Buzzing in my pc

[Pandragon]

There is a buzzing noise in my pc. It doesnt happen all the time, but it happens and i can hear it when i get close to it. I think its a fan. I dont know much about the workings of a PC. Is this normal, or is something wrong.

[Stormspark]

If it happens all the time, it's likely a fan starting to wear out. Depending on which fan, and where it is, fans can be noisy for years and still work properly.

If it only happens in certain games, it could be coil whine from the PSU, which is also nothing to worry about.

[Hoofey]

Can also be coil whine from the graphics card, you can pretty much hear the fps based on the coil whine frequency.

[Pandragon]

so its nothing i need to be stressed out about?

[Amorac]

Depending on what it sounds like exactly, it can also be the vibration of a hard drive. If you have set them to go to sleep, it's reasonable easy to rule the drives out. Set the sleep timer higher or lower. If you dont have the PC set up to set the drives to sleep it most likely isnt a hard drive.

[Deleted]

I'd suggest reading up on coil whine as that is a common buzzing noise.
Otherwise I'd start unplugging fans to rule those out.
Last thing is HDDs, and here I'd recommend that you backup your data just to make sure.

[Pandragon]

I'd suggest reading up on coil whine as that is a common buzzing noise.
Otherwise I'd start unplugging fans to rule those out.
Last thing is HDDs, and here I'd recommend that you backup your data just to make sure.

i looked up coil whine. it sure as hell isnt that. id have killed myself by now hearing that. lol. Its also not a hard drive, the sound is coming from the back. So its either my fan in the back, or the fan on my graphics card.

[daytonbrown]

If it's a desktop, open the cover when you hear the buzz and try to visualize where it's coming from.

[Yunru]

Open up a computer case and listen. If its a vent, just replace it with new one. (after powering it down)
If its something else..undust your computer.

[Noomz]

There is a buzzing noise in my pc. It doesnt happen all the time, but it happens and i can hear it when i get close to it. I think its a fan. I dont know much about the workings of a PC. Is this normal, or is something wrong.

Probably just a fan with a lot of dust on it.

[Vermicious]

Does the sound occur when you start up, then go away after a few minutes?

It's likely a fan... you can replace them rather cheaply if it annoys you.

[Pandragon]

ok. I turned off my pc and opened it. I used an air blower and blew a lot of dust out. Especially from the fan that I thought was making the noise. I also noticed that the power cords were pushed up against one of the fans on my video card preventing it from spinning. I assume its been like that since I put the card in 3 months ago, so that worried me a little, but it doesnt seem to have caused damage. I turned the pc back on. I no longer hear the loud buzzing, my processor fan is making a small noise, my friend says thats normal.

[Deleted]

Its the ball bearing on thefan

[smokii]

probably a fan, could be processor, graphics card or case fan. might be an old hard drive.

if it's the case fan, it's not worth worrying about too much and could probably be unplugged to stop the noise.

graphics card and processor fans though, you should try and clean them, or oil them, otherwise you'll have to replace them. normally giving them a good scrub and removing all the dust and debris from the heatsink, then oiling the fan (very lightly) should hopefully sort it.

[Pandragon]

The buzzing isnt there when i first turn it on now, but it shows up after about an hour of it being on.

[Deleted]

Got a GTX970? It sounds like Coil Whine which is pretty common for GPUs after a certain FPS number.

[Stormspark]

ok. I turned off my pc and opened it. I used an air blower and blew a lot of dust out. Especially from the fan that I thought was making the noise. I also noticed that the power cords were pushed up against one of the fans on my video card preventing it from spinning. I assume its been like that since I put the card in 3 months ago, so that worried me a little, but it doesnt seem to have caused damage. I turned the pc back on. I no longer hear the loud buzzing, my processor fan is making a small noise, my friend says thats normal.

No fan will be completely silent. But even if a fan is abnormally noisy, as long as it's turning it's still fine. Sleeve bearings are notorious for wearing out slowly, but still working while being noisy.

[Bizjack]

Stick your hand in your case while it is buzzing and lightly lift your video card up on the right end. Lightly though, don't want to mess up your card or slot.

[Pandragon]

Stick your hand in your case while it is buzzing and lightly lift your video card up on the right end. Lightly though, don't want to mess up your card or slot.

no way in hell am i doing that. my luck ill sneeze just as i do it and pull my video card out.



ok. I put my tower on its side while it was making the noise. the moment i laid it down it stopped. Could it maybe be the reverberation of a wire against a fan?