Is the loud dripping noise coming from my PC?
Is the loud dripping noise coming from my PC?
Sorry if this is a weird question, but I'm trying to figure out if this actually
is
a PC issue or something else.
Last Black Friday I bought my wife a prebuilt Cyberpower PC, so it's not even a year old and hasn't had any other problems so far. It has a Bitspower Infinity 360mm AIO, with the radiator mounted to the top of the case. Earlier tonight we both heard a LOUD dripping sound; our PCs are in the basement, and we heard it upstairs on the first floor. I initially worried it might have been our water heater, or a leaky pipe, but when I got downstairs it sounded like it was coming from around--or possibly inside--the PC. It stopped before we could determine the source, though, and we shined a light inside and didn't notice any liquid or residue on the GPU or elsewhere in the case where it might have dripped. The AIO cables seemed fine. The PSU has a shroud over it and I didn't notice anything pooled on top of that, either.
So basically I'm just trying to figure out if it even IS a PC issue. Could the AIO just be making sounds? Or, bigger worry (and I'm not tech savvy enough to know), could something from the PSU be leaking that might have made that sound? Nothing seemed to be coming out of the back and leaking onto the desk, but I admit I was wary of lifting the shroud up for fear of getting any kind of capacitor fluid or something on my hands. It's a Thermaltake Toughpower PF3 850w, so not a no-name brand.
Anyone have any experience with hearing a sound like this coming from their PC? And if so, what should I do about it?
Thanks!
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
Honestly, a loud leak would go unnoticed on the floor above if I’ve got my understanding right. If you’re trying to determine if your PC or AIO is the culprit, try placing paper towels inside the case near the radiator. You might catch the leak, but as mentioned before, you wouldn’t be able to hear it from upstairs.
It could be another issue in your home, outside, or even with your neighbors.
Thanks for the welcome!
And yes, hearing it from the floor above made me wonder if something in the PC could have made that noise, though I wasn't too sure. It might have been another source, but placing paper towels under the radiator seems like a solid idea! Thanks!
One reason to go air cooling. I’ve seen a board fried due to a leaky aio.
Really? You think a leaking AIO wouldn't produce noise that could be heard across floors? I rather like swapping out a damaged motherboard for a fried one than dealing with those large, noisy air coolers. Over the past eight years I've had four AIOs, and none of them ever stopped working—just a few RGB problems. In fact, my first AIO from 2017 is still functioning perfectly on my Linux machine. One of my colleagues even set up twelve in his computational cluster four years ago, and they've operated non-stop for all those years without a hitch.
In that situation it was a prebuilt that likely used a more affordable aio, so I'll pass that on. I don't mind the tower air coolers personally.