Computer Occasionally Sounds like a leafblower

Fafhrd on 29/12/2010 at 08:38

This has been driving me crazy for the past couple of days, but the frequency has just now increased dramatically and it's pushing me too far. For some reason that I have not been able to figure out, one of the fans in my PC will just click over to 100% for anywhere between 10 minutes to an hour, and then click back off again. It is, apparently, neither the video card's fan, nor the CPU's fan, as I've spent the past hour with the ATI overdrive window and SiSoft Sandra open and monitoring the fan speeds, and they report no change between when this thing is going and when it isn't. Which leaves me with it being either the case fans or the PSU. The case fans aren't variable speed (as far as I know), and aren't hooked in to the motherboard so wouldn't know to change their speeds (and Sandra says the System temp has been holding steady at about 43 C, anyway).

So that leaves the PSU. This PSU is admittedly pretty old, and quite possibly a bit overtaxed (it only ever had one six pin PCI-e power plug, and I had to get an adapter to get myself a second one for the Radeon 5870). But I'm not experiencing any other weirdness that could be traced to power. Has anyone heard of a PSU fan just completely losing its shit like this? And does anyone have any good recommended brands for a replacement?

[edit]Just checked the airflow out the back. It's definitely the PSU, as the airflow out of it goes up dramatically when the sound starts (and goes down quite a bit when I cover it with my hand).

june gloom on 29/12/2010 at 09:31

Don't ever buy anything cheap. Be ready to spend money, because this is shit your PC needs to actually operate.

Cooler Master has done me no wrong. Coolmax is for retards and lost_soul.

ffox on 29/12/2010 at 09:46

I expect you've checked that the cooling airflow through the PSU is unobstructed?

You probably need a bigger PSU. I've read that (http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5870-review-test/13) 5870s need at least a 500w PSU and also that (http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-a-Power-Supply) PSUs lose power as they age.

lost_soul on 29/12/2010 at 16:40

Here ya go. I just ordered one of these the other day. It is efficient, 650 watts, has multiple PCI-e connectors, is under $70, and comes with a rebate to reduce the price even more. What's not to like?

(http://www.amazon.com/Antec-EarthWatts-EA650-Power-Supply/dp/B000HEZFZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293640802&sr=8-1)

Fafhrd on 30/12/2010 at 02:33

Went with the Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W (800 watts is a lot more than I need, but Frys didn't have the 600w, and I really couldn't wait to get a new PSU shipped to me, otherwise I would've gone with a Seasonic. Was really tempted to go fanless, but Seasonic only does 460w fanless). Whisper fucking quiet. Right now the drives are the loudest thing in my case, which is beautiful. And my video card looks to be running about 10 degrees cooler. Clearly I really should've switched this PSU out a long time ago.