All right I am having a weird sound coming from inside my computer it's very random and not consistent. The best way to describe it is it sounds like static going on inside. I am having no issues playing games or anything as of yet but the sound is driving me nuts.

It's happens randomly, I can be doing nothing and it'll randomly start, I can be doing something like a game and it'll randomly start. There is nothing that triggers it. It started doing this a few days ago and I just have no idea what it is except driving me nuts xD.

Any ideas on what would cause this and how to fix?

Grobyc

Canada18410 Posts

March 31 2013 04:33 GMT

Never really heard of a staticy sound like you're describing. Doesn't sound like it might be originating from a fan? Have you tried taking off the cover and kneeling down and listening around to get a trace of where it comes from?

blade55555

United States17423 Posts

March 31 2013 05:02 GMT

On March 31 2013 13:33 Grobyc wrote:
Never really heard of a staticy sound like you're describing. Doesn't sound like it might be originating from a fan? Have you tried taking off the cover and kneeling down and listening around to get a trace of where it comes from?

mmhmm and first I thought it was my CPU fan so I replaced it but that wasn't the issue. Listened closer and it's not coming from any of the fans it's almost like it's coming from the motherboard somewhere.

semantics

10040 Posts

March 31 2013 07:02 GMT

coil whine? Is it high pitched but not loud it probably goes up and down as power load goes up and down(usually using the scroll wheel in an Internet browser will do it). Used to be more of a problem in older computers solid state chokes mostly replaced coils and the whine issue mostly went away. Coils are still used in PSU's though for various reasons, but that sort of coil whine usually can be fixed by turning off newer ACPI features in BIOS.

felisconcolori

United States6168 Posts

March 31 2013 08:02 GMT

Given what I've seen in some of your blogs, I'm kindof worried about low level short or static discharge inside the case. Also, is there any indication of where in your case it is coming from?

blade55555

United States17423 Posts

March 31 2013 08:06 GMT

On March 31 2013 17:02 felisconcolori wrote:
Given what I've seen in some of your blogs, I'm kindof worried about low level short or static discharge inside the case. Also, is there any indication of where in your case it is coming from?

I mean it sounds like it's coming down on the lower end of the motherboard near the GPU almost.

Ropid

Germany3557 Posts

March 31 2013 09:19 GMT

Take a screwdriver and hold it by the tip. Stuff the handle of the screwdriver into your ear, and hold the tip onto some part of your case. It will amplify sound a lot. Go around your case like that and diagnose where the noise comes from. ezpz

Just make sure you don't put the tip of the screwdriver into electronics and short something.

felisconcolori

United States6168 Posts

April 01 2013 05:33 GMT

On March 31 2013 17:06 blade55555 wrote:

Show nested quote +

I mean it sounds like it's coming down on the lower end of the motherboard near the GPU almost.

I tend to beat the capacitor drum a lot, but are there a lot of large capacitors in the area? And transformers or coils? And have you tried reseating the GPU? (Along with the obvious "are there any dark smudges or areas that look like they're collecting more dust than reasonable (due to ionization in the air)?")

Just to be sure, this isn't a computer running a "refurbished" processor? (Aka, a beat up processor you picked up on eBay and then had to straighten out or reconnect all the pins.)

blade55555

United States17423 Posts

April 01 2013 19:33 GMT

On April 01 2013 14:33 felisconcolori wrote:

Show nested quote +

Oh no was a brand new part and I have had it for over a year without any problems.

Hm and no I actually dusted out inside of my computer with an air compressor as I thought that might have been the cause. Did make sure everything was in correctly but didn't take the graphics card out and then back in.

felisconcolori

United States6168 Posts

April 01 2013 23:10 GMT

#10

On April 02 2013 04:33 blade55555 wrote:

Show nested quote +

Huh. Well, depending on the quality of the static noise, the only things that come to mind then are fan rattle, a loose cable getting struck by a fan (although I think that would be more consistent), some kind of static discharge or electrical short, a hard drive knocking at the door to death (but I'm assuming you're familiar with the various noises a failing HDD would make), or (and this would be extremely weird) having an actual, living or almost dead, bug trapped in the case. (I once had an ant colony try to take up residence in a 286 case - freaking dorms man. The computer ran better, I think, while they were inside.)

The sound isn't coming from any particular component or junction that you can identify?

blade55555

United States17423 Posts

April 02 2013 05:33 GMT

#11

I can't tell if it's coming from a part, I know there is nothing dead/living in there I looked. I actually have yet to hear a dying HDD so this is a possibility I haven't thought of as I have 2 hard drives (1 is extremely old like I would say 8+ years easy). I plan on looking tomorrow again and maybe I'll remove that old hard drive to see if it goes away.

Belial88

United States5217 Posts

April 02 2013 05:36 GMT

#12

Sounds like VRM coil whine on the GPU. Remove your graphics card, see if the problem goes away. That's where I'd start.

You should really post your full system specs, case, leds, everything. I mean if you are using a shitty PSU or specific model of something that is known to have issues (say, like the GA 7950 windforce), that'd really tell us a lot.

Dead HDDs are really obvious, possibly clicking sounds, if you didn't notice already I wouldn't consider it. I mean, you HAVE removed your side panel and when the sound occurred, stuck your head in to see exactly where it's coming from, right? You are sure there isn't 2 beetles trapped in your case, right? I know how smart you so I feel it's a bit insulting to say that but just double checking...

felisconcolori

United States6168 Posts

April 02 2013 08:28 GMT

#13

On April 02 2013 14:36 Belial88 wrote:
Sounds like VRM coil whine on the GPU. Remove your graphics card, see if the problem goes away. That's where I'd start.

You should really post your full system specs, case, leds, everything. I mean if you are using a shitty PSU or specific model of something that is known to have issues (say, like the GA 7950 windforce), that'd really tell us a lot.

Dead HDDs are really obvious, possibly clicking sounds, if you didn't notice already I wouldn't consider it. I mean, you HAVE removed your side panel and when the sound occurred, stuck your head in to see exactly where it's coming from, right? You are sure there isn't 2 beetles trapped in your case, right? I know how smart you so I feel it's a bit insulting to say that but just double checking...

Well, in your defense, even when providing technical support to people that regularly design hardware and write software I've sometimes figured they couldn't possibly miss something, only to discover later that that simple silly thing was the problem. (Everybody sometimes just misses something that would normally be obvious.)

For an idea of what dying hard drives sound like, this is a great site - http://www.datacent.com/hard_drive_sounds.php
Even has different samples by models. But it's usually fairly noticeable but can be intermittent (in my experience) depending of the problem and if it's specific to a physical location on the disk. (IE, fine unless you're trying to read/write to that area.)

Otherwise, I'm going to say I agree with Belial88.