Strange sound coming from my PC (1 Viewer)

[Bayouboy]

I'm old school and use a desktop PC a lot. Recently, my system started making a funny noise, similar to a cricket chirping. It's been going on for a while now, so I'm getting concerned something is about to fail. The unit is old...purchased almost 7 years ago custom built off of eBay. I've changed the power supply and added RAM, but other than that, it's been reliable.

Obviously, you can't diagnose the issue from the little info I provided, but what can I do to try to determine what's going on? Any steps or tips to use? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Brennan77]

Is it repetitive and regular?

 

[Bayouboy]

Is it repetitive and regular?

The sounds are pretty much the same, but they are not regular. I didn't take the case apart with the unit running....but it actually sounds like its coming from the power supply. I guess that's good news.

 

[robsmith32]

chirping sound could be a fan rubbing, but more typically the case is the hdd going very soon

 

[Zztop]

my guess is a fan is going out. open the case up and see if you can pinpoint where it is coming from.

 

[RetroMcBananaFace]

Sounds like the power supply fan to me, I've had that same thing happen.

 

[wnelson]

it is likely a fan... psu or cpu. good news... a new psu is ~50 if you dont need anything special ann a new cpu fan is equally inexpensive. both are also super easy to change out (psu may be a little tricky, but, still relatively easy)

i would grab an external hd at the same time to back up anything on your HD of import just to be safe.

 

[Eeyore]

I think that retrobanana nailed it. Last year I built a pc for my youngest step-daughter. Within a month we were hearing chirping. It was the power supply.

Maybe start by disconnecting a case fan and turning the pc on. If it stops then maybe you found the bad fan. If it doesn't stop then plug that fan back in and unplug another. If it isn't a case fan then the PS fan is probably the problem but the CPU fan and maybe a hard drive could be the problem.

 

[Bayouboy]

It does look like the power supply fan. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Bayouboy]

I changed out the power supply and everything is copacetic. My rig is old by computer standards. If you folks would be in the market for a desktop type PC, where would you get it from? Build it yourself? Is it difficult? I may upgrade in the next year if finances allow.

 

[wnelson]

I changed out the power supply and everything is copacetic. My rig is old by computer standards. If you folks would be in the market for a desktop type PC, where would you get it from? Build it yourself? Is it difficult? I may upgrade in the next year if finances allow.

Hi found a great deal on an asus. Then I upgraded:

1)PSU
2)RAM
3)case fan
4)GPU

 

[Eeyore]

Building your own is easy. The most difficult thing is deciding on a budget and sticking to it.

 

[Hopeless]

Building your own is definitely the way to go.

The overall process is quite straight forward, and there are tons of resources on the net, so even if you're completely new at it, you can be confident in your approach.

On Reddit, the buildapc subreddit has lots of information and helpful folks.

On youtube, jayz2cents, linus tech tips, bitwit, pauls hardware, and many others have step by step build guide videos.

Heck, if you were closer to Lafayette, I'd even offer to help you in person with the process.

 

[SaintSpyNDallas]

I'd definitely replace your flux capacitor while you're at it.