Rep Power: 720

Hey guys, recently my computer started to make alot louder noises when running video games or just multi-tasking. I don't know what the hell is happening

Like before it would run alot quiter, but lately when I play games or something it makes excessive noise which bothers me

What could be wrong? I was thinking it was overheating or something...

BTW here are my system specs...

P4 3.06ghz
512mb ram
ATI Radeon X300 onboard graphics card
160gb hdd


I have rebooted my computer and installed a fresh copy of Windows xp and had everything on the HDD erased so I don't know what could be wrong

Thanks in advance if you can help me out

 
Rep Power: 721

Take the side off, load it up with a game and check the fan(s) on the Vid card, then the CPU and finally the PS. If they are all running smooth I'd suspect the HDD, if so do a defrag first and see if the noise goes away otherwise your looking at a new drive. But more common would be a fan.

 
Rep Power: 0

with my last computer it was my fan thats at the power source

 
Rep Power: 734

could also be your processor fan, that usually goes within a couple years if you don't clean it often, clean it and see if there's a difference and if you still hear it coming from there, change it its about $10 at any computer store or if i can find any i'll just give you one.

 
Rep Power: 720

thanks for the replies guys

I'm going to clean all my fans out later today and see what happens from there

 
Rep Power: 661

if the noise is getting worse with heavy usage the first 2 culprits would be CPU Fan and GPU (Video Card) Fan.
New systems have load/temp sensing fans that will only rev up when needed to help keep the system quieter, and as was said previously, can get pretty gummed up and get quite loud.

the other possibility is a failing Hard drive. If the hard drive is starting to fail it can sometimes get quite loud when trying to find something on the drive.

 
Rep Power: 0

fans are easy to detect...if the fans are fine your hd is probably dying...back up and replace asap.

 
Rep Power: 720

ok I did what you guys told me to do and I figured out that the noise is coming from the CPU fan. I tried running a couple games and as soon as I start playing to noise starts coming from cpu fan

Also I noticed I don't have a fan in the front of pc box, the frame is there to put it on tho...

The HDD isn't making the loud noise and the power supply one is working like its supposed to..

what should I do?

 
Rep Power: 661

you have got 2 choices.
-either replace the CPU Fan with another
or
-replace the Heatsink & Fan with an aftermarket part.

Generally the Heatsink that comes with the unit does an ok job in removing the heat from the CPU, but an aftermarket Heatsink/Fan will remove the heat better.
The Spot on the front and probably one on the rear as well are for additional fans, but aren't usually needed unless you have multiple hard drives and multiple CD Drives in a system.

Check out Tigerdirect.ca for some great prices on CPU Heatsinks/Fan Combo's.

Generally on a system with the symptoms your is displaying I would spend the extra 20-30$ and buy a new heatsink that will help remove heat from the CPU. There most likely be a noticible difference in performance, but there is the possibility, depending on how hot your CPU is currently running.

 
Rep Power: 720

Hmm IC so basicly I have to replace the whole fan assembly on my CPU?

How does that thing even come off? I don't want to break anything lol

I'll take a look at some computer shops and see what I can get

 
Rep Power: 661

there will usually be either 4 screws holding the fan down, a couple of clips holding it to the Heatsink or it will be just be a friction fit to a couple of pegs on the heatsink.

This is part of the reason why replacing the entire Heatsink is easier, as usually it is 2 clips (one on either side) holding the Heatsink/Fan down to the Motherboard.

 
Rep Power: 0

just buy a new fan.