New computer - ticking sound during gaming

[Smoker25]

My computer is one month old and I've noticed a strange ticking sound which seems to happen only during gaming. I may have heard it a few times when I wasn't gaming but I'm not sure.

It only happens once every 5-10 mins or so. Sometimes it's a little louder and sometimes a little softer.

If I had to guess I'd say it's either the GPU fan or the custom Scythe Katana fan on the CPU but I can't be sure.


What would be the best way to test the computer and narrow it down to a single component?




Thanks for you help!



Here's my rig:

OCZ Fatal1ty 750W
i7 3770k (Scythe Katana 3 fan)
Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
Gainward GTX 680 2GB
16 GB (4x4) G. Skill Ripjaws F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL
WD Caviar Black 2TB
Samsung T240

 

[StrangleHold]

Hard to tell, could be any you said. A fan going out or just has a clicking sound when going to different speeds. A wire maybe touching something. If your cool with taking the side off and see if you can narrow it down.

 

[Smoker25]

Thank you for your reply.

Do you think the sound could indicate a fault in one of the components or since it only happens once every 5-10 mins it could be considered normal?


In other words, am I being paranoid or is there genuine cause for concern?


The computer seems to run fine otherwise.

 

[Darren]

Judging by your username I assume you smoke. I'd advise dusting out your PC very thoroughly. If not, couldn't hurt anyway.

 

[StrangleHold]

If like you said, it only happens every 5 to 10 minutes. Could just be a fan clicking when revving up and down. You could look to just see where its coming from. If not just make sure you look into it if the situation gets worse.

 

[Smoker25]

Judging by your username I assume you smoke. I'd advise dusting out your PC very thoroughly. If not, couldn't hurt anyway.

Actually, I quit four years ago.

If like you said, it only happens every 5 to 10 minutes. Could just be a fan clicking when revving up and down. You could look to just see where its coming from. If not just make sure you look into it if the situation gets worse.

Well, it seems like it's definitely the GPU fan. I've had BD Rebuilder running in the background last night and the CPU fan didn't make a peep even though the CPU usage is constantly at 100% when rebuilding.

I guess it's like you said - the fan clicking when revving up and down during gaming.

 

[tech savvy]

If like you said, it only happens every 5 to 10 minutes. Could just be a fan clicking when revving up and down. You could look to just see where its coming from. If not just make sure you look into it if the situation gets worse.

Something like that happened to me. But actually, I had a wire that was hanging low and when the fan revved up to max it pulled the wire close enough to make contact, which cause the click/ticking.