computer hangs with a buzzing noise from inside case

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by ZerithP, Nov 3, 2008.

  1. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    I'm having issues with my computer at the moment. My computer has been hanging with a buzzing noise (kinda sounds like something is spinning) from within the case when it happens. I'm not sure what the problem could be, whether its memory or my graphics card. It does it when I play WoW and it also does it when I do various things on my computer, like browse the internet etc etc.

    My guess would be a RAM issue but I don't know where to start looking.

    Specs -

    Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

    Intel Q6600 Quad Core Processor. (Not being overclocked.)

    Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard

    4gb Corsair RAM (1 x CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400))
    and
    (CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400))

    EVGA GeForce 8800GTX Superclocked 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16

    I'll update with my PSU in a few minutes since I dont have the box, I'll need to look inside my case.

    Im going to rule out the motherboard and the cpu since I just bought them and I had this problem before I rebuilt my computer.

    Any help or insight would be very much appreciated!
     
  2. thesmokingun

    thesmokingun MajorGeek

    hmm...buzzing, like an alarm? or does it buzz all the time? could be a temperature problem....if you know how, could you remove the fan/heatsink from the cpu, and re-apply thermal paste, and re-seat the fan/heatsink? also, something silly like a wire getting into the cpu fan will cause it to overheat....or one of your fans is controlled by the motherboard, and it's spinning up as you do things on the computer to cause the temp to go up and the fan spins up accordingly..

    check all your fans, video card, cpu and any others you have..
     
  3. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    Well the Heatsink is fitted properly, I have temperature monitors going and they all read 35C-40C for all 4 cores. If it was seating incorrectly I'd imagine those numbers would be higher.

    I can check the other fans but most of my fans are not plugged into the mobo, but directly to the PSU.

    My screen will freeze for a couple seconds and then it buzzes for 1 second. I'm not sure if its an alarm though.
     
  4. Toke

    Toke MajorGeek

  5. Deckard

    Deckard Private E-2

    Did you reuse the PSU from the old computer?

    I am going to guess you have a PSU problem. The buzzing noise could be from inside the PSU. The 8800GTX and the quadcore would be drawing a lot of juice, and probably the PSU is unable to handle it?

    What are the PSU specs? Brand, model, rating, amps on the 12v rails etc.
     
  6. Toke

    Toke MajorGeek

  7. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    my PSU is a 1010watt PSU. Model # oczgxs1010
     
  8. thesmokingun

    thesmokingun MajorGeek

    lol i think thats good enough ;)

    does your temperature monitoring program also monitor your gpu? I know there's others, but i use hwmonitor to check it all sometimes...there are others too.
     
  9. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    PSU running at 39C-41C

    however my GPU is 76C seems a bit hot to me.
     
  10. Deckard

    Deckard Private E-2

    That PSU ought to be able to handle the load easily.

    You are right, 76 C on idle for a 8800GTX seems a bit on the high side although those cards are known for running hot. I'd have expected it to idle around 65 C, and max out around 80-85 C under full load in a well ventilated case. Probably the numbers are slightly higher for the superclocked version.

    Is the GPU fan plugged into the GPU board correctly? Check for loose connections. Also check for dust/debris that might be preventing the GPU fan from running smoothly. You can download RivaTuner and monitor (or set) the fan speeds.

    As for testing the memory, you can try memtest
    http://majorgeeks.com/MemTest_d350.html
    or http://www.memtest.org/

    Or swap out the RAM modules and test them one by one on the board to isolate the problem.
     
  11. thesmokingun

    thesmokingun MajorGeek

    yeah, that's a bit high, my 8800gt runs under 60 C at idle (usually 55 or so), and i have to use riva tuner to put the fan at max to keep it under 70~75 C in a game.
     
  12. Rob M.

    Rob M. First Sergeant

    Buzzing noises often come from fans that have a bad bearing. thesmokingun was probably right on the money in his first post. Bearing failure is a common problem in computer cooling fans, especially with sleeve bearings.

    If the GPU fan is buzzing, it will not be spinning at the speed it should, and it will be using more power than it should. It won't be delivering the cooling that GPU has to have, which is a likely explanation for the temps you're seeing on that card. And I'd be quite prepared to guess that an overheating GPU could hang your computer when it ceases to operate as the CPU expects -- and your first post suggests that this is happening when the GPU is working hard, and therefore more likely to overheat.

    Try replacing the GPU fan -- if that can be done. If that's not an option, consider replacing the entire GPU card. Perhaps you can borrow a replacement to see if that fixes the problem.
     
  13. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    Makes sense then, I replaced all 8 of my case fans in my computer today with better fans that I can control the speed of. Dropped most of my temperatures anywhere from 5C-15C even the GPU has gone down from
    75C on idle to 63C. Current GPU temp while playing wow never exceeded 77C... a huge decrease from before. Maybe it was an overall airflow issue?
     
  14. Rob M.

    Rob M. First Sergeant

    Well, if your problems have gone away, maybe it's fixed. But if it was a noisy fan bearing that was making the buzzing noise, it will likely act up again. Some day.

