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I need serious halp.

F

FlawlessCowboy

n00b
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
11
So, I built a relatively cheap gaming computer about a year ago. Haven't had any real problems with it... up until the last couple months. You see, when I turn it on, it sounds like a jet-engine taking off. It's loud. I think it's one of the fans. But I also think it may be the graphics card. The thing is, that, it takes a long time to load up games like TF2 or World of Warcraft. When I first built the computer, it would load them up very quickly. Now? Not so much. :confused:

The video card is a VGA MSI NX8600GT.

So, [H]ardforum, what to do? I don't want to take this thing to the geek squad and have them charge me $100 just to look at it. Should I think about replacing the video card?
 
sound silly but, whan was the last time you thoroughly cleaned the dust from your machine? especially from around the CPU fan
 
Okay, I dusted the inside (it was pretty bad) turned it on, and I'm still getting that loud, almost grinding noise for several minutes. It sort of sounds like one of the fans' is in over-drive mode or something. *sigh* Not sure where to go from here. I don't want to replace something unless I'm absolutely certain that is what's causing the problem.
 
unplug or stop each fan one at a time..... I am lazy and just use my figure to stop them. :p

Its probably the fan on the video card. Those things die all the time. Don't forget to check your PSU fans (both?) too.

Hard drives can make terrible noises before dieing too, but i would check all the fans first because those are a cheap fix.
 
FlawlessCowboy said:
Okay, I dusted the inside (it was pretty bad) turned it on, and I'm still getting that loud, almost grinding noise for several minutes. It sort of sounds like one of the fans' is in over-drive mode or something. *sigh* Not sure where to go from here. I don't want to replace something unless I'm absolutely certain that is what's causing the problem.
Click to expand...

Dusted? You mean compressed air, not a static prone duster, right!?

Yeah, somtimes (not applicable to GPUs, unfortunately), you have to remove the HSF to see all that dust that has built up... (it's a pain for Slimline systems).
 
Slow loading of TF2/WoW sounds like either defrag, or fresh install on the fastest partition. You only mention a 250GB HD, so it sounds like it's all on one drive. Defrag will help a bit, but getting a modern HD (640GB WD) would help tremendously as well. Just be sure that you partition it so Steam doesn't end up on a slower area of the drive though.
 
Use your ears to locate what is noisy.
If you are having a hard time finding what is noisy, turn off/unplug things...
You get the idea.

If you dont find what is noisy, you wont be able to stop it.
We dont have ESP.
 
If it's a honky grindy fan it's probably a dry fan bearing. Either replace the fan, or peel the sticker off the frame hub and put a few drops of light machine oil in there. This will work for GPU and chipset fans as well, but only if you can remove the fan from whatever it's mounted to so you can get to the bearing.
 
When I built my computer I experienced a "horrible grinding noise" that may be what yours sounds like. For me, it was my psu fan--might want to check that out.
 
Flawless, use the nvidia control panel to adjust your video card fan speed. Slide to nothing, then slide to full speed, and let us know if the noise changes.

What brand power supply do you have?
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
What kind of case fans do you use? I have that with one of my cheapo lighted ones, but goes away after a minute.
 
You stop being lazy, take the side of your case off, turn the computer on, put your ear near each area of fans, when you find the one you think might be louder you stop the fan with your finger to confirm. Give the fan a spin to restart it. Replace fan in question.
Sounds like probably the video card fan or CPU.
 
blow it off witha leaf blower.;).. defragment the hard drive, run ccleaner and about the fans ^^what he said?
 
Couple of things that may or may not be your problem:

Defrag if u haven't....but u have additional problems so...

the fact u say games take longer than usual AND you have some audible fan problems sounds like it could be your PSU going bye bye. If the psu cant run the PC, it'll slow down or crash. If the PSU is getting hot, it'll shoot it's fan higher to cool the psu but if that's not cooling or fixing the internal problem (like excess dust), your psu will continue to drag the rest of your components due to power fluctuation across the entire system.

You may have motherboard fans of any of the N/S bridges that are winding higher than normal. Because they are small, they can be overlooked.

on the other hand, it could be a failing video card. Not sure if I'd stick a screwdriver in any component--you'll likely snap the fan blade.

On the other hand, if you have more than two sticks of ram, try removing one and alternating one or the other out of the system.

Laslty, you could also have a hard drive malfunction too.

Easy and quick thing to do right off the bat is reset your BIOS to default settings.

Sometimes it's the things that don't make sense that can be the problem.

Good Luck.
 
Last edited:
FlawlessCowboy said:
Well, I've tried listening to each one of the fans, and I still can't discern which one is faulty. I may have to jam a screwdriver through them if push comes to shove.

This is my tower BTW:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156209

I'm going to try a de-frag here in a second.
Click to expand...

You are making something extremely easy far more complicated than it is. Someone already told you to stop each fan and listen if the "horrible grinding noise" stops. In 30 seconds you will get your answer. This is probably the easiest thing to do especially if your hearing is below average.
 
Definitely sounds like a fan. Stop them all one by one, see if you can figure it out.

If that fails, remove power from the HDD and turn the PC on.

If that doesn't work, looks for dust in your PSU, and try stopping the PSU fan.
 
its simple press middle of fan slowing down fan speeds allowing the niose to stop and depressing allowing the fan to spin up again.. do this for each fasn untill u find the niosy fan... dont fully stop each fan or it wont spin up and u will have to help the fan to start spinning again by manually turning it then the motor should spin it up again. [slowing the fan speed down should cause the niose to go away untill u depress the fan.
 
Okay, I think it may be the CPU's fan. (I had my ear centimeters away from the CPU, and I'm almost postive that's it).

For what it's worth, there's no grinding noise when I power down the computer and then start it immediately. :confused:

So, I guess I'll replace the fan, and heck, might as well replace the video card too (seeing as how it's archaic compared to today's standards.)

Any suggestions? My budget is about $150 for the card and fan.
 
MSI.

Manufacturer doesn't really matter to me (even though I've been using Nvidia for as long as I can remember.) It just depends on the deals.
 
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