Brand New PC Scratching Noise... Please... Please Help :(

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Number1SuperGuy

New Member
I'm not a computer noob, I've built several computers from scratch, but this latest computer has me going absolutely bonkers. I installed windows and everything else just fine, booted up the StarCraft 2 beta to test my Radeon 5870 (don't bother being jealous just yet...).

As the game went through the various menus I heard a sporadically occurring noise that sounded like either a high pitched scratching or electricity arcing. The occasional noise was a bother, but I went ahead and started up a match to check out the graphics. For the first 5 seconds I was overjoyed with my smooth-as-silk framerate on maxed settings... and then the scratching/electricity sound came back with a vengeance. It wasn't sporadic like before, it was constant and loud. I immediately shut the game off for fear of damaging my computer parts.

I'm about 95% sure the noise came from the video card. I opened the case and listened to it and that's where it was coming from. Also, it only happened while the computer was rendering intense graphics, so it just makes sense.

I sent the video card back for a replacement of the same model and two weeks later I got my new one in the mail. Hooked it up, excited to get started, booted up the game, scratching noise was still there, as bad as ever.

I took my computer to work and let the tech department look at it. They said the scratching was, in fact, coming from the video card. There were also bad sounds coming from my CPU fan and my hard drive. With their confirmation I sent back my video card, my CPU fan, and my hard drive, all for different models in a last-ditch attempt to get the computer working.

Two weeks later my parts arrived, hooked it all up, reinstalled Windows and StarCraft 2. CPU fan noise = gone, hard drive noise = gone, video card scratching noise = STILL THERE, and still as obnoxious-sounding as ever...

That brings us to today. I'm sitting in my office, the tech department has no idea what's wrong with the computer. They're saying they still think the noise is coming from the video card, but they don't know why. I've gone through 3 different 5870s, the latest one being a different manufacturer and model.

If anyone has ANY advice, or insight, or ideas, or ANYTHING at all that could be wrong, I'd be forever grateful... I've been trying to use this expensive computer for a month-and-a-half now. Below are links to all the parts I bought, in the order I tried them:

Initial Purchase
11-119-196-S01

COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
14-161-301-Z01

HIS Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB Video Card
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor
Tuniq Tower 120 Universal CPU Cooler 120mm Cooling Fan
OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
HITACHI 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Foxconn A79A-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
APEVIA 650W SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
LG DVD Burner

Heard Scratching Noise, Returned Video Card for Duplicate
HIS Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB Video Card

Scratching Noise Still There, Returned Lots of Stuff
Powercolor Radeon HD 5870
Seagate 7200rpm 1.5TB HDD
Zalman 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Scratching Noise Still There, What Do I Do?
 
I'd replace that power supply with something better. The Corsair are very nice. I'd get a 750W or 850W if I was you.
 
Thanks for the quick advice guys! I've considered the possibility of the PSU causing problems. I hoped it wasn't the issue because I already mailed off the rebate... Has anyone ever tried returning a part to Newegg after mailing in the rebate? Do you think they'd just subtract the amount of the rebate from my credit or something?

Thanks again, guys :)
 
funkysnair said:
i have no idea, i was not telling you to send it back-just maybe try a friends psu or something!
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I see, unfortunately my friends all have fairly dated computers, so the PSU in my new computer is the most powerful one I know of. I can ask around the office and see if the tech department has one that's more powerful than mine.

Any other ideas are very, very welcome!
 
have you checked with newegg yet? if you can't return it and you can't find any other ones then it seems to might be kind of stuck :rolleyes:
 
its not that the psu is underpowered for your rig, its not!!

its just a cheap unit, and you might have a problem with it

my psu is 700watts and i have alot of fans and water pumps never mind the overclock on my cp-ram and gpu

you pay alot of money for your componants and should be matched with a decent psu!

who is to say that you psu has a fault on the 12volt rail and is starving your gpu it could casue damage

i myself have a second psu as my backup which i have modded so i dont need to plug it into the motherboard, just flick a switch
 
A quick update, I called ATI customer support and talked to them about my problems. Without even mentioning the PSU, the person I spoke to asked the specialists in the office and the general consensus was that the PSU might not be delivering enough amps per 12v rail.

