Loud noises coming from PC that seem to go away at random

[DragonEkarus]

It's 6AM, and I'm woken up by a rather loud growl coming from my PC. For the past few weeks now I could have sworn my graphics card fan was dying. So, I turned down the fan even lower than I already had it. While I was waiting for the temperature to stabilize so I could decide if I could go back to sleep or should just shut the beast down the noise stopped. So I turned the fan back up to where it was and nothing seems to have changed. (Aside from the fact I'm sitting here typing this shivering because like an idiot I decided to 'balance' the cooling problem by opening a window.

ANYWAY

What I'm asking is, is there anyway for me to determine what's failing without putting extra stress on the PC? I'm in a bit of a tight spot right now and can't afford a new system and I'm not too keen on freezing either. For that mater, is it even failing, could something just need cleaned? I cleaned it about a month back and it's been in an attic with me, relativity clean where it was. We did just move recently as well but I made sure everything was in it's proper place before I booted up my PC...

It's worth noting the "Growl" wasn't immediately alarming, sounded a bit like my graphics card fan at 100% but... "Angry" and it took me a second to realize it was my PC and not the Heater in the closet

Edit: Roughly thirty minutes have passed since the growl stopped, nothing seems to have gotten better or worse

[zaneyard]

Open it up and listen to where it actually is coming from? As long as it's not the ticking sound of a hard drive failing it's probably nothing. Maybe you can tighten some screws on the fans?

[DragonEkarus]

I'm positive it's the Graphics Card fan at this point, the sound seems to go away on it's own but when it's there (It came back around 7:45 but went away after I turned the fan down) it sounds like a wurring noise. I should mention the fan isn't running high, it's running at 30% when it starts making the noise and I turn it down to 20% (Which is as low as it'll go)

[Kirby]

You mentioned you manually adjusted your fan speed, do you do this often? Have you ever left it at 100% for a long time?

Modern cards mostly do not need help with fan speed adjustments, and you doing so will simply lead to premature bearing failure.

It's probably just the bearing wearing out. Next time you hear it, stick your finger in there (on the CENTER of the fan) and stop it from rotating, does the noise stop?

[DragonEkarus]

Yes I adjust the fan, ATI overdrive. I've never adjusted it over 50% The card is going on four years old

[Kirby]

The bearing is gone then, guarantee it. Do you have the technical wherewithal to remove the fan and drop a little oil into the bearing? That will help prolong it's useful life. My 4890 has a habit of doing the exact same thing, I can solve it in one of two ways: Ignore it, or use overdrive to crank it up to 100% for a bit, it stops then when the balls in the bearing re-center themselves.

[DragonEkarus]

...I can dissemble it safely but that later action sounds.... uhmn like it'll make it break >.=.>

...would having fully disassembled it in the past.. several times... be of any relevance?

[HeK]

Not knowing which card this is, you may be able to get a generic replacement fan from either a computer store, or even a component store like Fry's.

Worst case, just get a fan large enough to glue on the shroud of the old one. This is very ghetto but works and is cheap.

[DragonEkarus]

Not knowing which card this is, you may be able to get a generic replacement fan from either a computer store, or even a component store like Fry's.

Worst case, just get a fan large enough to glue on the shroud of the old one. This is very ghetto but works and is cheap.

...I hadn't even considered replacing just the fan... XD

[k0ala]

http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-VF900-Cu-Co...B000F8T4AY
I have two of these, they're p. awesome

[Kirby]

If you want help nailing down what cooler you need, give me your exact card, it's model and manufacturer.