Brand New PC Starting To Make Noise

[souton]

Hey, I am sorry if I posted in the wrong section, I didn't know where to post.

I just bought a new computer in April and I've been gaming on it about 20 hours a week since. Just recently I noticed a subtle high pitched hum ONLY WHEN I'M IN GAME. I can go to the main menu, and it will stop. I have well enough the minimum requirements to play the games I do, so it's not like I'm trying to overload my PC. Could this be a hard drive issue?

Intel QC i7-3770
16gb DDR3 SDRAM
Unfortunately I just found out I have a Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA 6.0Gbs 64MB Cache 7200 RPM 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive... which may be the problem?
nVidia GeForce GTX650 2Gb
Don't know PSU yet, sorry.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I have a 3 year warranty so whatever the problem is, I should be able to get fixed. I wanted to see if anyone might have an idea of what it could be. It's hard to tell where the noise is coming from. I'm guessing it's either the PSU or H/D.

 

[stonarda]

It could just simlpy be your fans speeding up? When I game, as the computer gets hotter the fans in my PC speed up. When in the menu, it cools down so the fans slow down Its just a guess though...

 

[souton]

That could be a possibility. I'm not sure (because I wear TBs), but I think I'm getting the high pitched sound immediately when the game starts. It's just weird for this to start out of nowhere. Tonight I'm going to test some games without my headphones on and get a better idea of when it happens.

 

[Jad Chaar]

It is most likely a HDD issue. It could also be an issue with the GPU fan, but that is not likely the case. Download Seatools, install it, run it, and then tell me the results.

 

[souton]

Okay, I went ahead and downloaded SeaTools for Windows and installed it. For running the test, there are 6 different choices and a 'fix all' menu. When I choose 'fix all', it's telling me it could take hours and will attempt at fixing bad sectors. Is this what I choose?

 

[Jad Chaar]

Okay, I went ahead and downloaded SeaTools for Windows and installed it. For running the test, there are 6 different choices and a 'fix all' menu. When I choose 'fix all', it's telling me it could take hours and will attempt at fixing bad sectors. Is this what I choose?

Yes that is what you want.

 

[souton]

Thanks JC, I will have to do this later when I am free. Possibly Sunday evening. I will post when it's done.

It just dawned on me, that I updated my nVidia drivers the other day and it came with a GeForce Experience software. I wonder if I shouldn't have updated drivers? I've read in the past, that sometimes it's not a good idea to update your drivers.

I guess we will know more after I run the SeaTools. Again, I will have to do this tomorrow and I will reply back.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Thanks JC, I will have to do this later when I am free. Possibly Sunday evening. I will post when it's done.

It just dawned on me, that I updated my nVidia drivers the other day and it came with a GeForce Experience software. I wonder if I shouldn't have updated drivers? I've read in the past, that sometimes it's not a good idea to update your drivers.

I guess we will know more after I run the SeaTools. Again, I will have to do this tomorrow and I will reply back.

Ok. Good luck. The driver from nVidia wont do anything. Geforce Experience just alters game settings so that the game plays optimally.

 

[hood6558]

Sounds like your PCIe slot is "buzzing", some call it "coil whine", I think it's caused by the high relative amperage flowing through the PCIe contacts in the slot when starting a graphics-intensive game. My system only does it when I first start the FaceWorks demo, and can be heard before the fan ramps up. I have an EVGA GTX 660 Ti Superclocked+ 3GB, your GTX 650 is working harder than mine, hence the "whine" when starting all games. Keep the new drivers, each new one increases game performance by a measurable margin.

 

[captaincranky]

If have had issues with HDDs "buzzing", (or you might want to call it "excessively fast seeking"), when a HDD needed defragmenting. This is candidly on much smaller capacity drives than we're talking about here.

Another "usual suspect", and often the perpetrator, of "whine" is the computer power supply itself. Your PC does have formidable specs, but pre-built machines don't always come with top tier parts in every location. As demand changes different parts can exhibit secondary oscillation. low grade capacitors and/or loosely wound coils in a transformer are other possibles.

One thing I don't understand, is why you think it's "unfortunate" that you have a Seagate HDD. That could probably do with some "splainin'".

If I were going to try and diagnose this thing, the first thing I'd do is unhook the case fans. Since they could be causing the noise, or masking its actual location. Do this with care, and only on a temporary basis, to avoid heat becoming a problem.

I'm sure you know this already and have better sense than to do this, but don't get over enthusiastic and disconnect the CPU heat sink fan. You'll have to diagnose with that one still running.

As long as you use an anti-static wrist band (*), you could also touch parts very gently, to see if that changes the character of the sound. Please note, In said "very gently", and NO PLACE where you see PC board wiring, or components themselves.

Things like the video card fan shroud, or the very edge of the VGA PCB, would be good places to start this procedure. The PSU fan grille and its case in general, other good things to check. The HDD mounting rails, check them too.

(*) If you don't already have an antistatic wrist band, please buy one before you start. Trust me, it will come in handy often.

 

[souton]

I used the SeaTools and chose the Fix All (Long) over night and it passed with no errors.

I haven't opened up my case yet, but I'm leaning towards this "coil whine" hood6558 mentioned. When I am able to "free-look" in games, and I go outside the map just a little bit, the "whining" stops.

To captaincranky, I guess the reason I said unfortunate is because I heard so many bad things about Seagate and Maxtor back in the day. I've only used a Western Digital brand my whole life and never had any HD problems. This is my first Seagate. I'm hoping it's a good one. I will unhook the fans and check the things you mentioned. My guess this is coming from the video card or PSU.

 

[souton]

I also want to add, that when I shut my PC down, it makes that same "whine" for about a second right before shutting completely down. Maybe this info can help determine the noise before I check inside.

 

[misor]

I also want to add, that when I shut my PC down, it makes that same "whine" for about a second right before shutting completely down. Maybe this info can help determine the noise before I check inside.

rule out fans: case fan, cpu fan, psu fan. I am leaning towards cpu fan. did you have stock cpu fan?