HDD has periods of ticking

I have a Acer Aspire 5551 laptop. Its the first ever budget laptop i've brought and im not familiar with the sounds yet. A few of my friends say Acer's are badly made computers.

I have a query about a strange but quiet ticking sound (clicking) from the location of my HDD. i know what it means generally but its a different type of ticking which comes in periods. the period of continuous ticking can last for about an hour then stops ticking of hours and just running silently. it starts after a period where the pc is more or less in idle. The computer works perfectly fine even in periods of ticking.

I have only brought it about a month ago and is under warrenty. I just want to find out if it is a normal sound of acer laptops or is it a sign of a failing hdd in its premature state?

Ive backed my data up anyway. If it is a potential problem should i make use of my years warranty now or should i leave it a few months see what happens and perhaps do it later?

What do you guys think?

 

Most probably it is a failing hard drive.Back up any important backup and go with your warranty and ask for a new one.There are several utilites to check but i am sure it is a faulty one that will get worse as time passes.