What is normal noise for a computer?

[stelly]

So I'm getting my PC back from HP and they've told me it's fine. It seems as though my brother and my friend are right. I must be sensitive to noise but I ask the question...

What is normal noise for a computer? Surely no computer is deadly silent. There must be some noise, right?

[RasterBlaster]

The answer is "it depends". It depends on ...

How cool the environment is.

What kind of fan is installed.

What type of processor is installed.

If you have it inside an enclosed area (such as inside a desk compartment).

What you are doing - such as playing a game.

Generally, fan noise will get louder when the computer gets more hot and quieter when more cool. If you have a really expensive computer with all kinds of bells and whistles - two hard drives, lots of memory and a smoking high-end CPU, then the odds are that the fans are going to be running louder. Many times, the less expensive PCs are actually quieter because they have most of their hardware (sound, video) on the motherboard and there is more room inside the PC and less things inside that get hot.

If you think your PC is still too loud... give this a read:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01857696

[stelly]

Okay.

But what basic noises do you expect from a PC?

The power supply makes some noise continuously, as it's powered on?

And a CPU fan would run mildly in the background as well.

[Big_Dave]

You will hear fans even at idle and they will get louder if you start putting an application execution load (gaming as one example) on the PC.  Be sure your PC gets good air flow and that it is not enclosed in a tight space.  The hot air needs to be evacuated into the room.

You might try putting your PC on a very thin pad to see if you can dampen out more noise.  Check all the doors to see if anything is vibrating.

[RasterBlaster]

Well, I'm around computers all day long - TouchSmarts, Pavilions, AiOs, and they all product fan noises. The hard drives should make "gentle" clicking sounds. Optical drives can get a little noisy when they first spin up - they make a kind of whirring noise until they reach their maximum speed and settle.

Your fans are Case Fans (usually the loudest), the CPU (usually the softest), and the Graphics Card fan (if you have a graphics card).

[sumsolstice]

"Noise" is subjective.

My hearing isn"t good, and I have tinnitis (ringing of the ears) - but a PC with loud fans or loudly chattering hard drives drives me nuts...

What PC model do you have?   The newer ones are much quieter than the ones of 4-5 years ago...

-dm (a long-time HP employee, but the comments/suggestions here are my own, not my employer's)

[stelly]

I have a HPE-150uk. i5 with 6GIG RAM, etc.

I sent it in for repair because I felt it was too noisy. They listed it as a video card fault and they tested it, and it came back fine. But I told them the noise was coming from the top of the tower, maybe near the power supply. I'd imagine if they've had it on and left it over night and examined it, they would have picked up on any unusual noise anyway so I guess I'm all clear to have it back.

 I also have a question for you guys,

At the moment I have my TV on a stand, 32 inch and underneath on the glass stand my Playstation 3, then to the right of the stand I have my desk, and the tower slot is near the left, so it's near the stand near the PS3 and TV, although seperated by wood from them. Do you reckon there's a lot of heat  being generated in this area of my room, perhaps?

[stelly]

HP Repair said it's fine.

Here is a clip of the sound I'm hearing from my computer. If you listen to it when the camera is facing the computer, the noise is fairly quiet. If you listen to it when the camera is zoomed near the computer, it's an annoying sound. It's this annoying sound I'm hearing when I'm leaning forward on my desk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ilnJWp-c7g

[Big_Dave]

stelly,

Your PC sounds quiet per your sound clip.

[sumsolstice]

 Perhaps the video didn't do the noise justice, but I kind of agree with Dave - doesn't sound out of the ordinary.

A couple of suggestions though:

A thought or two

There are about 5 things that can make noise a PC.

1) Optical Drive.  If there's a CD in the optical drive, sometimes they will always spin.   Verify there isn't a CD left in the drive.

2) Chassis Fan. -  You can verify if this is the noisemaker If you can momentarily (and say momentarily) stop the fan by pressing on the center hub (avoid the blades) or by putting something like a plastic pen or pencil in it.

3) CPU Fan - The same thing goes as for the chassis fan - but you have even less time to do your little experiment.

4) Hard Drive - You really easily stop the hard drive without taking down the OS, but touch, hold, the hard drive, sometimes the pitch may change.  Somtimes I've seen folks put a rubber bumper or grommet around the hard drive or its screws to reduce noise.  Sometimes, just removing and reinserting it, or moving the screws a little bit can make a difference.

5) Graphics Card fan. -  You may or may not be able to verify this is the problem, as you likely won't have easy access to the graphics fan to momentarily stop it, but you can eliminate all the other possible contributers in 1-4 above.

Also - sometimes, there can be a hum induced into the amplified speakers - and turning them off,  or moving the wiring a bit can make a difference.

You can also try putting something softer under the PC - so as to not conduct any vibration from the PC to what it's setting on.   I had a (non-HP) mini-PC that I had in an armoire, connected to my TV.  I ended up putting felt stick on pads under its feet (which I got at IKEA) and that made a world of difference.

Hope this helps...

-dm (a long-time HP employee, but the comments/suggestions are my own, not my employer's)