plenty may not coincide with the machines.

However, as long as your power supply fan is still functioning, that should tide you over until you can replace the fans.

The test will not be this idle internet surfing, it will come when you fire up that card to play a game. The heat generated from the card is blown into the case, NOT outside so the card fan will not keep the other parts cool.

Case fans are like 10 dollars each. replace them.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I just played about thirty rounds of CS:S, and the CPU temperature went up to 52. It ain't that bad, so I think I am okay.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

satchmo said:
It ain't that bad, so I think I am okay.

For now.

I would like to reiterate. I did have to many fans once. They were all pulling the same direction and were actually causing the temp to go up because of the force of all them working against each other. I turned half so the were blowing in and left the rest blowing out and helped to cool the machine dramatically.

As I said though, fans are cheap, replace them.

---

There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I am not cheap, but I am lazy sometimes.

It's only two or three degrees Celsius above compared to what I had before.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

You can live without case fans for a while, but consider that its winter over there, and in summer it could get much hotter. 52 is quite warm, I've never seen mine above 50.

You can probably fix the noisy fan, usually when fans make noises they just need lubricant. I did this fairly recently. Theres a tutorial here: http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?threadid=80877

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

52 is nothing, or at least I've never heard of anybody making it out as
an "issue" temperature. My comp runs in the range of a little under 50
(at startup) to 60 (after playing intensive games), and I've never had
any real problems with it doing so. I'm sure it might reduce its life
by some amount by running a little over "optimal", but computer parts
are normally replaced within a few years anyway.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

You don't NEED case fans period. Your processor can easily operate safely up to temperatures of 70? (when it hits around 80 or 90 then things start getting damaged)

Mine sits at about 48? (~57 or so after intensive stuff)
The case fan does nothing to cool my system down, I put it in simply to have air flow so I wouldn't have to open it and clean it as often. (With no steel case around the cpu is like ~30.)

My GPU a few weeks ago had a little problem with the fan ... it wouldn't run for some reason, so it was getting up to 80, thankfully, that was the heat of the heatsync and not the actual GPU (Go conduction!)

CPUs are made to run hot. So, no worries.

UD, it's because they were all blowing in to the computer (instead of out) ... there was no airflow which made it hot, the heat couldn't escape. Nothing about "force".

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Thanks guys. I just need the extra reassurance from my trusty mates to feel better. I didn't think it's a problem.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Crono, something about your posts has been bothering me for a while...

It's spelled heatsink.

:razz:

---

"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Crono</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>
UD, it's because they were all blowing in to the computer (instead of out) ... there was no airflow which made it hot, the heat couldn't escape. Nothing about "force".</DIV></DIV>

Actually, I know exactly what I am saying. I do not really need clarification.

All my fans were blowing out thankyou, including the power supply fan (I could actually hear the power supply fan laboring to work until I turned 1/2 of them around) and with 5 of those puppies all sucking the case dry they were working against each other. So the force of the fans all working against each other were defeating the purpose. (my power supply was actually quite hot to the touch, that was the only reason I noticed, that and the fan laboring)

I would suggest that if you cannot work out every scenario possible, that you do not discount ANY as feasible. At least not when talking to me. :rolleyes:

and before you say it. Five fans are not to many, or to few. They are just 5 fans!

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I found out this morning that the whirring sound doesn't come from the
side chassis fan after all. Because even with it disconnected,
the sound still came on today.

So I plugged the side fan back in, and I'll just have to live with the
whirr. The hard thing to figure out is that the sound doesn't
come all the time, only about once every third boot.

Thanks everyone.

And UnderDog, you're right. Having all the fans sucking air out
isn't the optimal setup. AMD technical papers recommend that for
every intake fan, there should be an outtake one. This way a
constant, balanced airflow will move through the chassis.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Its nice to have AMD support and all but it just made sense after listening to that poor power supply fan groaning so hard.

