Noisy tower!

newmee

Hi, I'd be really grateful if any of you clever people could shed some light on and advise on this matter. My p.c. tower has become so noisy that it totally distracts me and I just can't stay on the computer very long due to it's loud wirring noise. It has been doing it for about 6 months now. The computer is an evesham and is 4ish years old.
I am hoping this may be a problem that won't cost money as I have a very limited suply at the moment

gaming_guy

....................

spakkker

1- vacuum out your pc's insides, I use a small clean paintbrush to gently brush components , especially the cpu cooler , while holding the vac near. Leave pc plugged in but turned off at socket.
2- place a folded towel or similar under the pc case.

(edit-must type faster!)

JasX

This happens to alot of PCs as they get older, basically the heatsinks and components get clogged up with dust and the fans start needing to work alot harder to keep the thing cool/stop it overheating and breaking.

A good first step would be to open it up and start scooping dust out of it, cans of air come highly recommended. Vacumming comes highly not-recommended as the high levels of static electricity they produce can do real damage to sensitive components.

Personally tho i favour the grounding myself frequently (radiator pipe/tap is good for this) and pulling as much of it as i can out by hand/folded up dry tissue/narrrow pipecleaner/paint brush or similar.

That'll help, however if the fans have started to get old/clogged bearings duue to aforementioned dust another option is new replacement/extra fans -read reviews on the likes of ebuyer.com, cost £2-10 each but the higher price doesn't always mean quieter. make sure you get the right size

newmee

Thanks you all so much for this fantastic advice. I will try and have a clean now and feel sure that will help.

Truly appreciated. kisses for all 3 of you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

newmee

WOW. It has worked totally. Unbelievable amount of fluff and dust in there. I used a small paintbrush, ostrich feather and my soft fleecy phone sock
Thanks again x

Hammyman

newmee wrote: »

Hi, I'd be really grateful if any of you clever people could shed some light on and advise on this matter. My p.c. tower has become so noisy that it totally distracts me and I just can't stay on the computer very long due to it's loud wirring noise. It has been doing it for about 6 months now. The computer is an evesham and is 4ish years old.
I am hoping this may be a problem that won't cost money as I have a very limited suply at the moment

Bearings in one of the fans has packed in.
To eliminate which one it is, pop the lid off, stick a pen in the CPU fan (one on top of a block of aluminium with fins) and turn on computer. If it shuts up, its that. If it doesn't, its the power supply one.

Now changing the CPU one is easy - get a fan the same size from quietpc.com and swap over. The power supply one needs the power supply dismantling and a new one probably has to be soldered in so unless you do electronics, replace the whole supply.

weegie.geek

Cleaning it out has already worked, which the OP confirmed an hour before you posted.

JasX

Hammyman wrote: »

Bearings in one of the fans has packed i...............blah blah blah.................. dismantling and a new one probably has to be soldered in so unless you do electronics, replace the whole supply.

lol i'd venture to disagree with you on grounds we've already fixed the OPs problem and didn;t have to resolder/replace her power supply or CPU heatsink (or overheat the CPU by jamming its cooling fan.

Reading a few posts in a thread before replying usually helps :A

Richie-from-the-Boro

Hammyman wrote: »

Bearings in one of the fans has packed in.
To eliminate which one it is, pop the lid off, stick a pen in the CPU fan (one on top of a block of aluminium with fins) and turn on computer. If it shuts up, its that. If it doesn't, its the power supply one.

Now changing the CPU one is easy - get a fan the same size from quietpc.com and swap over. The power supply one needs the power supply dismantling and a new one probably has to be soldered in so unless you do electronics, replace the whole supply.

Seems the O/P has had the problem solved, good ! I don't want to frighten the horses but - Don't go into the power supply :

- without completely disconnecting it from the mains for more than 24 hours
- get more advice on opening up a PSU, potentially lethal voltages are present once you get inside

Hammyman

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

- without completely disconnecting it from the mains for more than 24 hours

Wrong.

- get more advice on opening up a PSU, potentially lethal voltages are present once you get inside

Only if its plugged in and the mains turned on.

And yes you're probably going to go on about undischarged capacitors but because of the way ATX works, they'll be discharged by the time you've removed the screws to take it out the case.