Weird cricket like noise coming from my tower

[Khazion]

The noise started 2 days ago, I was playing the Witcher 3, a demanding game, when suddenly the computer starter making a sound like a cricket. It's the best way I can describe the sound. When I'm watching Netflix or just browsing the noise is not there, everything is good. But when I fire up the game, maybe 5 or 10 minutes in the noise starts, every time. I've powered off the pc, opened it, cleaned it from dust, checked all the fans to make sure no cables were touching it and after firing up the game again the noise was still there.

 

Here are the PC specs,

Asus Hero VIII motherboard
Intel Core i7-6700k
Dual GTX 980TI Hybrids
32 GB of G.Skill RAM
NVME 512GB Samsung SSD
3TB HHD
Kraken x61 280mm water cooler
SeaSonic X Series 850W
and a total of 7 case fans

 

Here is a picture of the build.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7g_2MkT2hKsYWtZMzRhMHgwZVZyclc4TzBWWUU2SE9lVl9R/view?usp=sharing

 

Here is the sound:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7g_2MkT2hKsbEVBWEZqWHFsV2dlSmZ3Ni1oVC1zQ3BDYk93/view?usp=sharing

 

I have no idea what it could be, it doesn't sound like a fan issue to me, but I'm not sure.

Any ideas on what it could be? Any help could be greatly appreciated

 

Thank you.

 

[ShepBook]

That's new! I've not heard that sound before. Any chance you can get your ear close to the PSU and listen for it there? The Seasonic PSU might be doing something under load. I've heard coil whine before, but not like this. (Normally it's pretty constant.) With it only appearing under load, I'd lean toward PSU.

[Monte_Carlo]

Sounds like a fan to me.  I'd say try stopping each fan individually to see if you can't track the noise down.  Hopefully nothing too expensive. 

[Khazion]

I opened up the case and fired up the game and the noise started coming up again. I put my ear close to the PSU, the top radiator and the two small ones and I couldn't hear it any clearer, I could actually hear it less with all the fans. If I stayed right in the middle of the case I could  hear it the best, if I got close to either side to try and narrow down the source I would hear it less. I think is because the fan noise starts to down the noise when I get close (there's fans everywhere). I thought it maybe was something inside the water tubes, so I tried moving them up and down but nothing really changed. The noise was recorded from the front of the case with all the panels closed.

[Khazion]

1 minute ago, Monte_Carlo said:

Sounds like a fan to me.  I'd say try stopping each fan individually to see if you can't track the noise down.  Hopefully nothing too expensive. 

I haven't tried that. Let me do that and I'll come back with the results.

[AshleyAshes]

Open the case and one by one use your fingers to stop any fans by pressing against their hubs and see if the sound stop.  ...Obviously DON'T stop any fan for more than a few seconds.

 

But yeah, I agree, it's at a regular interval, so I'd guess it's a fan, maybe it only makes that specific vibration when said fan ramps up to a specific speed.

[Khazion]

So I opened the case and disconnected all the non-essential fans. The only fans working now are the CPU water cooler and the 2 GPU water coolers. The noise is still there, but the frequency changed.

 

Here it is, hopefully you can still hear it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7g_2MkT2hKsRDZGQThGZ1JpVUtaYkw2TzNNa3dzc3pkRzFV/view?usp=sharing

 

Any ideas as to way the frequency changed?

[PhuchxpH]

I'm getting the EXACT sound you're getting from a fan. When I powered down my system, I could hear it slow down with the fans. It just started today = [

Guess it's time to buy after market fans =/

[Khazion]

Hey,

 

Are you using the same water cooler, the NZXT kraken x61? And are you using their monitoring software, CAM?

 

 

[Scheer]

On 1/14/2017 at 0:36 PM, Khazion said:

Any ideas as to way the frequency changed?

Less fans plugged in means the computer is hotter, so the remaining fans need to spin faster to compensate. Basically you've narrowed it down to be one of those three fans, unplug those and plug everything else back in. If the noise went away just plug them in one at a time til it returns and you've found the issue.

 

It could very likely be the water pump too, I've had terrible luck with AIOs.

 

Components will thermal throttle if they don't have a fan on them, its highly unlikely to kill the component, especially if only for a few minutes. I had the CPU pump fail on a PC out in a shop that I only remoted into and for about a month I didn't bother to figure out why it was so slow... CPU was pegged at 90 degrees, for several weeks, still works fine.

[Khazion]

I figured out what was causing the noise. It was the CAM software I use to monitor the system temps. I simply stopped using the software and the noise stopped completely. If you are experiencing the same and you are using the CAM software, try turning it off.

 

Hope this helps.