Possible cause of noise from desktop PC?

Just thought I would throw this out there and see what any members have to say.

I have a custom built desktop pc that is just a little over a year old and seems to be working fine.

Within the last Month or so, it has started doing something that it normally didn't do.
I don't know how to describe the issue other than saying it sounds like something is powering up and then after a while it powers down.
It appears to be happening randomly.
As an example, I could be on this site for say 20 minutes with, no other programs running and it could happen.
Or, I could be on this site for a while, close it, and then switch to iTunes and it would happen as soon as I click on the iTunes icon.
It actually just happened as I'm typing this up.
The computer works fine while this happens.

This powering up/ down noise is very short in duration and not very loud but I hear it because I have the computer sitting on my desk.
If the computer was on the floor, I probably wouldn't hear the noise.
This computer normally runs very quietly.

Took the computer to the business that built it and explained the issue as best I could to the repair guy.
He ran some sort of diagnostic on it and his conclusion was the it was the DVD-Rom "searching" even though there were no discs in the drive itself.
There is a SSD and a HDD on this computer.
He said the noise couldn't be coming from the SSD as they have no moving parts and he unplugged the HDD as part of the diagnostic and that's how he found the DVD Rom to be the cause.
The DVD-Rom was replaced.

I don't know a whole lot about the workings of computers but, I suspected the DVD-Rom was not the issue for a couple of reasons.
So, to prove it to myself, I currently have the DVD-Rom drive disconnected and, as I'm typing this up, the power down noise just happened.
So, about 15 minutes has passed (I'm a slow typer!) from when I heard the power up noise to now just hearing it power down.
I have no other programs running at this time.

I don't think it's a fan making this noise.
I can hear a fan running now but it's a fan I normally hear.

The power up noise just happened again.
So, less than 5 minutes after the power down noise.

When I hear this noise, it sounds like its coming from the area where the SSD and HDD is housed in the computer tower.
That's one of the reasons I suspected the DVD-Rom was not the cause.

My concern is, is this noise a possible indication that the SSD or HDD might be on the way out?
If not that, does anyone have any ideas what might be the cause of this noise?
Or without getting too technical, is there something I should check on the computer when this happens?
Some settings to check?

It just powered down.
Maybe it isn't so random after all.
Seems like the same amount of time (approx 15 minutes) passed between powering up to powering down.

It's probably a hard drive spinning up - they go to sleep when they're not needed and sometimes things you wouldn't expect make them spin up. You should have sufficient backups that a hard drive failing should simply be annoying, not concerning.

tim wrote in post #18013592
It's probably a hard drive spinning up - they go to sleep when they're not needed and sometimes things you wouldn't expect make them spin up. You should have sufficient backups that a hard drive failing should simply be annoying, not concerning.

Seems likely to me as well. If you're not accessing anything on the actual HDD it shouldn't likely be spinning up very often.

Another option is a fan, but usually they're quieter and lower pitched.

canongear wrote in post #18013527
Just thought I would throw this out there and see what any members have to say.

I have a custom built desktop pc that is just a little over a year old and seems to be working fine.

Within the last Month or so, it has started doing something that it normally didn't do.
I don't know how to describe the issue other than saying it sounds like something is powering up and then after a while it powers down.
It appears to be happening randomly.
As an example, I could be on this site for say 20 minutes with, no other programs running and it could happen.
Or, I could be on this site for a while, close it, and then switch to iTunes and it would happen as soon as I click on the iTunes icon.
It actually just happened as I'm typing this up.
The computer works fine while this happens.

This powering up/ down noise is very short in duration and not very loud but I hear it because I have the computer sitting on my desk.
If the computer was on the floor, I probably wouldn't hear the noise.
This computer normally runs very quietly.

Took the computer to the business that built it and explained the issue as best I could to the repair guy.
He ran some sort of diagnostic on it and his conclusion was the it was the DVD-Rom "searching" even though there were no discs in the drive itself.
There is a SSD and a HDD on this computer.
He said the noise couldn't be coming from the SSD as they have no moving parts and he unplugged the HDD as part of the diagnostic and that's how he found the DVD Rom to be the cause.
The DVD-Rom was replaced.