Tomorrow I'm bringing my computer into the office and one of the tech guys is going to hook up the video card to its own dedicated PSU and see if the problem persists. Hopefully we're on the verge of cracking this issue!

Thanks for all the help so far, if anyone has any other ideas in the meantime I'd love to hear them :)
 
sniperchang said:
I'd replace that power supply with something better. The Corsair are very nice. I'd get a 750W or 850W if I was you.
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Yeah, I'd replace it as well, all though you don't need 750W. 650W will be plenty. OCz, Thermaltake, Silverstone, Corsiar are all good brands.
 
Another update, I brought my computer to the office today and the tech guy brought in a very nice power supply. Booted up, no scratching sounds at all! I'm gonna call Newegg today and see if they can RMA the power supply even though I already sent in the mail-in rebate...

If anyone has any experience returning a Newegg purchase without the UPC I'd greatly appreciate any advice for requesting an RMA.
 
funkysnair said:
wow, i got something right :)

there is a newegg representative on the forum, pm him see what his advice is
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Good luck with that. That account was created in 2008. There's new a whooping 6 posts. They seems to be different people as well. Although, maybe the pm will email them (I don't remember if that's an option), so worth a try I guess.
 
what difference does that make? im sure i seen one of the cf mods confirming the account as genuine?

im sure it would be different people, as its been created as a help desk

i hope it is geniune becuase its helpfull and another method of comunication with the sellers of this world

Number1SuperGuy said:
As far as PSU's go, this Corsair one looks to be a pretty safe investment. Do you guys agree?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
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corsairs are very nice psu's, single 12volt rail and offers good power to the rail, tx version is standard while hx is modular

if cable management is a big thing for you get one of the HX range if not the TX750 is good, ive had one myself
 
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funkysnair said:
what difference does that make? im sure i seen one of the cf mods confirming the account as genuine?

im sure it would be different people, as its been created as a help desk

i hope it is geniune becuase its helpfull and another method of comunication with the sellers of this world
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oh, sorry, I wasn't suggesting it wasn't legit, just saying they may or may not respond to a PM, because they only come here on rare occasions.

Well never mind. It's very cool they took the time to register on this forum and help out with newegg related stuff a few times. Best customer service :good:

funkysnair said:
corsairs are very nice psu's, single 12volt rail and offers good power to the rail, tx version is standard while hx is modular

if cable management is a big thing for you get one of the HX range if not the TX750 is good, ive had one myself
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I have the 850 one. Can't complain. :good:
 
sniperchang said:
oh, sorry, I wasn't suggesting it wasn't legit, just saying they may or may not respond to a PM, because they only come here on rare occasions.

Well never mind. It's very cool they took the time to register on this forum and help out with newegg related stuff a few times. Best customer service :good:



I have the 850 one. Can't complain. :good:
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no worries, could do with a few more companys coming in me thinks...
 
Another update, I called Newegg and they said for security reasons, there's nothing they can do without the UPC. I totally understand. They suggested I call Apevia and see what they could do for me.

I called Apevia and attempted to get a refund, but they said they aren't normally supposed to do anything outside of an exchange for a defective product. The representative was nice enough to allow me to upgrade to a more powerful PSU if I pay the difference.

When I called ATI tech support they said that the PSU wasn't delivering enough amps to the video card, and the new one I've picked out, even though it's from Apevia, has nearly twice the amps per 12v rail. In my current situation it's the best I can do, what do you guys think:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148035
 
I guess if your tight on money, that would do for now. Maybe you can save up and get a better PSU later.

Or better yet, buy it, and sell it on ebay or something as a brand new psu and get a better PSU for yourself!
 
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