    I'll assume that you didn't replace the GPU fan -- it's not as easy as replacing a case fan, and often isn't practical because of the difficulty of finding a replacement and/or dealing with the mounting of the fan. If it's not making a noise now, just make sure it spins freely when the computer is off. If it shows any sign of resistance to turning, keep a replacement GPU handy.

    If the buzz re-appears, touch the center of the hub of a suspect fan with the eraser end of a pencil. Apply only enough pressure to slow the fan down a little. If the noise changes, you've found the defective fan. Replace it ASAP; you don't want it to freeze up on you, because when it does, whatever it's cooling will probably fry. And maybe take other components with it if the wrong circuits melt.
     
  15. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    you are correct, I did not replace my GPU fan. I will check to see if there is any resistance when I shut my computer down.
     
  16. Deckard

    Deckard Private E-2

    +1.

    I use RT to set the Windows startup default fan speed at 60% on my 8800GT, which for me is the max speed where it cannot be heard (ambient noise levels in my room are quite high anyway). Idle is between 55-59 C.

    When gaming, I set it to 100%, and don't care about the noise since I use bluetooth headphones for the audio.
     
  17. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    update: upgraded my graphics card to a 9800 GTX and I'm still getting the buzzing noise. RAM was updated as well.

    No idea now. Harddrive issue? CPU? Mobo? starting to get worried.
     
  18. Rob M.

    Rob M. First Sergeant

    Sounds like we can discount the probability that a fan is involved. You've replaced them all (or have you?), and I assume that the pencil trick didn't point out any fans as responsible. One thought -- the PSU has at least one fan within the unit, and it's easy to overlook that one. You did test it, didn't you -- because I'll bet you didn't replace it with the rest of the case fans.

    Let's go back to basics. Noises are caused by something moving, so it won't be the CPU itself. Or the motherboard. They have no moving parts. The PSU is highly unlikely, once you've eliminated the possibility that its fan is buzzing -- but it's not impossible, because the alternating electrical fields within the power supply can make metal parts move if they're not properly fastened.

    The other component that has moving parts is the hard drive. They don't often buzz themselves, but they can set up vibration if they are not perfectly balanced because the platters within them rotate at high speed -- 5400rpm or higher.

    Case panel resonances can amplify that vibration within a panel if it's the right size and weight, so check for panel vibrations both inside and outside the case. If touching a case panel stops the buzz, stick some folded paper or thin cardboard between the case panel and whatever other case components it contacts to silence the buzz permanently.

    If you suspect that a hard drive is buzzing, turn off your computer and disconnect the drive's power cable (the 4-wire cable). If the buzz doesn't return when you power up the system again (it doesn't matter if it doesn't boot), you may have found the buzzy component. Shut down the computer again, and re-connect power to the drive. If the buzz returns, you know you've found the guilty component.

    Once you've confirmed that it is a hard drive that's buzzing, make sure all of its mounting screws are hand-tight. There should be four, but lazy or sloppy assemblers sometimes use fewer. If the drive is firmly and properly mounted in the case and is still buzzing, consider replacing the drive. It may be about to fail.

    One other possibility occurs to me. If you have a faxmodem card in your system, try removing it temporarily. Faxmodem cards often have a small relay on them, i.e., a moving part. It's remotely possible that the relay is malfunctioning. To test that theory, just remove it temporarily.

    One tip: when you're making changes to your system to diagnose a problem, make only one change at a time, then test it. If you make more than one change at a time between tests, you won't know which change caused your system to change its behaviour. Confusion and inaccurate conclusions is the usual result. And you can waste an incredible amount of time by disqualifying a possible cause when you shouldn't have.
     
  19. ZerithP

    ZerithP Private E-2

    The only fan that was not checked would be the PSU fan.

    I have not checked my hard drives though. I have 3 all hooked up through SATA

    Remember though, it only makes this buzzing noise for a breif second and the screen freezes up, but then resumes like nothing happened.

    I will start by checking each harddrive 1 by 1, and the PSU afterwards... however, I'm not entirely sure how I would check the hard drive with my OS on it because I'm not sure if this problem will occur at the BIOS.
     
  20. Rob M.

    Rob M. First Sergeant

    Your initial description wasn't all that clear on that point, and I had not understood that the buzz appears only momentarily. That may make a huge difference, and the comments I have offered so far may be quite irrelevant.

    Thank you for clarifying the situation. A buzz that's only momentary isn't likely to come from a bad bearing in a fan or a hard drive. However, head thrashing in the hard drive becomes a possibility, although today's hard drives are so quiet I would not give that a high probability.

    One thought about testing your hard drives as sources for the noise: if the buzz appears before the OS starts to load, it doesn't matter whether the drive containing the OS is attached. All attached drives have to spin up and be recognised by the BIOS before the OS will start to load.

    If the buzz doesn't appear until after the OS has loaded, try to identify some specific trigger. What is the computer doing when the buzz appears?

    You could also try booting from a CD-ROM if you have a bootable one handy -- like a Windows distribution CD-ROM.
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds