Halp, halp, my computer thinks it's a kettle

[Dhavaer]

Or at least it's whistling like one. I got a new PC yesterday as my previous one died a few weeks ago. It's performing excellently except that it makes a high pitched whistling noise almost constantly when it's turned on. I find it easy enough to ignore but it annoys the hell out of everyone else, so I thought I'd ask for help before someone tries taking to my lovely new 'puter with a sledgehammer.
I suspect it's the hard drive, but that's only based on the noise giving me the vague impression of something spinning extremely fast, and the only other spinning thing I can think of would be a disc, and the noise occurs even when the drive is open or empty.
Can anyone advise as to likely causes and/or a way to fix?

Specs are:

Motherboard: AMD Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3
CPU: AMD Phenom II Quad Core 965 3.4 Ghz
Memory: 8GB DDR3-1600
Hard Drive: WD SATA3 2TB 64MB Black WD2001FASS
Power Supply: 1000W Antec "Quattro 1000"
Drive: LG 22X DVD-RW SATA
GPU: Sapphire HD6990 4GB GDDR5
Case: Antec Dark Fleet DF-85

[nosignal]

Best bet would be to open the case and take a look inside. It might be the processor heat sink fan. Stock AMD fans are known to get pretty loud.

[Brother Oni]

I agree with nosignal in that's probably the CPU fan.

Easiest way to check is to start the computer up and get into the BIOS. If you can hear the sound then, it's either a case fan or your CPU fan as no discs (hard drive or removable media) should be spinning.

Check whether the fans are loose and either fix or replace as required (sometimes they're a bit off their spindle or just touching against the casing and a simple push fixes it).

Other suggestions would be to enable Cool n' Quiet and/or install a better cooling solution (either a pair of case fans on the front and back of your machine, heatsinks on your RAM chips, better CPU fan or go for liquid cooling if you're feeling adventurous).

If you do go for more case fans, try and go for the largest ones possible as they shift the equivalent air as smaller fans, at lower RPMs thus are quieter.

[factotum]

You can check if it IS the processor fan by running something like Speedfan to see how fast it's spinning--if it's over 3500rpm then you're into "uncomfortably shrill" territory.

[MrPig]

Likely a fan. My old AMD did the same, but it was the PSU fan and not the CPU fan.

[Dhavaer]

Okay, I've downloaded Speedfan and apparently out of eight fans, there is one spinning between 1300 and 1400 rpm. I can actually hear that fan, and it's making a normal fan noise. Would that indicate it's not a fan, or am I missing something in Sppedfan?

[Domochevsky]

No, it just means that one of your fans isn't fully weighted. You'll need to unplug most/all fans and then test one by one which one is making the noise.

(But make sure to turn your computer fully off between all steps. >_> )

There's also the more risky method of pressing down on the center of the fan while it runs to halt it, to see which one makes the sound (and potentially to fix it for a while.), but do that at your own risk or (better) not at all.

[Brother Oni]

Domochevsky has some excellent advice, but with one important caveat - do not unplug your CPU fan!

Additionally, you won't be able to disable your PSU fan without switching it out, so those two are the minimum you'll have to put up with.

However 8 fans? Your machine must sound like a vaccum cleaner - try tidying up some of the cables to enable better airflow (plastic cable ties or cable sheathes are excellent for this) and maybe you can get away with fewer fans.

[KillianHawkeye]

Another thing I've experienced in my own computer is maybe there's a cable or wire brushing up against a fan, causing the fan to repeatedly hit the offending object at a high velocity.

[Dhavaer]

Being an impatient idiot, I did things the stupid way and poked the fans. (Turns out there's actually nine, I'm guessing Speedfan missed the one built into the video card.) None of the ones I could reach were making it, and the other three were in the wrong area of the computer (lower front rather than upper back).
I also can't get away with less fans, not because my computer is so hot but because they're built in: 7 in the case, 1 in the CPU, 1 in the video card. The case is quite free of dangling cables and similar.

[Domochevsky]

Well, the casing fans at least should be easily unplugable (After you've turned the whole thing off.)

Also, "upper back", as in "PSU"? That might be a problem you can't fix.

[factotum]

Yes, I'm guessing you weren't able to poke the PSU fan to stop it...and that's assuming it's the fan; it could be one of the big capacitors in there getting ready to blow in a big way. Frankly, if you've pretty much narrowed the problem down to the PSU you need to replace it NOW! All the other parts in your machine are attached to that little magic box, and if it decides to go pop there's a chance it could take something really expensive with it. Best to spend the money now rather than have to spend a lot more later.

[nosignal]

Well, the casing fans at least should be easily unplugable (After you've turned the whole thing off.)

Also, "upper back", as in "PSU"? That might be a problem you can't fix.

Nah, most cases nowadays have the PSU mounted in the "lower back" area. Look at the first shot (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-Dark-Fleet-DF-85-Case-Review/1033).

Also, if I'm reading the posts right, the noise is coming from the upper back region? Still sounds like the heat sink fan to me.

The review says that most, if not all, of the case fans come with controllers mounted on the case, so you can dial them down to isolate the noise if necessary.

[HerbieRAI]

If it's the PSU I'd change it out as soon as you can. I had a similar problem when my computer was shut off. To mitigate the problem I unpluged the power cable when I wasn't using it, but it still took out the motherboard when it finially died. That was a fun day. It wasn't a huge loss, my comp was already 3 years old (and cheap one when I bought it) when it started.

[OracleofWuffing]

If you can't pin it down to a fan, it might be electrical interference from nearby electronics? Microwave or television nearby? Have you tried setting up your computer in a different area?

It's also not unheard of for electrical components themselves to generate a whine (not something I know a whole lot of myself, just that I have a computer that does it, too)... Just a quick Google search shows people complaining about your processor, the processor's stock fan, and your power supply doing this, but those are all reviews and should be taken with a grain of salt, those might not be correct. I swear the next time I read a review where some "Expert" complains about how a TB hard drive doesn't have an actual TB capacity I'm going to scream...

[factotum]

Nah, most cases nowadays have the PSU mounted in the "lower back" area. Look at the first shot (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-Dark-Fleet-DF-85-Case-Review/1033).

Only high end, quite posh cases put the PSU there...mine still has the PSU at the top back, and I don't think it's particularly unusual in that respect.

[Jothki]

How and where did you buy it? It being that new, you can probably just whine to the manufacturer and they'll send someone to fix it.

[Dhavaer]

I bought the components and had them assembled at a stone alone store; not the kind of place that can send out a repairman, unfortunately. Happily, the problem seems to be fixing itself; the whining has been getting less and less frequent. I'm pretty certain it's not the power supply; as mentioned it's in the wrong area of the case.