Noisy Computer

[Guest Fellrunner]

My computer was making chattering/mild grinding noises so I've just had an engineer come out and replace the hard drive (was a Seagate 80gb, now a Maxtgor 80gb). Engineer said it sounded like the bearings.

 

Now the new one is making the same noise (though not quite as loud). Have called the Hewlett Packard technical support people who say that it's unlikely that a second hard drive will be faulty but they'll get an engineer to come and have another look.

 

Any suggestions what the problem might be? It's take me all afternoon to get all my software back on the new disk and I don't want to have to go through it all again needlessly.

 

Any suggestions/tips would be much appreciated!

[mr.blaze 10]

Are you 100% sure the sound is coming from the Hard Drive? It's often fans that make noises like the ones your suggesting. Check it's not your Power Supply Unit or Central Processing Unit's fans making the noises. Along with any other extra cooling devices you may have. Often bearings go in fans after a couple of years and they need to be replaced. If this is the case then there is a chance they are not cooling your hardware as well as they should and there's also chance it may overheat and go pop.

 

If it is your hard drive then how loud is the noise and does it sound kinda like a scratchy sound? Some hard drives are noisy but if it's working fine then I"d say it was ok.

[Guest Fellrunner]

Thanks for the speedy reply! I've tried disconnecting power from the hard drive, and there's no noise then. The noise is generally intermittent but if I do something like disk defrag then it is constant.

 

It's not particularly loud and you're right, it is a kind of scratchy noise. But it is getting on my nerves. The machine is less than 2 months old and my last one (only had a 3gb drive!) didn't make any noise.

[vidster 10]

I think the noise you are hearing is the HD accesing data!. This noise is normal in most if not all cpu's, albeit at different noise levels.

Sometimes it sounds as if my laptop is trying to have a verbal conversation with me whilst doing a defrag, yet my desktop can hardly be heard!

I think i'll try talking back one day

[mr.blaze 10]

In that case it's definately the hard-drive and it's 100% normal. You could always opt for a better computer case with more sound proofing. I think you will find just about all hard-drives make this noise only some more than others. Nothing to be afraid of even though it is irritating.

[alchresearch 214]

It sounds like the activity of the drive is being amplified through the metal of the case.

 

But, you say you have a HP machine, they are usually of a very high standard build quality (we trust them so well, we have over 600).

[Jamie 10]

Maybe invest in a good case? (always good to have a good case anyway).

 

I have an Antec Sonata on order:

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=1901194257&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=47659

 

MMMM ... supposed to be one of the best sound proofed cases around ... and not too expensive ... also it has a glossy black paint finish so looks like a posh piano.

[Guest Fellrunner]

Thanks for the reassurance guys - must admit that I can be a bit neurotic when it comes to this sort of thing and maybe I'm making something out of nothing. Might get the engineer to have a look just in case though......

[vidster 10]

It can't hurt to get a professional opinion!

Good luck:)

[alchresearch 214]

Originally posted by Jamie

Maybe invest in a good case? (always good to have a good case anyway).

 

I have an Antec Sonata on order:

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=1901194257&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=47659

 

MMMM ... supposed to be one of the best sound proofed cases around ... and not too expensive ... also it has a glossy black paint finish so looks like a posh piano.

 

I have one at work. It's the finest case I have ever had. The door is a bit of a pain on it though.

 

You have to fill it with good stuff though, not your old crap! I have a P4 3.2Ghz HT, 2Gb of RAM and three 200Gb SATA drives.

[some_boy 10]

sounds like a thread to me, best pc specs?

 

i saw a pc for sale, base only with a 400Gb hdd.

 

i fancy a few of them on a raid card!

[Mo 10]

Mine is always loud. It sounds like a jet plane engine but then again it is a Mesh.