Weird(?) sound from PC

Rodark · October 7, 2020

I keep hearing a sound from my pc. i cant really record it cause a) its at random times and b) it lasts for 2-3 secs

It sounds like an older car backing up. reversing. no a a new one, with the beeps, think of an older generation car, like a video game car sound maybe. it start with a low pitch and it gets a little higher in the end. again, its only a few secs. havent noticed anything bad in my pcs performance.

i thinking its from the drives perhaps?

my nvme, i dont think it makes sounds. my 4tb hdd is brand new, but my 1tb smaller hdd, is from an older laptop. could that be making that noise? its the drive i use the least, maybe it resets its needle or something XD? now that im thinking it, my external 3.5 hdd can make a sound like that when you start it. a sound like its booting up you know? Maybe the sound is like from when the drive goes from idle to used? although again, it comes at random times.

Sorry if the question is stupid, its kinda a new build and im curious. Im i paranoid or is this normal?

GhostRoadieBL · October 7, 2020

it's probably your 1tb drive seeking or shuffling files around/updating the file structure log but it's very possible the bearing is starting to die or one of your other spinning drives could be starting to degrade.

it's 99% chance the drive just being poked by the system saying "hey you still connected? yep good" if you start to hear a constant squeal or clicking then you'll want to backup your data asap if you aren't already doing it regularly.

Rodark · October 8, 2020

10 hours ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

it's probably your 1tb drive seeking or shuffling files around/updating the file structure log but it's very possible the bearing is starting to die or one of your other spinning drives could be starting to degrade.

it's 99% chance the drive just being poked by the system saying "hey you still connected? yep good" if you start to hear a constant squeal or clicking then you'll want to backup your data asap if you aren't already doing it regularly.

yeah it makes sense it being a hey are you there sound. although shouldnt both hdds then making a sound?

GhostRoadieBL · October 8, 2020

Depending on the size of the drive the frequency can be different, smaller drives are usually louder and newer drives have done alot to silence the old clacking in ide days so it makes sense for just one drive if it's both older and smaller.

Rodark · October 8, 2020

13 minutes ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

Depending on the size of the drive the frequency can be different, smaller drives are usually louder and newer drives have done alot to silence the old clacking in ide days so it makes sense for just one drive if it's both older and smaller.

ah i see! yeah the new one is 4tb 5400 rpm and is the classic size of an hdd. the one that theoretically makes the sound is 1tb 7200rpm and has a smaller size since it comes from a 6+ year old laptop.

in the end of the day it seems i was worried for nothing. thanks mate