It hums along happily now. I do notice that if you listen very close that video intensive games make it alter pitch subtly as well. If I do a video stress test particularly, it actually drops several tones. :smile:

About your noise. one things for sure. Only moving parts make noise and usually its a fan so I would look there first. I had a video fan go out once. At first it was a soft whirr, but it progressed into a screech before it went. I also had a hard drive make a funny sound once. The sound was/is hard to explain but I suppose "whirr" would fit as good as any.

if you want to use an old mechanics trick you can place a drinking straw to your ear hole. The sound can only enter through the straw opening. Be careful not to bump anything as you could push the straw into the canal but move the straw around until you locate the likely origin of the noise.

That may help.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

UD, the way you said it was ridiculous, that's what I was pointing out. I know what you meant and I know you knew what you were saying ... You stated it very awkwardly. How else would you know unless someone pointed it out?

Win5on: I really don't care.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:
UD, the way you said it was ridiculous, that's what I was pointing out. I know what you meant and I know you knew what you were saying ... You stated it very awkwardly. How else would you know unless someone pointed it out?

How many times do I have to say I am sorry until you stop picking on my sentence structure?

Communication does work both ways. If you did, as you say, understand, why are you picking on me about it?

So I used nomenclature that was detrimental to the workings know as "force". :sad:

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I'm not picking on you. Jesus Christ, knock it off, seriously.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quote:</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>if you want to use an old mechanics trick you can place a drinking straw to your ear hole. </DIV></DIV>

Heh, I am a doctor. I don't need the straw. :smile: I already used my $400 stethoscope to listen to every fan in my case previously. Because the problem only happens intermittently, I have never catch it when it occurs.

But once the noise stops completely, I'll get worried then (the fan probably stopped turning finally). So far, whenever I open my case, all the fans are working properly (when I use an otoscope to check and a stethoscope to listen).

I never thought my medical equipment would be so useful when it comes to diagnosing computer problems.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

satchmo said:
Heh, I am a doctor. I don't need the straw.

Duh, now don't I look the fool. I forgot. :redface:

---

There is no history until something happens, then there is.

satchmo said:
Heh, I am a doctor. I don't need the straw.

well, now you know what to do if you ever misplace your stethoscope.

---

i eat paint

I suspect it's the GPU fan that's making the noise. A few other Radeon 9800 Pro customers have had this problem too, but it's nothing serious.

Trying to contact ATI is such a pain in the butt that I gave up after half an hour.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Any video card fan will die sooner or later. A drop of oil, or dry lube if you can find it does wonders for a noisy GPU fan. I already posted the tutorial, so if it keeps bothering you, you know what to do. I'm sure theres some pretty nifty medical equipment you can use for this purpose :wink:

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I figured out the problem finally. It was the GPU fan that's making the noise.

I vacuumed the inside of the computer thoroughly, and used a Q-tip to
clean out the scum on the fan blades. The whirring nosie is gone
now.

Thanks.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Wierd, I was gunna say its most likely the north bridge fan, they are notoriously loud on startup. Least you found the problem!

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Doctor Satchmo's dialogue with the nurse in the OR:

"Scalpel?" -satchmo
"Scalpel" -nurse
"Clamps?" -satchmo
"Clamps" -nurse
"Q-Tip?" -satchmo
"Q-Tip" -nurse

...
"Blowjob?" -satchmo
"what?" - nurse
"Scalpel?" -satchmo
"Sca ... Scalpel" -nurse

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Remember the opening movie of LucasArts SimCity style game Afterlife? What an awesome game.<br style="color: white;">

I noticed recently after 40+ odd years that I can finally hit the hole whenever I pee.

Seems that while sitting down the hole between the seat and the porcelain is just even with my dink and the underware on the other side catches most of the stream.

ahem

Oh uh, yeah, glad you got that whirr fixed Doc. :wink:

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I am looking at my schedule right now, and there is a strange complaint...

"Strip throat"

Okay...I guess I need a x-rated ray for that.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge