Hello. This is my first post to the forum, so I apologize if this is in the wrong section, but it seemed to be the closest match.
I built the computer I'm currently using now around six months ago. I didn't go the cadillac route with any of the components, but I didn't go bargain basement, either.
All parts were purchased new and are less than six months old, like I said. Below are brief specs, included so that if any of the parts are known for causing this sort of problem, maybe someone here will have heard of it:
Intel D915GEVL board
Intel p4 2.8 ghz (stock hs + fan)
1.5 ghz wintec ram
Sparkle power q 300W psu
Western digital caviar wd800j 80 gb
Samsung sh-s162l dvd/cd burner
generic floppy
sapphire radeon x850 xt
2 of whatever brand of fans came with my foxconn case
So, here's my problem(s)...
My vid card has been making a sort of squeaky-wheel sound whenever it's under load (not at all when at idle) ever since I purchased it. But I never isolated exactly what was making the sound and when until the other day. After doing some research, it turns out it's a hardware defect present on some ati cards. This is not the fan noise present on x850 cards, btw, but a separate problem altogether.
So I got that figured out and decided I'm rma'ing the sucker. The sound's...Broken-and-aggravating sounding enough to make me want it replaced anyway, but from what I read cards with this problem have a way of spontaneously dying in some cases.
The next day or so I noticed another new noise and traced it to my dvd burner. When you boot the computer with a cd inside, it will make a repetive chirping noise like it's reading it even when it's at idle. Sometimes the led blinks repetitively, sometimes not. And whenever you play a game or use another program that has to read from it consistently, it makes a loud electronic buzzing/whining noise. Was quiet and worked great up until then.
Then just today, I noticed a NEW noise (whole story's like this ;-> ).
My hard drive, which has been working beautifully, and ultra quiet (I mean best of luck to you if you tried to hear it quiet) started emitting a low but constant buzzing/humming noise. It's also making other much more intermittent noises.
I wasn't sure of this at first however, thinking maybe it was one of the fans. So I unplugged it and took it out, and I thought I heard something when I moved it. So I gave it a gentle shake, and it emitted a noise like a #$%^@!* squeaky toy! Seriously. If you shake it very gently, it sounds just like the sound a squeaky toy makes when dog chomps on it.
The video card always made that noise, I have not modded it in anyway, and it always stays under 70 C. My dvd/cd drive has had only light/medium use since I bought it, and I've used it to burn less than 50 times. Maybe 30 or so.
I've monitored my cpu/enviroment temps regularly, and my system always stays nice and cool. It's a prescott, so it's basically a furnace, but it always stays between 40-50 C at idle and stays under 70 under load. I sometimes check the voltage (this is using pre-packaged intel utilities and I don't know about their pin-point accuracy), and they've always been well within healthy ranges.
No component, nor has the computer itself ever been exposed to any significant shock, heat, dust (keep it clean), liquid, alien abduction, etc.
My question to the forum is this. Have I simply been the recipient of several pieces of bunk hardware, or could all of these (excluding vid card) problems be being caused by something more systemic? Some kind of electrical problem with my psu or board, perhaps?
Also, my computer does vibrate very slightly. It's the first more modern machine I've had in years, so it's the first one I've had with multiple fans. I don't know if mine vibrates more than what's the norm or not. It's not extreme in the least. You can just feel a slight vibe if you touch it. Could that have anything to do with it, perhaps?
I know that newer hardware that generates more heat and spins at faster rpms (where applicable) is simply going to be more prone to failure than legacy items. But man, I have computers over 7 years old in which every piece of stock hardware still functions.
So this is ridiculous that after less than half a year, I'm having a few pieces of new hardware go nutty on me all around the same time. I don't know what to think, but I'm pullin' my hair out at this point. I don't know if an electrical or other problem could even potentially cause problems like this, so I thought I'd refer to people who might know a lot more about this.
So please, anyone's ideas/theories/suggestions will be appreciated. Including if you have anything to say about any of the particular problems (what causes the hard drive buzzing/squeaky toy noise, or the newfound noisyness with the cd/dvd drive).
Besides the obvious, one of the reasons I want to know is that I'm thinking about getting the max processor for this board (3.8 ghz) and another gig of ram at some point, maybe christmas. Might need a new psu if I do anyway, have to figure out how much all that would draw, but I don't want to buy
all that for this board if there's something weird going on with my system that's wrecking my hardware ;-).
Anyway, thank you very much for reading through all of this. I apologize for the length, but I suck at being succinct. And thank you very much in advance for your help.
PS-If you do think it might be something electrical and you have a suggestion for how to test it, please be very clear, like you're talking to a 3 year old. I own a multimeter but I'm very lame/ignorant with it. Gracias.
I built the computer I'm currently using now around six months ago. I didn't go the cadillac route with any of the components, but I didn't go bargain basement, either.
All parts were purchased new and are less than six months old, like I said. Below are brief specs, included so that if any of the parts are known for causing this sort of problem, maybe someone here will have heard of it:
Intel D915GEVL board
Intel p4 2.8 ghz (stock hs + fan)
1.5 ghz wintec ram
Sparkle power q 300W psu
Western digital caviar wd800j 80 gb
Samsung sh-s162l dvd/cd burner
generic floppy
sapphire radeon x850 xt
2 of whatever brand of fans came with my foxconn case
So, here's my problem(s)...
My vid card has been making a sort of squeaky-wheel sound whenever it's under load (not at all when at idle) ever since I purchased it. But I never isolated exactly what was making the sound and when until the other day. After doing some research, it turns out it's a hardware defect present on some ati cards. This is not the fan noise present on x850 cards, btw, but a separate problem altogether.
So I got that figured out and decided I'm rma'ing the sucker. The sound's...Broken-and-aggravating sounding enough to make me want it replaced anyway, but from what I read cards with this problem have a way of spontaneously dying in some cases.
The next day or so I noticed another new noise and traced it to my dvd burner. When you boot the computer with a cd inside, it will make a repetive chirping noise like it's reading it even when it's at idle. Sometimes the led blinks repetitively, sometimes not. And whenever you play a game or use another program that has to read from it consistently, it makes a loud electronic buzzing/whining noise. Was quiet and worked great up until then.
Then just today, I noticed a NEW noise (whole story's like this ;-> ).
My hard drive, which has been working beautifully, and ultra quiet (I mean best of luck to you if you tried to hear it quiet) started emitting a low but constant buzzing/humming noise. It's also making other much more intermittent noises.
I wasn't sure of this at first however, thinking maybe it was one of the fans. So I unplugged it and took it out, and I thought I heard something when I moved it. So I gave it a gentle shake, and it emitted a noise like a #$%^@!* squeaky toy! Seriously. If you shake it very gently, it sounds just like the sound a squeaky toy makes when dog chomps on it.
The video card always made that noise, I have not modded it in anyway, and it always stays under 70 C. My dvd/cd drive has had only light/medium use since I bought it, and I've used it to burn less than 50 times. Maybe 30 or so.
I've monitored my cpu/enviroment temps regularly, and my system always stays nice and cool. It's a prescott, so it's basically a furnace, but it always stays between 40-50 C at idle and stays under 70 under load. I sometimes check the voltage (this is using pre-packaged intel utilities and I don't know about their pin-point accuracy), and they've always been well within healthy ranges.
No component, nor has the computer itself ever been exposed to any significant shock, heat, dust (keep it clean), liquid, alien abduction, etc.
My question to the forum is this. Have I simply been the recipient of several pieces of bunk hardware, or could all of these (excluding vid card) problems be being caused by something more systemic? Some kind of electrical problem with my psu or board, perhaps?
Also, my computer does vibrate very slightly. It's the first more modern machine I've had in years, so it's the first one I've had with multiple fans. I don't know if mine vibrates more than what's the norm or not. It's not extreme in the least. You can just feel a slight vibe if you touch it. Could that have anything to do with it, perhaps?
I know that newer hardware that generates more heat and spins at faster rpms (where applicable) is simply going to be more prone to failure than legacy items. But man, I have computers over 7 years old in which every piece of stock hardware still functions.
So this is ridiculous that after less than half a year, I'm having a few pieces of new hardware go nutty on me all around the same time. I don't know what to think, but I'm pullin' my hair out at this point. I don't know if an electrical or other problem could even potentially cause problems like this, so I thought I'd refer to people who might know a lot more about this.
So please, anyone's ideas/theories/suggestions will be appreciated. Including if you have anything to say about any of the particular problems (what causes the hard drive buzzing/squeaky toy noise, or the newfound noisyness with the cd/dvd drive).
Besides the obvious, one of the reasons I want to know is that I'm thinking about getting the max processor for this board (3.8 ghz) and another gig of ram at some point, maybe christmas. Might need a new psu if I do anyway, have to figure out how much all that would draw, but I don't want to buy
all that for this board if there's something weird going on with my system that's wrecking my hardware ;-).
Anyway, thank you very much for reading through all of this. I apologize for the length, but I suck at being succinct. And thank you very much in advance for your help.
PS-If you do think it might be something electrical and you have a suggestion for how to test it, please be very clear, like you're talking to a 3 year old. I own a multimeter but I'm very lame/ignorant with it. Gracias.
. I'm certain as to where these particular sounds are coming from, though.
