What are these weird "crackling" noises i hear inside my pc? Is it my GPU?

[winterwonderland]

I'm getting tired of this... I have for the first built my own pc for €2000, which a lot of money for a person like me, and for some reason, i keep hearing this weird noise inside my pc, and i cannot determine whether that is my gpu or something else that makes this sound. It cannot be my SSD's because i have disconnected everything but the M.2... So, is it the GPU that makes this sound, or? and if it is my GPU (which i bought in july or so), should i be worried? and is there a way for me to get rid of/fix that sound?

Here are the clicking/cracking noises coming from my pc (i placed my phone on top of the PSU, so it's right underneath my GPU): http://sndup.net/cfqq

You guys have helped me so often before, and since im stuck once again, i hope you lot can help me out with this one as well. PS: I wasn't sure if i should've posted this within the GPU-section or Gen. Hardware, but since i don't know what makes this sound, i posted it here... Pardon if that was wrong.

 

[cvaldes]

My PC makes that noise when a cable is rubbing up against a fan.

 

[Solaris17]

This sounds like a GPU or PSU fan touching something.

 

[caroline!]

It sounds like an early 1900s mechanical relay ^^

Of course there are none inside a computer so it has to be a loose wire touching a fan, check the graphics card and PSU.

 

[AusWolf]

1. As others have said, check if a cable is touching a fan.

2. If everything is clear, try to tilt the pc on its side. I used to have a graphics card with a loose fan hub that made the same noise when the fan started up or ran below a certain rpm with the card in the traditional downward facing position. It wasn't a failure point, just a bit annoying.

 

[Wirko]

2. If everything is clear, try to tilt the pc on its side. I used to have a graphics card with a loose fan hub that made the same noise when the fan started up or ran below a certain rpm with the card in the traditional downward facing position. It wasn't a failure point, just a bit annoying.

Yes, the fan can be wobbly, so the blades rub against a cable or another object some of the time, but not all of the time.
I'd try to stop the fans with my hand for a short while, one by one - those that are reachable of course, you can't do that to the PSU fan.

 

[Ivan Bliminse]

I occasionally hear strange crackling noises coming from my pc, but i think its just one of my hdd's intensly working in the background.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Take the inner tube from a roll of paper towels up to your ear and use that as a stethoscope to help pinpoint the source.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Bouncing off @Bill_Bright's suggestion, 5-6mm flexible tubing can also work wonders if available to you.

 

[winterwonderland]

My PC makes that noise when a cable is rubbing up against a fan.

This sounds like a GPU or PSU fan touching something.

Take the inner tube from a roll of paper towels up to your ear and use that as a stethoscope to help pinpoint the source.

Apologies for the late reply, people, but i have tried to check every possible fan, but the evil culprit seems to be my GPU! Somehow, whenever the fans start to spin, they make the noise i mentioned in my OP. It goes for all the 3 fans on my GPU. Although it was difficult to record anything, i tried to record what happens, as you can see here: https://www.veed.io/view/e47c1d89-523d-4ebb-9ff1-694b741a64f7/showcase?sharingWidget=true

As far as i can see, i cannot spot anything touching the fans, so what can be the issue then, you reckon?

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Apologies for the late reply, people, but i have tried to check every possible fan, but the evil culprit seems to be my GPU! Somehow, whenever the fans start to spin, they make the noise i mentioned in my OP. It goes for all the 3 fans on my GPU. Although it was difficult to record anything, i tried to record what happens, as you can see here: https://www.veed.io/view/e47c1d89-523d-4ebb-9ff1-694b741a64f7/showcase?sharingWidget=true

As far as i can see, i cannot spot anything touching the fans, so what can be the issue then, you reckon?

Your noise really sounds like the fans on my 3050 when they spin up. My hypothesis is that the startup torque deforms the blades enough that they rub on the fan's chassis until up to speed. If true, you have some choices:

1. Live with the noise; it's not hurting anything besides perhaps your sanity
2. Disable fan stop or set a custom curve to run at all times
3. Return the card and get a different model (other units of the same model will probably exhibit the same behavior)

 

[winterwonderland]

Your noise really sounds like the fans on my 3050 when they spin up. My hypothesis is that the startup torque deforms the blades enough that they rub on the fan's chassis until up to speed. If true, you have some choices:

1. Live with the noise; it's not hurting anything besides perhaps your sanity
2. Disable fan stop or set a custom curve to run at all times
3. Return the card and get a different model (other units of the same model will probably exhibit the same behavior)

Ouch. That's exactly what i was afraid of hearing; nothing that can be done with it, unless i let the fans spin all the time...

