Weird clicking noise from computer - anyone recognize and know how/what to fix? [Video provided][Solved]

[Gorling]

Hello to all tech-savvy people!

After swapping my very dated gen4 i5 (+board/ram) to a new board/ram/gen9 i5 i bought used, the computer sometimes start making this loud clicking noise (video linked)

 

First few times i just shut it off quickly to avoid any damage to critical components but tonight i summoned a bit of courage and let it run for long enough to catch it on video. Doing a controlled shutdown the sound persists after Windows exit, way after monitor has gone black and doesn't stop until the computer is fully shut down (all fans come to a rest etc)

 

Specs:

- Motherboard Asus prime z390-A

- 16gb random ddr4 memory

- Intel core i5-9600k

- PSU EVGA 750 G2

- Corsair Hydro H100i v2 AIO water cooler (240 mm)

- Random SSD Boot drive

- 3 old HDDs of varying age (5+ years)

 

Suspects include

- PSU (less likely because it wasn't tampered with, but maybe caused by increased power draw?)

- AIO (was handled during upgrade)

- Motherboard VRMs (sounds i bit too loud but what do I know)

-> I suspect a relay or maybe the pump but grateful for your input 

 

 

 

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

Unplug the power from the HDDs and see if the noise goes away.

[lol old teck guy]

I had a problem once when a wire/cable was bumping into a fan... but not sure.

 

[Gorling]

On 8/10/2022 at 9:54 PM, Hairless Monkey Boy said:

Unplug the power from the HDDs and see if the noise goes away.

This was a good call. Ran the computer without them for a full day without issues and then another full day with only the oldest drive removed. Curiously the noise didnt return when i put it in an external cab (toaster style). Even managed to get all the data except one file. Maybe vertical mounting puts less stress on the actuator arm?

Poor thing says october 2008 on the sticker. Almost 14 years. This puppy was my main drive back when I was still running Athlon64. What a run. RIP