Noise I can't locate

I think I've got a fan going bad, and I think it's in the power supply which is an Antec True Power 2.0 500 Watt PSU. How can I be sure?

I've had the case open, and Mike and I have both listened and can't be sure where the noise is coming from which makes it even more frustrating. It doesn't make the noise until it's been running for a while - maybe 4 minutes or so.

I've blown out all the dust, and we've unhooked one fan to test it and it wasn't the culprit.

I suppose it's possible that it's a drive going...just can't find where the noise is coming from.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Give it the old feel test Place your finger in different locations to check the vib's.
Or use the old car mechanic Technique They would take the oil dip stick and hold it to different areas with other end to their ear.
Don't touch any metal to any area that has voltage in it, (might make for sparkles) Long time till 4 th of July

Did you assemble this machine yourself?

Good idea Edds, wish I had a stethoscope. ;) I'll try it when I get home tonight from work.

Yes Benji, my husband and I assembled this computer, it's not even a year old:
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=214776

I just had my wireless kb go last weekend. :( So now I'm really leaning toward the power supply acting up...

Thank you.

Make sure the screws that hold the PSU into the rear of the case are tight, incase it is rattling, plus if you have a spare PSU you could try that route. Would it be a pain in the rear to remove the PSU from the top of the case and run it from the desk?

You could also try Nick's screwdriver trick, and put the tip of one to the suspected noisemaker and the handle towards your ear.


Liam

Check the screws holding the drives are tight too, as that can cause noise issues.

Will check screws to PSU, and will take the PSU out and run from desk as suggested if the other ideas don't work. I do have a crappy spare power supply I could use to check it as well. It would be okay for a test, but I won't keep it in my machine.

Thanks!

Antec power supplies are not the best. I have one that is a little over a year old that has died.

I had one that wasn't much more than a year old blow up in spectacular fashion :eek: At least it didn't take anything else out with it, which was one consolation.

try just running the power supply on its own with no hard drives or any thing else hooked up to the mother board ie:cd rom drives

Does anyone know if my PSU (Antec True Power 2.0 500 Watt) has one or two fans? The reason I ask is that one is definitely NOT running - the one that is visible from the outside of the case. Hard to see if there is a fan opposite that one on the PSU. If the fan isn't running, it wouldn't make any noise, right? (I'm hoping there are two and that the one I can't see is the culprit.)

Probably shouldn't have done it, but this morning when it was very quiet in the house and the computer was making a racket, I stuck a straw in three fans with the computer running, and they were not making the noise.

Tonight or sometime this weekend I'll take the PSU out and run it from the desk. Didn't get a chance to tighten the screws, will put that on my to do list as well as some of the other suggestions.

I did try the screwdriver trick, no luck there either ( it was before my coffee though ;) )

I have been reading about the Antec PSUs going bad on VDr's forum, so I'll definitely switch to another brand.

Thanks for all the help :)

IIRC, my Antec that died did have two fans (I took it apart to see what had happened - blown cap was my diagnosis).

straw into the fans LOL!!!:eek: I hope all goes well with the tests but by the sounds of it you may need another power supply I had a read up on antec PSU's and they do sound a bit doggey good luck!!!:)

Yes, straw into the fans just long enough to stop the fan... :o I'm sick of not being able to locate this noise.

I've figured out a way to get to the second fan w/o taking anything apart so far, but wouldn't you know it, it's being soooo quiet right now. :mad:
It would make sense for it to be this hard to reach fan, and I hope it is...because if not, it means something else much more important is going.

Since I already have one fan gone bad in the PSU, I'll be replacing the entire PSU, but I still want to do my straw test since I just have to know! :)

It's the fan over the chipset. Great. :(

Going to replace the above fan, and an additional fan that's a bit noisy and of course, the power supply.