Question for computer experts - processor is whistling

[LouisEly]

I can hear the processor (or some other working part) on my computer whistling now when it is working occasionally. This has been going on for a couple of months now, but it seems to be getting worse. Does this mean she's ready to blow? Or just replace the processor? (Or just clean the darned thing out - one of the empty drive bays broke so I'm sure there is plenty of dust piling up in it.) I bought a dual-core HP media center PC off of Woot for $300 before Christmas to do some specific media stuff my computer isn't fast enough to handle (conversion of video tape to DVD), and I have been debating whether to sell it. But if this processor is ready to go then I might keep it.

 

It is about 3.5 years old and custom built. Pentium 4 3.2e GHz (the computer guys were really impressed with that 3.5 years ago), unsure of motherboard (cheap probably), dual internal hard drives (main and backup - learned that lesson years ago).

[endaround]

Sure it just isn't a dying fan?

[whizkid]

Most likely a fan or the hard drives, not the processor. I'd open it up and clean it out first. Dust on the fan blades could be throwing it off a tad. If it's still doing it disconnect the fans and hard drives one by one powering off and on in between to see what makes the noise stop. You can run it briefly with the case open without the fans. Power supplies can whistle too when going bad.

[valpocrewsader]

Check the fans first, but my first reaction was a capacitor going bad on the motherboard or in the power supply.

[LouisEly]

It seems to whistle the most when I'm surfing the web and going to a different page or scrolling down the page, thus why I thought it might be the processor or a working part. Don't know if that is coincidental or not. If the helps diagnose the problem let me know. I'll try cleaning out the fans and see if that helps.

[LouisEly]

I tried cleaning out the fans and no improvement. It doesn't whistle much when it is idling, but it whistles a lot when I am on the internet and going to a new page. See Firefox/Paypal thread - I have a feeling these things are interrelated.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

[whizkid]

Most fans are variable speed so will speed up with processor activity though loading a page isn't very intense. If you don't want to try disconnecting things one at a time, you could try opening the case, power up and put an empty paper towel roll to your ear blocking around your ear with your hand and try to isolate where in the case the sound is coming from. Could be a video card fan too if you have one.

[DatHoser]

I would go after the hard drive(s) next. When loading new web pages the browser will cache the pages on your hard drive so going back to one of them is faster. The result is less network traffic, but more work for your hard drive. Newer browsers will also "guess ahead" and try to pre-cache pages in trying to make things faster yet.

[sgtcluels]

Sure it's not the monitor or power supply? I'd turn off the monitor with the PC on and see if it disappears. Also try to isolate the area about where it starts. PCs a pretty big thing, but if you can narrow down the noise to an area we should be able to narrow down the possible problems.

[LouisEly]

I disconnected the fans, monitor, and second hard drive one by one, and it is not any of those. I opened up the case and it sounds like it is coming from somewhere on the motherboard. Not sure how to check the primary hard drive while being able to run the computer; I'm not sure if the installation disk is a boot disk or not, but I'll try. It definitely is related to the issue I have with going to the Paypal website in Firefox - it starts whistling when I go to the page and is waiting for it to respond and stops when the script error message comes up.

 

Valpo - if it is a capacitor on the motherboard, is that something that is easy/cheap to fix or would I have to replace the entire motherboard?