Loud cracking sounds when PC under full load

Michael789

Michael789

Michael789

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Joined
28 Apr 2023
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10
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England
Hi people,

I've noticed loud cracking and click sounds coming from my tower when my PC is going to and from a full load.
Someone has said its probably the sudden changes in temperature causing thermal expansion (Metal expanding and contracting)
Is this normal and is this OK? I can't seem to find any advice on the internet.

Thank you for your time :)
 
Definitely not normal. I'd imagine most of the components already have tolerances built in for any expansion. Note most of the motherboard doesn't even get hot.

I would probably strip it all out and carefully inspect everything component. Then put it back together again and see if there's any difference.
 
While it might be the temp changing causing the creaks it seems unusual.... I have NEVER had that from any of the pc's I've owned, had a screen do it a few times but that was nearly 100% made of plastic.

What are you specs, what cooling are you using, what temps when in use etc...
 
Hi all,

Thanks for getting back to me. I’ve chopped the footage up so there’s no long gaps in-between the clicking noises, as they can be 6 or 7 minutes apart.
The spec of the PC including the PSU is below, its 10 around months old, although its not really been used like it has been the last couple months, which is when I started to notice the sound. Other than the noise, I’ve not experienced any other problems.

I don’t think its anything hitting any of the fan blades, I’ve looked and to further rule it out I manually turned the fans up to their maximum speed whilst the PC was idling, and didn’t hear any clicking. It only seems to start happening when the PC is under a full load for ten minutes or more, becoming a little more frequent as it goes on.
https://computerproblem.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F716085651294109696

There is also a really quite whirling lazer sound too, and a consistent quite click coming from the back of the PC. Its hard to hear in the second video because of the noise of the fans. But I uploaded it anyway. Its more noticeable here in person. Again that only happens whilst under a full load. But no where near as loud as the other clicks that happen spontaneously.
https://computerproblem.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F716085410371076096


PC Specs:

i9-11900K Overclocked and Watercooled
ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING WIFI Motherboard
Team Group 8Pack Edition 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C16 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Watercooled Asus GeForce RTX 3090 Strix 24GB with EK Plexi Black & Backplate
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
Samsung 1TB 870 QVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 64 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive
Kolink continuum 1050W 80+ platinum modular PSU

Phanteks enthoo 719 full tower DRGB Case
2x corsair hydro x series Xr5 360mm tripple fan Watercooling radiators
11 x Lian-li uni al120 120mm fans
EK water blocks EK-quantum kinetic FLT 360 DDC PWM D-RGB pump / reservoir combo

Temperatures:

Under load:
CPU temperature 78 degrees
CPU Package 86 degrees
GPU 70 degrees

Idle:
CPU temperature 34 degrees
CPU Package 35 degrees
GPU 27 degrees



Thank you all for your help.
 
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That is the sort of click you get when a PSUs OPP or OVP protectiion kicks in but if that was happening the PC would shut down. I would not be happy with that potentially faulty PSU in the PC and I would be looking to change it asap. With the PC being so new I would send the psu back and see what the supplier says.
 
That is really interesting. On occasion I get a similar "crack" noise from near the radiator of my NZXT X62 280mm when it ramps up; currently cooling an 8700k at 4.8ghz on a silent profile. PSU is a three year old "Super Flower Leadex Platinum 1600W Fully Modular 80 Plus Platinum" (replacing an older PSU that was struggling). System has never hard crashed.
 
I agree with others. Doesn't really sound like the typical noises from thermal expansion and more like electrical arcing, which could itself result from thermal expansion of electrical parts.
 
Thanks everyone, the PC came with a 3 year return to base warranty. So overclockers are going to send someone out to collect it. Once, I've managed to purchase a box and some bubble-wrap.
It also got 3 Fatal Rounding Errors on Prime95 after ten minutes of running it. Not sure what that means exactly? But I’m sure they can sort it.
 
