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[Solved] Buzzing noises at Windows startups and games are crashing.

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by Willie, Feb 1, 2013.

  1. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    Folks, this is what can happen if you forget there's a fan behind your hard-drives.

    [​IMG]

    I built my computer in 2009. It's very possible today was the first time this fan was ever cleaned. ASRT now works fine.
     
  2. Chibisteven

    Chibisteven

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    Gross. That be the problem then.
     
  3. dsrb

    dsrb

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    So, was it spinning at all (or more than one per minute)? Do you think the noise was due to it trying to spin, failing miserably, and the silence was due to the PSU giving up and cutting power to it? I don't know much about how PSUs work, but it otherwise seems weird that the noise stopped after a while.

    Anyway, I guess that fan was performing an important job, if the computer was getting unstable without it and is fine now. Good outcome!
     
  4. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    ASRT crashed.

    ;_;

    I guess I'll need to clean that fan further. If that doesn't solve it, oh god...
     
  5. dsrb

    dsrb

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    I did wonder whether one failing fan behind (well, in front of) the hard disks could add enough heat to crash the system, but I didn't want to jinx thingsā€¦ Perhaps there's something else that's causing those issues, but hopefully not.
     
  6. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    So my computer's startup had that loud buzzing noise again. I stuck my finger in that specific fan and the noise stopped entirely. Even after trying to clean it yesterday, it still didn't look that great so I think I'm going to need to figure out some way to get that fan out of my computer so I can do a super cleaning on the fan. The fan is built into my computer's tower and is located in a difficult to reach place. I definitely think the fan is responsible for my crashing problem because ASRT ran noticeably longer without crashing yesterday in the two times I tried to play it.
     
  7. dsrb

    dsrb

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    In the meantime, have you tried just running your PC with the side off? Maybe even point a room fan at it, if the former doesn't work. It must be shifting a lot of air for its failure to cause the entire system to crash.
     
  8. TmEE

    TmEE

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    the bearings have worn out and no amount of clean helps to make it silent... unplug it and leave it so or replace it.
     
  9. Overlord

    Overlord

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    Yeah, replace it. Not like a fan is going to break the bank.
     
  10. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    Haven't tried that, though with the way I have my computer set up, it would be difficult to have it where a fan is next to it without the computer being in my way and vulnerable to whatever my cats feel like doing to it. :/ I might try that sometime this weekend though.

    Yeah, I agree. I cleaned the hell out of it a week ago sometime after my first attempt cleaning it and it still makes noise. Granted, the noise is quieter and less annoying, but it's a noisemaker nonetheless. Here's the results of my cleaning from last week.

    [​IMG]

    I completely forgot I could pull the top part off of my computer so this part of my PC was really damn dusty.

    [​IMG]

    My fan that is making the noise.

    [​IMG]

    How it looked after cleaning it. I'm a bit annoyed that I failed to make the image sharp. I'm going to need to pull it out again at some point just to know what it says. :/

    [​IMG]

    I noticed this one cord is not plugged in. I have no idea what it does, but it looks like something that's part of my fan. Since it's not plugged in, is it possible it might caused some of my computer problems?

    [​IMG]

    When I put the fan back in my computer, it got stuck. Since this piece made it really difficult to access my fan after it got stuck...

    [​IMG]

    I broke that piece. >_> Hopefully that piece was never going to be useful to me in anyway. Even with that piece no longer there, it's still really difficult to access that fan now that it's stuck. I really hate how this tower was designed in a way where this fan is such a nightmare to access.

    Unfortunately for me...

    [​IMG]

    I'll no longer be completely broke on Tuesday, but I don't have the financial means to replace it until then. Would've made this post sooner, but I'm so frustrated my financial situation that I figured waiting wouldn't be a bad idea.
     
  11. dsrb

    dsrb

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    It's highly doubtful that's related to the fan in any way. Of course, if you can't see anywhere to plug it in, then it's not! It looks like part of the usual heap of spaghetti connected to the front of the case: LEDs, USB ports, extra audio sockets, etc. If you don't notice any functionality missing from any of those, then this cable probably doesn't exist to provide anything essential/useful. It might be hard to work out its original function, at least in the absence of a manual/datasheet/whatever for your case. But, either way, this almost certainly isn't related to the problems you've reported.

    Incidentally, I replaced my Athlon 64 3800+ with an Opteron 180, and it's almost overheating under load. This thing runs hotter at its native 2.4 GHz than the 3800+ ran overclocked from that to 2.7 GHz. :| It might be due to the extra core and/or my poor heat-paste-applying skills, but I think I might have to be a new heatsink/fan either way.
     
  12. TmEE

    TmEE

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    That unplugged connector is for the PC speaker. If you want to hear those beeps and your mobo does not already have one, plug it in.
     
  13. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    [LINK]

    Does anyone know of an equal or better alternative to this fan? I can't find any sellers who have it in stock anymore. Also, I found out last night that my graphics card fan had a fuckload of dust which might be the main problem why I'm having this issue. I'll post pictures and more details when I have the time.
     
  14. TmEE

    TmEE

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    You can use any 80mm fan, not just single brand fan.
     
  15. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    Any brand recommendations for 80mm fans?
     
  16. TmEE

    TmEE

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    Whatever fits your pocket, all of them are equally bad :P (well, maybe not the really expensive ones)
     
  17. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    Well, I just ordered this fan. Should be a good replacement and might even be more powerful too.

    Edit-

    It's estimated to arrive in two days. Didn't know Amazon Prime shipped stuff on Saturday. I wish I ordered this sooner. Oh well. Also ordered two cans of compressed air the other day because I ran out. That isn't estimated to arrive until sometime between March 5th through the 20th. :/
     
  18. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    Finally took your advice yesterday and was able to play ASRT for over six hours so thanks for the advice. ^_^

    [​IMG]

    Unfortunately, I still have crashing issues if I set my fan to anything below high which makes it really loud. Can't help but feel like the replacement fan I ordered yesterday won't be powerful enough to keep my computer from crashing. :/ I think my years of neglect toward one of my fans caused some of my other computer components to age faster. I hope I won't have to replace anymore parts. I'm in a tight budget right now.
     
  19. TmEE

    TmEE

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    These crashing issues are definitely not from the lack of HDD fan unless the HDD is fuxxed, in which case the HDD needs quick replacement...
     
  20. Willie

    Willie

    Each day the world turns Laugh 'til it all burns Member
    My new fan arrived a day early so I installed it and the crashing issue continues unless I have a giant fan next to my computer with its side unsealed. :/ I don't think the issue is related to my hard-drive. After the last crash, neither of them were hot but my graphics card sure was. It was also hot the last few times my computer crashed while playing a game. Considering how I only experience this crashing issue while gaming and my computer normally runs fine, I think my graphics card is dying. This really sucks. I didn't want to do any majors upgrade for at least two years. Outside of this crashing issue, nearly any game I play can run at the highest settings without any serious issues. Not to mention PC game requirements will probably skyrocket not long after the PS4 and next Xbox come out. It's also worth noting that financial aid cut me off this semester because I attempted 90 units/credits and I plan to take a year off from school. So financially, this is a horrible time for me to do any major upgrades toward my computer. At the same time, having to use a giant fan next to my PC whenever I want to play newer games would be a horrible longterm solution. :/ I dunno what to do.