PC problems

mca · « **on:** 21 Sep 2007, 03:32 pm »

My computer has recently started making a high pitch buzz. If I give the side of it a whack, it will stop for a few seconds and then come back. After doing some research, it sounds like it may be the power supply. Anyone ever have this problem and is that what it turned out to be?

The computer is getting a bit old (2.8ghz Pentium 4 w/512mb ram) I am starting to wonder if I should play around with fixing it or use this as an excuse to get a new computer. A few things that have me concerned are switching to Windows Vista. I hate having to re-learn stuff and I have also heard about problems with Vista working with Slimserver. The other is the general quality of new computers. Models I have looked at from Dell and Gateway and the like seem so cheap now a days.

mcullinan · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 03:35 pm »

Im not sure about the buzzing, but being a Mac guy and using slimserver, I can say it runs great.. And Macs are fairly reliable and well built (knocks on wood). Though you might have to learn OSX, but its pretty intuitive.
Mike

bpape · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 03:42 pm »

www.mwave.com

They'll put together a custom system for you and will also still sell/install Windows XP Home or Pro.

It may well be the power supply fan that's causing the issue. If you dont' want to spend a lot of money, you could replace just the power supply.

Bryan

Thump553 · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Sep 2007, 04:30 pm »

As a fellow user of old computers, it's been my experience that power supplies (even good, brand name ones) do have an alarming tendency to crap out after a few years and especially the fans in them. Is the fan turning? If not, and IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, it's easy to open the power supply and replace the fan (probably $1 repair). If you don't know what you are doing, stay out of opening the power supply (there are things in there that retain a powerful electrical zap long after the box is unplugged) and just replace the power supply-maybe a $30-70 DIY repair and pretty easy to do.

If you box is just used for slimserver and browsing, it's probably OK-but it is very long in the tooth. This is a perfectly justifiable reason to buy a new box-you have skipped quite a few generations there. You may want to hold out until the post-Thanksgiving sales-if you are willing to stand in line in the predawn hours you can get some great deals. I got my daughter a very nice $400 laptop last year that way.

jqp · « **Reply #4 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 03:12 am »

Sounds like the power supply fan, since you can make it go away like that.

CompUSA has a good deal , probably would be a good move

Cooler Master eXtreme Power 500 Watt Power Supply Unit

RP-500-PCAR

$45, $25 after rebate

Levi · « **Reply #5 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 04:13 am »

In my experience, power supply fan rarely makes noises. Power supply fans simply seize without any warning. Although, anything that moves can be the culprit. I would check the chassis fan, processor fan or HDD fan if you have one of those removable HDD racks.

pm314 · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 12:03 pm »

My pc had a high pitch buzzing sound and it did end of being the power supply. Mine was easy to tell because the sound could still be heard when the PC was first powered down but if I switched off the power supply (or unplugged) it would stop completely. I'm sure this depends on what type of ps it is but you may want to give that a try.

This pc's specs are the same as yours (2.8ghz, 512mb); I am now running Vista on it and havent had any problems (although Vista rates my "Vista experience" at 3 out of 10). Slimserver is running on this PC but it is only to stream a local FM station from a stereo (wave input plugin). My main Slimserver is running on a xp box.

It depends on what you are using this pc for but I would just stick with it and try to fix the problem. Not many applications require the latest and greatest in PCs.

Turnandcough · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Sep 2007, 01:41 pm »

Quote from: Levi on 22 Sep 2007, 04:13 am

In my experience, power supply fan rarely makes noises. Power supply fans simply seize without any warning. Although, anything that moves can be the culprit. I would check the chassis fan, processor fan or HDD fan if you have one of those removable HDD racks.

X2
Also - If your PS was dying your computer would probably start freezing up, rebooting, etc

Imperial · « **Reply #8 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 11:40 am »

I lost two of my computers 5 days ago!
But now I'm out of trouble I hope!
I just received my new Asus F5R laptop. (2 .0 GhZ Core Duo, 2GB ram, X1100 ATI, 160GB HD ..)
It has windows vista, so I could not get it to log on to the internett the first hour!
Then I figured it out!

