Computer fan creates an irritating buzzing sound at random intervals

vanderluzt

Posts: 10   +0
Hi,

I got a new system assembled in September this year. Since the last two weeks, there is a weird buzzing sound [like that of a bee] emanating from inside the system at random intervals. It lasts for 4-5 seconds, and then stops only to occur again. Initially, I ignored it. But when it continued this way, I opened up the CPU while the system was running.

Now, there are two fans inside my CPU: a big one mounted vertically at the back [kind of like an exhaust fan] and a smaller one screwed horizontally on a heat sink [processor fan I suppose?]. I discovered that the sound was emanating from the processor fan. How did I know? Well, I waited for the buzzing sound to occur again and when it did, I placed a finger on the center of the fan. The fan stopped rotating and so did the buzzing sound.

The fan is screwed on to the heat sink. Initially, I thought that it might be due to friction/ fan rubbing against a rough surface. So I unscrewed it and took a peek underneath. But it seemed fine to me. Then, I cleaned the fan with a hair dryer. It didn’t have much of dust anyway as it’s just 2 months old. I also used the hair dryer to clean the top of the heat sink, then screwed the fan back on, and started the system. It was fine for a couple of minutes and then the buzzing sound materialized once again! And this continues to occur at random intervals even now.

I have experienced “noisy” computers before and I do understand that it’s normal for computers to be slightly noisy due to the cooling fans. However, this buzzing sound is something new to me. Can anyone diagnose this problem and help me get rid of the buzzing sound. It gets on my nerves, especially at nights while I am surfing.

My system configuration is as below:

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Processor on MSI 880GMA-E45 motherboard with 2GB Corsair DDR3 RAM

OS is Windows 7 Ultimate Ed. 32bit.

By the way, I had enabled the "AMD Cool n Quiet" feature in my BIOS setup a long time ago. I have tried disabling it. But this did not stop the buzzing sound.

As this is a brand new system, shouldn't the fan be running smoothly? I do remember that the heat sink and fan were part of the AMD processor package/kit.
 
I'd say the fan is defective. I'd just replace it. I doubt it would be worth it to return the CPU, heatsink and fan just to get a new fan but I suppose you could if you wanted to.
 
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