Noise when switching on PC at back of case

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Smg0123

Active member
Have had Pc for a year and half and only recently noticed that when switching it on at the back it makes a pop noise.

It started around a few weeks ago and it only seems to happen if left off for over a day or a couple of days. The PC works fine otherwise. Checking online it says it could be a blown capacitor, so just wondering if it’s something to worry about or leave off incase of further damage.

The PC works fine otherwise. Have switched cables and mains supply and it hasn’t helped.


1st video is the noise described, 2nd is how it usually is.

Specs

Case CORSAIR iCUE 5000T RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® CoreTM i7 16-Core Processor i7-13700K (3.4GHz) 36MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO WIFI (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) -

ARGB Ready

Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card 24GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4090 - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive 512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR,

1625MB/sW)

2nd M.2 SSD Drive 2TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R,

6900MB/W)

1st Storage Drive 4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB

CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 1200W HX SERIESTM MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM, ULTRA

QUIET

Power Cable 1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance

CPU Cooler

Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I'm not an expert on power supplies or indeed electronics of any kind, but this seems like the noise a relay makes when power is turned on.

Do you turn your power supply off every time you turn the computer off?! That's very thorough if so!
 
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Smg0123

Active member
Ah thank you, any reason why it is louder when the PC is off for a day or few days?

Yeah I do unless I plan on using it later in same day. Though I think I’m going to stop doing that since I had read that it’s not advised
 
SimonPeters116

SimonPeters116

Well-known member
I switch mine off at the back, when I won't be home all week (I live on my own).
If I'll only be away a couple of days, I just switch it off through Shut Down.

I used to use an Intelli-panel. That is a multi socket, with surge protection, which has a power draw measuring device of some sort on a master socket. I plugged my computer into this master socket, peripherals like speakers, printer, etc into the others. When I Shut Down my computer, the master socket would then shut down everything. It must have a 'standby' into the master socket, because all I had to do was switch the computer on. Everything then came back to life. No standby, how would it know my computer was back on?
It also had surge protection sockets for your broadband and phone line (cabled broadband?).
It wouldn't work with my new computer, possibly because of the slightly higher power draw from the RGB(?), some of which stays on after Shut Down.
 
SimonPeters116

SimonPeters116

Well-known member
SpyderTracks said:
You can turn that off in the BIOS settings.
Click to expand...
OK, thanks. I never thought of that 🙄
I still think of BIOS being major set-up stuff only. Once everything is set-up, leave it alone.
RGB is, to me, minor decorative stuff, so controlled by an app 😀
I couldn't find how to switch it all off in the app, iCue, so just accepted that this RGB stays on.
Every day is a learning day 🙂

Smg0123 said:
Ah thank you, any reason why it is louder when the PC is off for a day or few days?
Click to expand...

I know that capacitors hold a charge for a time, which is why you always earth your computer frame and you before going inside. Anti-static component safety, and a static charge going through you finger isn't nice either. But they aren't 'batteries', they discharge over a couple of days. So it makes sense (to me) that the louder 'pop' is because the capacitors are taking a larger charge, instantly. Which could well be the reason why turning it off at the back isn't advised.
But I'm a truck driver, and not 100% certain on this kind of thing. So take what makes sense to me with a large degree of caution 🙂
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Smg0123 said:
Ah thank you, any reason why it is louder when the PC is off for a day or few days?

Yeah I do unless I plan on using it later in same day. Though I think I’m going to stop doing that since I had read that it’s not advised
Click to expand...
That’s quite a big clunk, to me that sounds like a protection circuit kicking in or something.

The PSU is quite a serious piece of kit, theyre extremely well protected these days and especially with Corsair quality even if there was an issue of some kind the system and you would be protected.

But I would run this video past PCS just to be on the safe side, the weight of the sound just doesn’t seem right to me.
 
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Smg0123

Active member
SpyderTracks said:
That’s quite a big clunk, to me that sounds like a protection circuit kicking in or something.

The PSU is quite a serious piece of kit, theyre extremely well protected these days and especially with Corsair quality even if there was an issue of some kind the system and you would be protected.

