Computer Buzzing/Rattling

Hello,

My basic specs are as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+
2.21 GHz
1 gig ram
A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
dual geforce 7800 GTs
CoolerMaster Ammo 533 case


I had this system built at a PC Club about 4 months ago, in december 2005. When I play graphically intensive games (which is obviously why i bought it) the computer begins to buzz, or rattle rather loudly. To be honest it's kind of hard to tell if it's just the case or if the fans have something to do with it. It tends to be the front that is really loud, but there is definitely noise coming from the back and the inside. Does anyone know if there's anything about any of these particular pieces of hardware, like the case or motherboard that might have something to do with it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kel

 

If it's only happening when you play games that use the full spec of the machine then it is almost certainly because your PC is creating a lot more heat and the fans are turning themselves up to full speed to deal with that.

It could be one of a number of things -

1) Bad fan. Failing fans often rattle,
2) Poorly attached fan. The rattling could be from a loose screw rattling, the fan itself rattling against the case (or graphics card or CPU heatsink),
3) If the noise is just buzzing rather than rattling then it could just be that you've got a lot of fans all going at full speed and making a hell of a lot of noise.

Assuming it is rattling because something is bad then given the age of the PC it's most likely to be a poorly attached fan. That's probably not a problem on the case (but worth dealing with, you wouldn't have posted if it wasn't annoying you after all), but if it's on the CPU heatsink or one of your graphics cards then you could have a problem.

With the PC off I'd open the case and prod the case fans to see if any of them are loose, then turn on the PC load up a high spec game and see if you can find out which fan. If you can find it, chances are it's just a loose screw and you can just tighten it up a little to solve your problem (just turn the PC off before you start prodding it with metal things...).

Hope this is helpful, post back if you can't find the culprit or if you need idea's (I would be very careful adjusting the Video card fans etc if you're not familiar with the inside of a case).