Strange ticking noise from inside case

Ice213

Ice213

Ice213

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Joined
30 Mar 2012
Posts
427
Hi everyone.

I put together a new build recently and everything was going great, until yesterday when a strange ticking noise seemed to develop inside the case somewhere. I'm not sure if this has been there since I first built it since it is quite quiet, but as far as I know it has only just started.

I thought it was one of the fans rattling a little, but I turned up all the fans individually using the fan controller (on my NZXT phantom case), and none increased or decreased the ticking noise. Turned up the fan on my graphics card, again, no increase in the ticking noise. If it is a fan, that would leave either the CPU fan, or the psu, and I'm not sure how I would test either of them :confused:.

I tried to move some of the wires out of the way of any of the fans to see if they were catching, but again no luck :(

I've listened inside the case and I can't really pinpoint where it is coming from, it seemingly randomly does start ticking faster but not louder, and then slows again.

Any suggestions as to what it could be and how to fix it would be very much appreciated :).
 
Any chance of uploading sound? You can stop the cpu fan with the finger and see if the noise stops. Use a pointed object for psu fan.
 
opstrat said:
cd drive or hdd?
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I did think possibly HDD, but when listening in it doesn't sound like it is from that sort of direction. And the CD drive similar, and there isn't anything in the drive atm either.

j05e said:
Any chance of uploading sound? You can stop the cpu fan with the finger and see if the noise stops. Use a pointed object for psu fan.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how I would record the sound as I don't have a mic or anything. Best way I could describe it would be a regular ticking sound, I suppose something similar to you tapping your nail on the back of another nail. Would jamming something into the psu fan not cause damage if it is trying to spin?
 
opstrat said:
does your psu fan face upwards? if so something may have fallen into it and hitting the fan
Click to expand...

It does face upwards into the case yeah (my pc is on a carpet so I didn't want it sucking up who knows what from the carpet :s), if i unplug the mobo from the psu, can the psu turn on by itself? So I can find out if it is indeed the problem.

I'm popping out for an hour or so, but when I get back I will try and boot up to see if the noise is there at boot, and maybe unplug the cpu fan to see if the ticking is still there.

drakioned said:
Watch out! BOOOOOM!
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Haha, that would be my luck ;)
 
There are soo many different sounds that come from my PC on any given day that now i just think it's developed AI and is trying to communicate with my Xbox
 
Right, I'm back and a quick update. On boot the noise is there, then it stops for a few seconds as something sounded like it was spinning up, then it returned, stopped again, and is now there constantly. Gonna switch it all off and try some of the suggestions here so far, and will report back :D
 
Ok it may not be a permanent or conventional fix, but hey, it seems to be quiet again! Not the cpu fan, as i booted without it plugged in and sound was still there, definitely not the case fans, nor the HDD/CD drive. Which left only the psu really. I took the advice of someone on here and sorta jammed something in there, and it seemed to grind for a second, but the noise is (for now) gone. Huzzah!
 
Ice213 said:
Ok it may not be a permanent or conventional fix, but hey, it seems to be quiet again! Not the cpu fan, as i booted without it plugged in and sound was still there, definitely not the case fans, nor the HDD/CD drive. Which left only the psu really. I took the advice of someone on here and sorta jammed something in there, and it seemed to grind for a second, but the noise is (for now) gone. Huzzah!
Click to expand...

Grinding is never really that good, it can be on the plus side but generally it leads to bad things... bad bad things...
 
sounds like the psu, are you using an xfx xxx edition by any chance? some of them seem to have ticking fan noises recently
 
KaiserDJG said:
Grinding is never really that good, it can be on the plus side but generally it leads to bad things... bad bad things...
Click to expand...

Maybe I should have been clearer. The grinding noise was because of me trying to stop the fan with an implement. The grinding was said implement on fan whilst spinning. So it wasn't making it alone if that makes sense?

tamzzy said:
sounds like the psu, are you using an xfx xxx edition by any chance? some of them seem to have ticking fan noises recently
Click to expand...

You sir are correct! I was not aware of this problem however, is it a major problem or just a general harmless ticking?
 
Well it seems to have stopped ticking for now anywho, but it is good to hear that if it does come back then it's not a real issue :). It's only just audible, but once I noticed it I started to notice it more and more :(
 
I had this exact same noise, it was defo the psu fan ticking. But the day before i was messing with some cables that sit near the top of it so i guess something must have fallen in.

But like others have said, the noise disappears after abit.
 
I bet the noise is coming from the psu fan. When cold the slow fan makes a ticking noise but disappears after the psu has warmed up and the fan runs faster..
 
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