Compaq Presario SR5010NX Desktop
Celeron D processor 360
Windows 7 Home Premium
1 GB RAM
120 GB HDD
Intel graphics media accelerator
DVD/CD w/Lightscribe
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I have lots of noise coming from the tower 95% of the time...as soon as I access any feature of the computer, even moving the mouse just a little, it kicks in and sounds like a vacuum cleaner. There's lots of dust inside the box which I'll blow out with compressed air, and I think the two fans that I can see aren't the cause based on getting as close as possible to listen, but can't be 100% sure. Could it be the hard drive, heat sink, processor? Any help so I can find the culprit is appreciated.
You've got the right idea, clean all the dust, dirt and crud out with compressed air and/or a small brush. If using compressed air block the fans from turning with a pencil, straw or some such or it's possible to burn out the bearings. The fact that the noise starts when doing anything is usually the CPU overheating so check and clean that fan real well. If the above doesn't do it the Thermal compound between the Heatsink and CPU may have dried up/gone bad. Make sure any clips that hold the Heatsink down are secure.
Biostar TA790GX A2+ 6.0
AMD Phenom X4 9750 CPU.
4 Gig DDR2 Memory.
ATI HD 5450 PCIe Video
ATI HD 5450 PCIe Video
500 Watt P.S.
LG W2241T Widescreen 22" LCD
ViewSonic VA721 17" LCD
Envision 17" LCD
2 LG DVD Drives
Floppy Disk Drive
Maxtor 120 Gig Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
Gateway NV5378-U Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Acer Aspire V3-731 Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Noise in a computer is usually generated by something that spins, like fans, drives.
If the computer's is dusty/dirty inside, the CPU's heat sink fan my be trying it's highest-speed best to move air through a dust-clogged heat sink in an attempt to cool the poor CPU.
Last edited by SpywareDr; September 30th, 2012 at 05:05 PM.
A good way to pinpoint where a noise is coming from. Take a screwdriver with a long enough shaft.Put the tip on a fan frame and put the handle directly to your ear. Careful to not touch the blade to a running fan etc. however...
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You've got the right idea, clean all the dust, dirt and crud out with compressed air and/or a small brush. If using compressed air block the fans from turning with a pencil, straw or some such or it's possible to burn out the bearings. The fact that the noise starts when doing anything is usually the CPU overheating so check and clean that fan real well. If the above doesn't do it the Thermal compound between the Heatsink and CPU may have dried up/gone bad. Make sure any clips that hold the Heatsink down are secure.
I spent a lot of time compressed-air-dusting this morning...there was a ton. I took a picture of the chassis inside and hope I can upload a clear enough and legal (for the purposes of this forum) jpeg of it. I do this because I don't know where to locate the heatsink to check the condition of the thermal compound. I'll be happy to replace the 2 fans that are visible -- not sure of what I'd have to shell out $$ -- and the fan I can see inside the power supply -- how to get to it?
OOPS! Forgot the picture...but my quota's exceeded...How do I clear out all of my previous attachments? I'm told to "click here" to do so, but as soon as I move the cursor off the red exclamation point, the "click here" message disappears before I can "click here?"
Here's the shot of the inside of my dinosaur's case...
Short of having to replace the motherboard, I'd like to isolate the loud noise(s) and replace fans and/or the thermal compound on the heatsink if it's drying up. I realize that this is an old Compaq single core Celeron so some of the hardware might be Compaq's own peculiar hardware and configurations...if that's the case, I'll waste no further time. I might have fans laying around on newer, but retired rigs so I figure it's worth a shot. I've given the inside of the case a painstaking cleaning, but if replacement parts are going to go through the roof $$$, if they're even available, I'm done.
Here's the shot of the inside of my dinosaur's case...
That big fan at the bottom is sitting on top of an aluminum heatsink which is sitting on top of the CPU (Central Processing Unit). The fan and heatsink often come as a single assembled unit and fasten down over the CPU.
I see a Seagate SATA hard drive on bottom left and an IDE CD/DVD drive top left. (Note that you could temporarily eliminate these two drives as the source of the noise problem by disconnecting their power leads and flipping the machine on. The only two spinning objects left would be the CPU and PSU [power supply unit] fans).
And last but not least is, up at the top right, an *infamous "Bestec" brand PSU (Power Supply Unit).
I say 'infamous' because I've had a lot of hair-pulling, teeth-knashing experience with Bestec PSUs. (And I am not the only one). In all but one instance there was no warning whatsoever before they fail. User comes in in the morning, pushes the power button and ... nothing. No lights, no noise, no nothing.
The biggest problem though is that more often than not, not only does the Bestec PSU die, it takes out the motherboard with it. <-grrr->
In one case, two people were sitting and talking, heard a "real loud buzzing" noise coming from the computer, smelled smoke and scrambled under the desk to yank the plug. And yep, you guessed it, dead Bestec PSU and motherboard.
This is not always the case however. There are still a couple of older XP machines around at the office with Bestec PSUs. I worry a bit about 'em of course. (Don't want a fire). But, they're old and not worth sinking any more money into 'em. When they die, they go in the trash.
Last edited by SpywareDr; October 6th, 2012 at 11:01 AM.
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Originally Posted by dneilson