But yeah, it's definitely not working well with my sanity, heh. I've for years tried to obtain a QUIET pc setup, and i thought that with this setup, i do have a quiet enough pc, but then it was this noise from my GPU... :/

I guess i am only left with either letting the fans spin at all time or try finding a different card and sell this one. I bought this gpu used. I have never had any issues with used GPU's until this time, but i guess it was bound to happen at some point, heh.

May i ask what did you end up doing with your GPU upon discovering the noise?

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Ouch. That's exactly what i was afraid of hearing; nothing that can be done with it, unless i let the fans spin all the time...

But yeah, it's definitely not working well with my sanity, heh. I've for years tried to obtain a QUIET pc setup, and i thought that with this setup, i do have a quiet enough pc, but then it was this noise from my GPU... :/

I guess i am only left with either letting the fans spin at all time or try finding a different card and sell this one. I bought this gpu used. I have never had any issues with used GPU's until this time, but i guess it was bound to happen at some point, heh.

May i ask what did you end up doing with your GPU upon discovering the noise?

Set a custom no-stop curve. They're inaudible (to me) under 1000 RPM, so they idle at ~900.

 

[delshay]

I'm getting tired of this... I have for the first built my own pc for €2000, which a lot of money for a person like me, and for some reason, i keep hearing this weird noise inside my pc, and i cannot determine whether that is my gpu or something else that makes this sound. It cannot be my SSD's because i have disconnected everything but the M.2... So, is it the GPU that makes this sound, or? and if it is my GPU (which i bought in july or so), should i be worried? and is there a way for me to get rid of/fix that sound?

Here are the clicking/cracking noises coming from my pc (i placed my phone on top of the PSU, so it's right underneath my GPU): http://sndup.net/cfqq

You guys have helped me so often before, and since im stuck once again, i hope you lot can help me out with this one as well. PS: I wasn't sure if i should've posted this within the GPU-section or Gen. Hardware, but since i don't know what makes this sound, i posted it here... Pardon if that was wrong.

That link has come up blocked by my antivirus software. Give me time to find out why it's showing as dangerous website.


Norton is showing this:

Report in first screenshot

Blocked second screenshot

 

[bonehead123]

Actually, it's just those pesky nanites working to assimilate your machine into the collective, nuthin to worry about, hahaha

/s

 

[winterwonderland]

Set a custom no-stop curve. They're inaudible (to me) under 1000 RPM, so they idle at ~900.

Ah ok ,then i will try that. Any ideas/pointers on how i do that for my gigabyte 3060 ti? A bit noob with this, so any links would be appreciated.

That link has come up blocked by my antivirus software. Give me time to find out why it's showing as dangerous website.


Norton is showing this:

Report in first screenshot

Blocked second screenshot

Sorry about that. YT was not working for me, so i used that random site for the video. Sorry.

 

[cvaldes]

Ah ok ,then i will try that. Any ideas/pointers on how i do that for my gigabyte 3060 ti? A bit noob with this, so any links would be appreciated.

Gigabyte probably has a utility for this. Check their website.

EVGA has Precision X1, ASUS has GPUTweak. I use both for an RTX 3050 and RTX 3060 Ti respectively to set custom fan curves. The 3050 idles at 600 fan rpm, the 3060 Ti at 900 rpm.

 

[Bill_Bright]

As far as i can see, i cannot spot anything touching the fans, so what can be the issue then, you reckon?

If me, I would unplug from the wall, touch bare metal of the case interior to discharge any static in my body, then remove the graphics card and place it on a non-conductive surface.

Then use a wooden glue/Popsicle stick to hold a fan stationary. Then, using a can of compressed dusting gas, carefully blast each fan individually. When you are sure that fan is clean of all dust and any possible debris, remove the stick. Blast again to get the fan spinning. Do not see how fast you can get them spinning - you might over-spin them and ruin the bearings. Listen for any cracking or ticking sounds. If noise free, move to the next fan.