But I would run this video past PCS just to be on the safe side, the weight of the sound just doesn’t seem right to me.
Click to expand...
Yeah when it first happened the noise stood out. I’ve sent them the video too, hopefully it’s clear enough for them. In person, it seems louder like more of a ‘pop.’

That’s good lol because was worried incase it started a fire or damaged the other components.

Thank yous both for the help
 
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Smg0123

Active member
Sent it back. They said it passed tests and not to use power switch at back repeatedly/

Last few days I have just shut down through windows and left switch at back on. Everything seemed fine, it just made that noise when i first flippped switch on. Then today it took 3 presses of power button for it to start up. The fans would briefly spin then it would remain powered down. Is it worth saying to them again or is this normal. Never noticed it before
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
The switch at the back is not designed to be turned on an off repeatedly, it's not a conventional on/off switch, it's an isolation switch designed to be used on those rare occasions when all power to the PC must be removed. TBH I don't know why people shutdown a PC at all, I never have since Windows XP. The power drain of an idle PC is miniscule, and if saving that money is important then you probably shouldn't have a PC at all. Leave it running.
 
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Smg0123

Active member
Would overheating or wear be an issue though?
Also is sleep mode any better to use or just keep it running?
the above happened when the power switch on top of the case was used
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Smg0123 said:
Would overheating or wear be an issue though?
Also is sleep mode any better to use or just keep it running?
the above happened when the power switch on top of the case was used
Click to expand...
When it's off, it's not powered, so there is no wear.

Sleep mode or hibernation should be turned off on a desktop
 
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Smg0123

Active member
Oh I meant would overheating/wear be an issue if it left on all of the time?
So leave it on and don’t use sleep mode or shut down
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Smg0123 said:
Oh I meant would overheating/wear be an issue if it left on all of the time?
So leave it on and don’t use sleep mode or shut down
Click to expand...
No, systems are designed to be left on. You actually get more wear and tear from the power on process than you do from leaving it on.

Each time you power on, circuitry is cold, gets an instant surge of power which massively raises temps. any time you’re going hot to cold is where wear happens.

You should disable hibernation on any desktop pc, that will in turn disable sleep, hibernation and fast boot were designed for when systems ran on old HDDs that took minutes to boot. It’s redundant these days and there are a host of known bugs that go along with it so it’s always better to disable it.

Open cmd as admin and type:

powercfg.exe /hibernate off
 
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Smg0123

Active member
Oh ok no that’s all already disabled by default, was just wondering if it would have been healthier for it than shutting off.

Sorry last question, would a surge protector be ok for it or does it need plugged into mains. I currently have it on this on its own
 

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Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Smg0123 said:
Oh ok no that’s all already disabled by default, was just wondering if it would have been healthier for it than shutting off.

Sorry last question, would a surge protector be ok for it or does it need plugged into mains. I currently have it on this on its own
Click to expand...
You should always have a surge protector, in fact if I remember correctly it's one of the stipulations in the warranty
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
it should be connected to a surge protector / surge-protected multi-gang anyway.

But if you're buying one, can I recommend you got for a brand that's actually known, rather than one from an unknown brand that changes its name every week to avoid bad reviews, made for selling tat on AliXpress & Amazon.

Belkin is a respected brand (amongst others)...

APC are good too, but usually more expensive (they tend to be heavier duty)...
(removed original link as I've just realised it's a US-spec 110V model)

Alternatives are a UK surge-protected 6-gang+USB

...or a low-power APC UPS with surge protection...

I have a Belkin one for my gaming PC & peripherals, 1 unbranded one supplied by work for my work PC & peripherals, and another Belkin one 1 for my Mac & peripherals...all connected to individual wall sockets. Mine do get turned off at the wall when they're not in use, as it can be days between uses...and if I turn everything on at the same time I will trip the domestic unit downstairs :rolleyes:
IMG_6792.jpg
 
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Smg0123

Active member
Yeah is there one you would recommend that is available in UK and would be suitable for the PC?
I’ve heard people recommend APC but don’t think they deliver here
 
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Smg0123

Active member
Thanks, yeah I’ll order the belkin one, can’t get the APC one delivered here unfortunately.
I just chose that one above because it had a higher joule rating incase that helped. Had one before included with the PC
 
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