CPU makes a ticking sound

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como

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I just bought a new laptop and fired the thing up and noticed that the CPU was making a electrical ticking sound. I'm pretty sure it's the CPU seeing as it's located in a corner with an airvent, and the sound seems to come directly from that location. It isn't loud or anything; I use it in my college classes and it isn't bothersome; but in a quite room, it's pretty noticeable. I noticed that when the CPU ticks a cylindrical symbol above the keyboard flashes in synchronization. I looked in the laptop manual for a legend but it didn't have one for the symbol. Is this normal? If not, any idea on how to fix it?

Thanks
 
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Well, the CPU lacks the capacity to 'tick', from a mechanical standpoint. If that noise is coming from that general direction it must therefore be the fan. Or the motherboard beeping. Something may have got lodged in maybe, and the fan blades are fwacking it occasionally?

Try and clear dust out of it. I have no idea if laptops can easily/safely be opened as I haven't ever tried. But its not the CPU itself - as far as the ability to 'tick' is concerned it's just an inanimate lump of metal.
 
Hi Como

I agree with Tomsega that it can't really be anything to do with the CPU's internals, but that light on your keyboard normal indicated activity on your hard drive.

Have you tried running a disc scanner to see whether there are any evident problems with your HDD?
 
Is it more of a high pitched whine (very very high pitched) or a mechanical sound? If its a whine, then try disabling power mangement of all USB hubs and disable speedstep in the BIOS to narrow it down - if that fixes it, you need a BIOS update.

Sounds silly, but an old D400 and my current laptop both needed this.
 
Just a note.

Lots of people actually refer to the main unit of any computer as the 'CPU'.

I've seen tower units of a desktop system refered to as such.

As for what the ticking is, I'd guess that the cylindrical symbol flashing is a definite clue but I'm really not familiar with laptops.

I have fixed a few though and believe me they can be very difficult to take apart and reassemble, to a word of caution there.

The noise could be a relay or on board sounder, but I'm just guessing and haven't a clue what it may mean.

All I can think of is low battery indicator or peripheral unplugged, but I'm clutching at straws.
 
i had this same problem on my desktop a while ago. IT turned out to be the hard drive because apparently a small magnet drives the drive around and if it doesnt stick the drive wheel bit basically bounces off of the drive hence making the clicking sound so it might be worth it bringin in the comp to get it looked at
 
Just had a thought.

Cylindrical symbol? Clicking noise?

That could be a symbol for a hard disk and hard disks click when they're dying.

I hope not, but it may be worth running an inspection facility software on the hard disk.
 
I didn't read the flashing light part, but Floppy is probably right on the mark - as it will be the hard disk light! Is it loud, as it could just be the normal operating sound.
 
como said:
I just bought a new laptop and fired the thing up and noticed that the CPU was making a electrical ticking sound. I'm pretty sure it's the CPU seeing as it's located in a corner with an airvent, and the sound seems to come directly from that location. It isn't loud or anything; I use it in my college classes and it isn't bothersome; but in a quite room, it's pretty noticeable. I noticed that when the CPU ticks a cylindrical symbol above the keyboard flashes in synchronization. I looked in the laptop manual for a legend but it didn't have one for the symbol. Is this normal? If not, any idea on how to fix it?

Thanks
Click to expand...
So what is this Loptop called ?

The 'cylindrical symbol' IS the hard drive indicator light ... you may be about to witness the "HD Click of Death" ... :(
 
Well, I said it was an electronical ticking sound as in it sounds like it's loading something even when left idle. It's basicly the same sound the cpu-area makes when loading up a program or installing something; but only in small, short-lasted "ticks". I do know where the CPU is and that is the area where the sound comes from. As for the cylindrical symbol... it is actually a cylinder, like a soda can, not like a CD. I should have clarified this in my first post. Also, just so you know you aren't dealing with a total computer newb, I know what all the components of a computer are and what they do :)

Thanks for all your replys
 

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Some HDs are rather 'clickity' by nature ... and as you are using a Laptop may be more noticeable to you ... most of us that use a PC AND have 'noisy' HDs do not here them above the sound of all the fans we have ... :D

It just may be a normal sound for your drive ... just make sure you do regular back-ups of your data.


I would still like to know what make & model of Laptop you have. ;)
 
Ok, we're all agreed it's the hard drive working.

Question is, has it always made that that noise or just started?

If it's a recent development, there's a very good chance your hard drive is dying.