Yeah that's not thermal expansion, it's more of a 'switch' type noise I get from my UPS when it triggers voltage protection and I need to reset it (only had it once iirc).

IMO the second video sounds like a fan with a damaged/broken bearing, looks like the video is focusing on the psu outlet area .... that 'crack' could be the fan spinning up with more voltage (does it have a no fan mode?) but it seems a bit loud for that.

I'd go with the consensus of needing a new psu, and as above, why has it got a kolink psu...
 
I purchased the PC from overclockers.co.uk from the overclocked PC section of their website for £5,120 around 10 months ago, shortly after buying it they stopped selling them. They now sell a different spec with the same name that they've moved from the overclocked section to the high end PC section of their website, link below:

It seems all Infin8 systems they build come with a Kolink PSU (Or at least the Overclocked ones). They don't have the option of changing it in the customisation options. As everyone has pointed out that Kolink PSU's are no good. I'll ask if they'll upgrade it if I pay the difference when they swap it out.

It'll probably fix the USB 3.0 ports at the front of the case too. As I noticed 2 run considerably faster than the other 2 when moving files across the same external drive (Which I later confirmed with testing). As I usually only have one thing plugged into them, I just reminded myself to use the end port. Forgot all about it until earlier when I went to plug a drive in and figured that could also be PSU related.

What brand of PSU do you think would be a better option?

Infin8 Swarm MK2 - Intel Core i9 11900K @ 5.0GHz Overclocked Watercooled Extreme Gaming PC
 
Something that has a 10 year warranty
Seasonic etc But 10 year warranty is a reasonable rule of thumb
Shows they have faith in their product
Looks like kolink is 5 years
Not what I would expect/want in a 5 grand pc
Tbh for 5 grand I would expect some custom sleeved cables too
 
Michael789 said:
I purchased the PC from overclockers.co.uk from the overclocked PC section of their website for £5,120 around 10 months ago, shortly after buying it they stopped selling them. They now sell a different spec with the same name that they've moved from the overclocked section to the high end PC section of their website, link below:
Click to expand...

I am sorry to say but 5k for a PC with 11900k was not a good buy. I am certain that no one in this section of the forums was recommending 11th gen at that time.

Michael789 said:
It seems all Infin8 systems they build come with a Kolink PSU (Or at least the Overclocked ones). They don't have the option of changing it in the customisation options. As everyone has pointed out that Kolink PSU's are no good. I'll ask if they'll upgrade it if I pay the difference when they swap it out.
Click to expand...

OCUK use Kolink psus in as many situations as they can. Only they have anything like stats for failure rates compared to other brands but the general consensus is to pay £20 more and go with the brands that have been making PSUs for 20 years and give long warranties such as Corsair, Seasonic , Be Quiet , Silverstone etc.

Michael789 said:
It'll probably fix the USB 3.0 ports at the front of the case too. As I noticed 2 run considerably faster than the other 2 when moving files across the same external drive (Which I later confirmed with testing). As I usually only have one thing plugged into them, I just reminded myself to use the end port. Forgot all about it until earlier when I went to plug a drive in and figured that could also be PSU related.
Click to expand...

The difference in USB speeds is down to your mobo. Some ports may be plugged into 3.1 gen 1 and some into 3.2 gen 2 or something like that. It is annoyingly complicated now with Intel making the USB standard to anything anyone wants it to be but what it boils down to is that some will be 5gb/s and some will be 10gb/s. There is most likely a logical reason why you are getting different speeds.

Michael789 said:
What brand of PSU do you think would be a better option?

Infin8 Swarm MK2 - Intel Core i9 11900K @ 5.0GHz Overclocked Watercooled Extreme Gaming PC
Click to expand...

www.overclockers.co.uk

Corsair RMx Series RM1000x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (CP-9020201-UK)

Order Corsair RMx Series RM1000x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (CP-9020201-UK) now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

Or you can go for a new spec ATX 3.0 for slightly more but you do not need one for a 3090.
 
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