I don't know a whole lot about the workings of computers but, I suspected the DVD-Rom was not the issue for a couple of reasons.
So, to prove it to myself, I currently have the DVD-Rom drive disconnected and, as I'm typing this up, the power down noise just happened.
So, about 15 minutes has passed (I'm a slow typer!) from when I heard the power up noise to now just hearing it power down.
I have no other programs running at this time.

I don't think it's a fan making this noise.
I can hear a fan running now but it's a fan I normally hear.

The power up noise just happened again.
So, less than 5 minutes after the power down noise.

When I hear this noise, it sounds like its coming from the area where the SSD and HDD is housed in the computer tower.
That's one of the reasons I suspected the DVD-Rom was not the cause.

My concern is, is this noise a possible indication that the SSD or HDD might be on the way out?
If not that, does anyone have any ideas what might be the cause of this noise?
Or without getting too technical, is there something I should check on the computer when this happens?
Some settings to check?

It just powered down.
Maybe it isn't so random after all.
Seems like the same amount of time (approx 15 minutes) passed between powering up to powering down.

Is your SSD a Samsung? And do you have Magician software on the box?

Run Intel XTU in monitor mode, and when ot happens next look at the cpu speed, and the core voltage. If you see both rise then thats probably it.

If it is pm me and I will tell you how to cure it.

canongear wrote in post #18013527
Some settings to check?

Windows 10 has a nasty habit of waking up HDDs in odd times. I removed all drives except SSD's from my PC and get no more annoying HDD noises. USB3 external drives can do well as storage etc., I have only half a terabytes internally as SSD and 8TB connected as external drives (some drives are offline for additional backups).

To prevent HDD's sleeping:

Control Panel (settings) -> System -> power & sleep -> Additional power settings -> Change plan settings -> Change Advanced power settings -> Hard Disk: "Turn off hard disk after" -> set to : never.

Apply settings.

What make/model hard drive is in the system? Strong suspicion based on what info you provided that it is the Hard Drive, as previous respondents have said.

Regards,

110yd

The SSD is a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB
I don't have the Magician software.

The HDD is a Western Digital Black 1TB.

The OS is Windows 7 Professional.

I'm going to give Pekka's tip a try and see what happens.
The hard disk was set to sleep after 20 minutes before I changed the setting to never.
The 20 minutes must be a default setting as I have never accessed that setting before until now.

If it is just the HDD spinning/waking up, any possible reasons as to why this would just start happening lately?

Do you have automatic updates enabled? It could be something as simple as some program is just checking for, downloading, and/or installing updates.

If the HD is WD Black, I am not as sure what the issue is. I have seen WD Green drives make a little
noise when spinning up from sleep mode. I have not notices it with WD Black drives. Any chance
there is a thermal issue and a fan is causing the noise?? What motherboard are you using?

Regards,

LN

If you're comfortable taking the side off, it's the easiest way (usually) to identify a noise. Take the side off, turn it on, put your ear in there and click something. It's most likely not something you have to worry about such as a hard drive spinning up or a fan spinning at a higher speed for a short period.

I have taken the side off as I have disconnected the DVD-Rom.
The problem with listening for the noise is that I never know when it's going to happen.
It could be 10 minutes or half an hour before I hear it and sometimes clicking on something seems to activate it and other times not.

I'm hoping Pekka's suggestion fixed the issue.
Seems to be doing the trick right now.
I'll find out tomorrow after I spend a longer period of time using the computer.

Here is the computer build info.

Nogo wrote in post #18013752
Do you have automatic updates enabled? It could be something as simple as some program is just checking for, downloading, and/or installing updates.

I do but, its been set up that way since I first got the computer.
This issue is something that started only recently though.

I just wonder if the upcoming update to Windows 10 I agreed to, doesn't have something to do with it?
Maybe Microsoft pre loaded something when I agreed to the update?
I did agree to the update a little while ago.

Just a guess, but have you noticed the noise when the machine is lifting a heavy load, for example processing video? Try playing a MP4 and browsing multiple web pages and note if the noise level increases. There are a number of performance testing tools that might help isolate where the issue is coming from.

Regards,

110yd

It would seem that Pekka's suggestion..thank you.. has fixed the issue.
Thanks as well to the rest of you that offered advice or explanations for the possible cause of the noise.