I suspect it's a fan. Strange thing is, it's not a sound I can easily describe. The best description is, it sounds like some fan is vibrating... not a "whirrrrrr" or "buzzzzzzzzz" or anything like that, and the sound is one you have to really listen for in order to hear -- it's extremely subtle.
The way it sounded, I thought maybe one of the CDs in my CD-ROM drives was lightly, and very quietly, scraping the tray in rotation. That's the best way I can describe the sound. But the drives are empty, so I know it's not them.
It doesn't sound like a "holy shit something's fucking broken!" sound, but is it possible that it's deceptively quiet?
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Anonymous2006-11-20 7:56
A fan might be dying. If you're unlucky, a hard drive might be dying.
Try jamming all the fans and seeing if the sound is gone. Failing that, try unplugging the hard drive(s) and see if the sound is gone. Apart from those and the optical drives, that should be the only mechanical noise your computer generates.. and you're left with the power supply, which often makes stupid buzz sounds.
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Anonymous2006-11-20 9:44
I've got an annoying sound as well :/
I strongly suspect it's one of my fans, but I can see nothing that could generate the noise (except the actual fans, I suppose) and it's impossible to pinpoint the noise.
Jamming the fans, eh? Is there any chance of them being damaged in the process?
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Anonymous2006-11-20 9:48
>>3
Also, it doesn't make the sound all the time, just sometimes. When it does, it goes on for a long while.
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Anonymous2006-11-20 10:13
open the case, unplug the fans, hit the power button
sheesh is that so much trouble?!
>>5
I wonder if they are dumb enough to remove the heatsink fan and let their processor/s heat up to NINE THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSAND!
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Anonymous2006-11-20 13:02
>>7
well if you remove the HSF and power up the system for 5-10 seconds it won't fry the CPU
so you can check if it's the Heatsink's fan that is making the noise
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Anonymous2006-11-20 13:27
>>8
Depends on the processor. Ye olde Athlons used to cook themselves within seconds without the HSF. Newer stuff is designed to survive heatsink stupidity, but I still wouldn't recommend it. You can test the CPU fan for noise just by stopping it with a finger on the hub for a second - that won't harm anything.
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Anonymous2006-11-20 16:13
>>9
true true, i still use an Athlon Thunderbird 1.3 to heat up water for the household
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Anonymous2006-11-20 17:31
>>10
i use mine as a radiator for the room im in ^_^