Obvious causes of noise include fans (70% of cases), hard drives (15%), optical drives (10%), or loose parts of the system unit (3%) that are not well secured to the chassis. The remaining 2% are highly individual causes.

Cooling system coolers

Coolers (fans) are used to cool components, namely:

• Processor.
• video cards.
• Northbridge chipset (Northbridge) – Acts as a connecting link in data exchange between CPU, GPU and RAM.
• Power Supply Unit.
• Radiator on the motherboard.
• body wall.

The reasons for the increased speed of chillers and external noise are:

Bearing wear. Indicates that the coolant is literally “living its life” and needs to be replaced. In some cases, you can even do it yourself, as they are freely sold, and in others, the fan can be soldered to the board, and you can not do without the skills of working with a soldering iron. Another problem is a video card with a proprietary cooling system. You will either have to look for an analog with a working SO or seek help from an expert.

Fan blade malfunction. The problem is solved similarly to the previous one. The “Break second blade to balance center of gravity” option does not work. Replacement is required.

Too much dust. A common cause of increased noise. Small debris clog the fins of the radiator and block access to air. As a result, the cooler has to rev up to absorb at least something that will cool the components. At the same time, there is a sharp drop in performance when the video card and processor overheat. Don’t forget to clean your computer.

Most likely, you will need to disassemble your computer / Photo Freepik

A poorly secured cable regularly bumps into the fan blades. This is a carelessness problem in PC assembly. Locate the wire that is touching the fins and remove it by securing it with the cable tie with the other wires.

Insufficient lubrication Insufficient lubrication causes increased noise due to bearing wear. To lubricate the fan, you will need to unscrew it and then remove the sticker on the “back”. The problem is that some models are not suitable for such repairs, because the body is not a rubber part under the sticker. These must be replaced with new ones. If the cooler needs maintenance, remove the rubber lining and pour 1-2 drops of silicone grease (sold at any radio equipment store).

hard drives

The second most common cause of noise in a PC is the HDD. Its mechanical components can be very noisy at 7,200 rpm and above. If there are 2 or more disks in the system, they can resonate and transmit vibrations to the walls of the case. Inexpensive system units with 0.5-0.6 millimeters of metal, rubber inserts and no soundproofing transfer vibrations very well to the floor or other surfaces on which the PC stands.

It is necessary to combat extraneous sounds in the following ways:

Fix the HDD on all 4 screws. This will reduce the vibration of the device during operation.

Use rubber or silicone washers. This simple technique is often used for local vibration damping. You can buy these at any computer electronics store.

Try hanging a “sagging” disk means to use cable or “useful”. It’s not the most reliable option, but it will help until you buy a new safe.

Buy a more reliable safe thick walls, soundproofing and a special tray for the HDD, already equipped with rubber or foam gaskets. Look for a model with a dust filter to further reduce the amount inside.

Programmatically reduce HDD speed, by changing the rotational intensity of the head block (Automatic Acoustic Management, AAM). To do this, use a utility such as QuietHDD. It is worth noting that you will reduce the data read/write speed.

Hard drive is another common cause of computer noise / Photo Freepik

If the hard drive began to crackle more and more often during operation, you will probably have to say goodbye to it. Previously, copy all necessary data to a new drive or cloud, and then do a deep low-level check for “bad” sectors (Smart scan) with MHDD or Victoria utilities. With lots of slow and BAD sectors, the disk won’t help anything.

Optical driver

Modern PCs are often built without CD/DVD drives, as they have lost their relevance in the age of the Internet, flash drives and cloud technologies. Therefore, it is recommended here to turn it off completely by unplugging the power cord.

If this option does not suit you, check if you have forgotten the disk inside that the computer is trying to read. Otherwise, replace the model with a quieter one. They are cheap today.

sloppy collection

One of the not so common causes of noise. Most computers sold are off-the-shelf solutions put together by a shop or manufacturer. The reason for the unpleasant hum of a PC is fasteners, various substrates, insufficient location of parts, cables, etc. Sometimes there may even be foreign objects inside the case.

Software causes

Sometimes the reason may be software you installed knowingly or unknowingly. PC fans start to run more powerfully as the load increases. For example, when you start a game, the video card and its fans are actively activated.

A common problem at this point is viruses. In the golden age of cryptocurrency mining, cybercriminals found many ways to mine Bitcoin through ordinary users’ computers. They offer stealth programs through pirated games and programs and steal your computer’s power. As a result, the processor and video card are loaded at 100%, which threatens the high heat generation and, accordingly, the noise level. In this case, checking the computer with an antivirus or completely reinstalling Windows helps if other methods did not help.

Also, some programs can increase the fan speed to 100% – for example, Speed ​​Fun \u200b\u200band MSI Afterburner.