In which case it's time to get a new hard drive and if possible clone old drive over.

But you'll need software for that and I don't really know if you can do that with a laptop anyway.

If possible, save all important data to CD/DVD/whatever and be prepared for the worst - a new hard drive and a fresh install.

And btw, I only pointed out the CPU reference to clarify the point. If you understand computer components, why did you say the clicking was coming from the CPU (area). An inanimate lump of silicon and metal does not make clicking noises.

I would assume from your use of the word 'soda' you a USA guy. Nice to see you here :)
 
como said:
Well, I said it was an electronical ticking sound as in it sounds like it's loading something even when left idle. It's basicly the same sound the cpu-area makes when loading up a program or installing something; but only in small, short-lasted "ticks". I do know where the CPU is and that is the area where the sound comes from. As for the cylindrical symbol... it is actually a cylinder, like a soda can, not like a CD. I should have clarified this in my first post. Also, just so you know you aren't dealing with a total computer newb, I know what all the components of a computer are and what they do :)

Thanks for all your replys
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I said an electronical clicking noise in my frist post, as in not a physical one :). It was my fault for not explaining it better, so I quoted myself just to make sure you saw my more detailed description. I'm almost positive it has nothing to do with the hard-drive. It is coming directly from the cpu-area. I am probably just being paranoid, but I just want to make sure nothing is wrong so I can send it back under the warranty period. Once again, it sounds as if it's loading when nothing is happening, and happens every five or so seconds in one-second bursts.

Here is the picture of the cylinder I was speaking of one more time:
 

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Well ya lost me now mate.

I have repaired many many electronic items in my time and I must admit I'd be hard pushed to distinguish between an 'electronic' noise and a 'mechanical' noise coming from within an electronic device (such as a laptop).

There are very few mechanical parts in a laptop. Hard drive; optical drives; floppy drive and maybe a relay or two.

I'm 99% certain the symbol you've outlined represents a hard drive. Perhaps others here may like to give their opinion on that.

So, I'll ask again: Recent development or has the noise always been there.

Only 'clicking' noise I could imagine coming from the computer (other than what I've already mentioned) is if you had a dry solder joint and some high voltage was arcing causing a clicking sound. In which case machine needs to be opened up and solder joints made good.

I do consider that highly unlikely, however.

If I were a gambling man, I'd say it's your hard drive.

Other than that, apart from what I've mentioned, I have not a clue.

Sorry I can't help you.
 
It's a brand new laptop, and I noticed it the first time I turned it on. It makes the same noise it makes when loading a program or a game, but only in one-second bursts. For example, when loading a program, you hear a series of 'ticks' in rapid succession, and after the program finishes loading, it stops. I'd describe it as electricity moving in the CPU. My problem is that it does this when nothing is happening, but instead of a lot of 'ticks', it only does in one or two every five to ten seconds. I said ticking because that's all I can really relate it to I really can't think of any other way I can describe it.

Regardless, I fully appreciate your guys's time.
 
como said:
I'd describe it as electricity moving in the CPU.
Click to expand...

I'd describe it as a hard disk going about it's normal business.

Everything you've described points to a hard disk working.

Unusual for a hard disk to be so noisy but some are.

I'd also like to know make and model number of laptop, I'm thinking it may have been built to a budget.

In short though, I'd say you probably have nothing to worry about. I say that having considered all the facts given.
 
Well IMO, the way you described it, i would say it does sound like the hard drive, and that pic you showed looks just like the HDD activity indicator.
 
como said:
It's a brand new laptop, and I noticed it the first time I turned it on. It makes the same noise it makes when loading a program or a game, but only in one-second bursts. For example, when loading a program, you hear a series of 'ticks' in rapid succession, and after the program finishes loading, it stops. I'd describe it as electricity moving in the CPU. My problem is that it does this when nothing is happening, but instead of a lot of 'ticks', it only does in one or two every five to ten seconds. I said ticking because that's all I can really relate it to I really can't think of any other way I can describe it.

Regardless, I fully appreciate your guys's time.
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You have, what we call, a noisy hard drive ... but to be on the safe side, keep your data backed up.

:thumb:
 
Como,

I noticed your comment about disc activity even when you aren't loading programs.

As we all know, Windows runs all manner of background processes independent of user requests, but it might be worth checking to see if there are any unrequired apps trundling away such as:

Disc Scanners
Continual Process AV Tools
Indexing Service
Defragmentation Tools

and several more which don't spring to mind at the moment!

Good luck!
 
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