Ultima Viper System - 'Fluttering' sound coming from rear of case?

eddie_guido · 19 Mar 2011 at 19:26

I've received my lovely Ultima Viper Gaming rig today which is great, but there is a fluttering sound coming from the rear of the case, near the Ethernet port. It's very much like an insects wings that have gotten stuck, or a staticy sound. I know my sounds and this is not normal. It only started until an hour or 2 of use.

I would hazard a guess that it could be the vibrations from the machine causing the wires to hit internal components...creating this noise. Or a fan is very very gently skimming a group of wires...again creating the sound of fluttering!

I've looked inside but I cannot see as there is the large cooler in the way. I have video'd it and will post it later (currently downloading BF:BC2 on Steam ....with capped internet...good ol Virgin!)

What could it be?

Surveyor · 19 Mar 2011 at 19:30

Could be what you've described.

Could be a fan with dodgy bearings or a dodgy pump on the H70.

This post might be better in General Hardware.

eddie_guido · 19 Mar 2011 at 22:40

Is it ok for it to do that?

e.g. nothing going to go wrong?

Surveyor · 20 Mar 2011 at 00:33

Errr... No!

If it was the pump or the fan on the H70 then your CPU might overheat and your system would shut down. Not the end of the world but not good for your processor.

If your car engine suddenly started making funny noises you wouldn't think it was OK.

As you've only just bought the system I would get in touch with OCUK. Phone them on Monday, post in the Customer Services forum or send them a webnote.

eddie_guido · 20 Mar 2011 at 01:12

True.

Other than sending back and/or calling.

What can I do here? Is there something I can tighten or something, or perhaps rock the case. I'm quite embarrassed to say, but I know nothing about coolers or these pumpy things.

The most high tech thing in my old system was a hd 4850 and a sandwich with a bite mark out of it.

Surveyor · 20 Mar 2011 at 01:24

IF YOU'RE NOT 100% CONFIDENT THEN DON'T DO ANY OF THIS.

With the system off take off the side panel and carry out a visual inspection to see if anything is catching anywhere. You can turn the fans with your finger to see if they are catching.

If that doesn't solve the problem then start the system (you only need to be in the BIOS) and then gently stop each fan from spinning by pressing your finger on the centre part of the fan (not the blades!). You can try this with the case fans, the H70 fan and the GPU fan.

You only need to do this for a second or two as you should soon notice if the noise stops.

The only moving parts in your PC are the case fans, H70 fan, GPU fan, power supply fan and hard disk.

Best really to let OCUK sort it out. Messing about inside your PC may invalidate any warranty and you have a 12 month collect and return warranty so it shouldn't cost anything to get it sorted.