WOHO!!!

Imperial

Double Ugly · « **Reply #9 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 11:47 am »

Welcome back, Imperial!

(Pssst... should've gotten a Mac!

)

Levi · « **Reply #10 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 02:28 pm »

They are great for internet browsing. That's all I can think of

Bua ha ha ha ha

Quote from: Double Ugly on 26 Sep 2007, 11:47 am

Welcome back, Imperial!

(Pssst... should've gotten a Mac! )

Double Ugly · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 02:54 pm »

Quote from: Levi on 26 Sep 2007, 02:28 pm

They are great for internet browsing. That's all I can think of

Bua ha ha ha ha

Quote from: Double Ugly on 26 Sep 2007, 11:47 am
Welcome back, Imperial!

(Pssst... should've gotten a Mac! )

Having trouble thinking today, Levi?

Levi · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 02:56 pm »

Bua ha ha ha ha

Imperial · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 Sep 2007, 09:36 pm »

Quote from: Levi on 26 Sep 2007, 02:28 pm

They are great for internet browsing. That's all I can think of

Bua ha ha ha ha

Quote from: Double Ugly on 26 Sep 2007, 11:47 am
Welcome back, Imperial!

(Pssst... should've gotten a Mac! )

Yeah, that was the plan!( a Macbook) But I blew both my other computers! And I just bought a Merc...

A 1992 W124 Diesel! Slow as ick... but dependable unlike ick as well!

So the cheaper option was a Bill Gates rubber ducky! (Hey, this Asus F5R is a fast laptop!

Yeah...

Well, now the old HD's have to wait a while until I can build a new machine...
I just blew my budget for that...

Imperial

jqp · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Sep 2007, 05:32 am »

I was working on my PC today and cleaned some dust off of the case fan.

When I did a test power up, the fan was buzzing against the surround.

These new quiet case fans are "floating" I believe and can get off-center or out of correct position on the axis. I was able to gently pull the fan out on its axis and the buzzing had stopped whan I powered up. So in a case like this you may be able to manipulate the fan to get it into the correct alignment.

Imperial · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Oct 2007, 04:50 pm »

Currently testing the Asus F5R internal sound card /codecs...
Bah! Not much more to say that it is not great..

Yikes! Well... to be expected from a realtek chip...

Imperial

Levi · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Oct 2007, 05:55 pm »

Yeah, not much to expect from Realtek.

Although you can buy a Gigigram pci sound card that will cost you over $2,700.00!

Then we look back and say huh, Realtek is good for it's intended purpose.

Sometimes, you get what you paid for.

Imperial · « **Reply #17 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 11:28 am »

Well, I let my Asus F5R play for 24h now, and it is pretty much transformed!
Now the internal sound is much much better!
I'd say it has some 4-5 db or thereabout better S/N than my old computers internal dac.
It is simply better, not so bad after all!
Hm... better indeed! Mind you this is a relative term...

But.. this ain't half bad at all!

I' say it sounds like a ... well like a denon low price cd player, a little less punch, but better resolution.
Less depth to the stage, but better trailing egde on decays..
You can hear that it is a less powerfull circuit..

Hm.. It'll do on travels I guess.

Imperial

mca · « **Reply #18 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 03:39 pm »

To update, I replaced the power supply and while I was in there also added another stick of memory. All is working well and the computer is now nice and quiet.

Thump553 · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 04:12 pm »

Ironically, I powered down one of my computers this weekend and nothing would happen when I tried to restart it, just the power light flickering a little. Its a HP Presario, about three years old and has been on 24/7 ever since it fell into my hands six months ago (hand me down from one of my children). Thinking of this thread, and having a spare new power supply around, I swapped it out (after doing the obvious easy stuff first) and that was the problem. For some reason the old power supply gave no indications at all before it failed, which seemed odd to me.