Saturday my computer started making a new low pitched whine switched off and took the side off, went and got the snow shovel and cleaned the crap out that had accumulated worst was the power ? thingy, lot of wires go into/out of it; All the ventilation holes were completely blocked by crud after power washing the inside closed it up and, my isn't it quiet again
when you do your cleaning-use powerful vac and blow it out. use something like plastic fork to hold blades of the fan(s),while blowing the air on it.. use paint brush. do it outside. if after cleaning noise is still there-most likely it's a dying fan. could be on CPU,PSU or video card. using same fork-try to stop it for a second,to locate this noisy fan. replace. http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=11&name=Fans-Heatsinks
Any ideas what this one is: Sometimes in the winter, when it gets cold (probably down to 50 or so, but definitely not freezing) I turn on my desktop computer and within 1-2 seconds it makes a loud whining sound, loud enough I can hear it in another room. To stop it, I turn the computer off then on again and the noise does not come back. I can't figure out what it is. It only happens when it gets cold; now in summer it never happens.
dunno..i'm no expert,but here is my guess(could be funny one for some hardware guru's)-it's could be related to viscosity of whatever is used to lubricate either fans or HD. the lower temp -the higher viscosity.
I agree... high pitch noise is usually from cooling fans. And there are a few of them. A chassis can have 2. One for blowing air in, one for blowing out. Then another one for the CPU heatsink itself. There can be more. Some big video cards have their own fans. Take off the cover. While the computer is on, use your finger to stop each of the cooling fans and see if the whining noise stops. Then you know which one is the trouble maker. Replace it. If the noice doesn't come from any of the fans, then the next possibility is the spinner hard drive. If it is, start backing up all your files everyday. Sooner or later it will give way. Replace it when you can. Lube the fan axles with some WD-40 may help too.
Go to the BIOS and look for Smart Fan or QFan and set it to "quiet" mode, or at least let it control the chassis fans. You're welcome
zedDoubleNaught He said it just happens in cold weather, which is strange. Check for mice who might climb in there for heat! But more realistically, it might be that the fans are running at a lower RPM in the winter and that can mean they actually make more noise due to the frequency (and due to wear). As you restart the PC after the first attempt, the BIOS checks for temperatures, it sets the "summer" RPM which would result in less noise (in this scenario). Clean the fans of dust (should be done regularly), as it sounds like you haven't done it in a while. If that doesn't help then replace the fans or let someone else do it.
Thank you for all of the suggestions. I wish I had more info to help pin it down. I agree it's weird, it's only my current machine I've ever heard it. I'll try those suggestions when it happens again which will probably be in late Dec. My guess based on the sound is one of the fans, it sounds like it's made from large parts.