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computer dorks, help me out :)

post #1 of 11
10/13/09 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 
ever since i installed windows 7 on my desktop, almost everytime i either boot it up, or have it come out of hibernate, a very loud and unpleasant whirring can be heard coming from the cpu. i opened the case and put my ear against it, and it seems to be coming from the video card. the sound goes away after a few minutes. performance-wise i haven't noticed anything; just this loud annoying whirring. so, does this sound like something really important that requires attention or can i just let it be? also, if something were wrong with the videocard's performance, it would be very obvious right? sorry if this is a jumbled mess, i'm about to run out for a bit!
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post #2 of 11
10/13/09 at 7:46pm
Most likely the video cards fan is temperature controlled, the hotter the card gets the faster the fan spins to cool it down. It could be the driver kicking in and running it at 100% for a second before slowing it down again. It would help to know which video card you have and if you are running any overclocking software for it but it's probably nothing to worry about.

My EVGA GTX 295 does the same thing at startup.

edit: never mind, just noticed you said it lasts a few minutes. mine only revs up for a second or so, this could be something else.
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post #3 of 11
10/13/09 at 7:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by keanej6 View Post
ever since i installed windows 7 on my desktop, almost everytime i either boot it up, or have it come out of hibernate, a very loud and unpleasant whirring can be heard coming from the cpu. i opened the case and put my ear against it, and it seems to be coming from the video card. the sound goes away after a few minutes. performance-wise i haven't noticed anything; just this loud annoying whirring. so, does this sound like something really important that requires attention or can i just let it be? also, if something were wrong with the videocard's performance, it would be very obvious right? sorry if this is a jumbled mess, i'm about to run out for a bit!
My suggestion is: buy a can of compressed air and hit all the fans. Sometimes dust can really build up on the fans and make them cause all kinds of odd noises. If the computer was recently kicked or moved sometimes a cable can hit the fans and cause that type of noise as well. I wouldn't worry too much about whirring noises though. If you start hearing a clicking noise... that's another story.
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post #4 of 11
10/13/09 at 8:10pm
You may be hearing electrical noise or the fan revving up to maximum. If you're hearing it while in Windows 7 it's probably its way of handling devices that's causing changes you're not used to. "After a few minutes" would probably mean the fan is revving up, but since it is running cold it shouldn't be doing that...

If it is electrical noise then maybe the coils on your card is whining/vibrating, and is gone because it warmed up.
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post #5 of 11
10/13/09 at 8:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by adrift View Post
My suggestion is: buy a can of compressed air and hit all the fans. Sometimes dust can really build up on the fans and make them cause all kinds of odd noises.
x2. My Radeon 4850 fills with dust about twice a year to the point that I once had it hit the overtemp cutoff (120*C I believe) and it powered the machine off. This is versus the 95-100*C it usually runs at under load. Amazing that it can sustain the boiling point of water and not melt.

You should also look into getting the latest driver for your video card if you haven't already. I recall an older NVidia 7600GT that wouldn't slow down the fan until the driver kicked in.
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post #6 of 11
10/13/09 at 9:27pm
It's definitely a fan in your computer. If you clean it out with canned air and it still does it. You then need a new fan because the barring in the fan is most likely going bad.
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post #7 of 11
10/14/09 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrozenGecko View Post
It's definitely a fan in your computer. If you clean it out with canned air and it still does it. You then need a new fan because the barring in the fan is most likely going bad.
Not necessarily, it could just as well be some software glitch/bug with windows 7 and his graphics card.

My Nvidia 8800gt speeds up to 100% fanspeed for about 2 seconds everytime I boot my computer because it's bios is designed that way.
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post #8 of 11
10/14/09 at 9:39pm
I think some of the gpus get really loud during boot up.
but yeah, I suggest getting some air pressure cans and spray teh dust every few months.
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post #9 of 11
10/14/09 at 10:05pm
If it's only started since you installed Win7, it's quite likely to be a driver problem; you could try finding another.

Assuming you don't have another OS installed you could try running a Linux live CD to see if it happens running that.

Is this a Hewlett Packard?
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post #10 of 11
10/14/09 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
thanks, for the replies! looking back, a few weeks ago i went outside to dust my cpu case but ran out of air to do a good clean and never got back to it.

for what it's worth, my video card is a evga 9500gt and my motherboard is a gigabyte ep45-ds3l.

but yea, it literally lasts for no more than 2 minutes then it goes back to running smooth like butter.
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post #11 of 11
10/14/09 at 10:33pm
Strange, I also have a gigabyte (possibly the exact same model) and it also makes a whirring sound for a few minutes every time it boots. Just assumed it was the case.
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