After an upgrade, a gamer hears disturbing noises in his gaming PC. His suspicion immediately falls on the new hardware. The cause turns out to be a little carelessness.
Upgrading your gaming PC’s hardware is usually a positive thing. In anticipation of better performance and more FPS in games such as Escape from Tarkov, the graphics card and other components are replaced quickly.
But even if the workload is manageable, you should proceed with care. In the case of a gamer who wanted to swap out the graphics card and power supply for more powerful variants, this could have avoided unnecessary hassle when upgrading.
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Negligent behavior when upgrading graphics cards causes moments of shock
What kind of upgrade did the player perform? Reddit user ThickMemory2360 has given his gaming PC new hardware. During the upgrade, he replaced the original graphics card with an Nvidia RTX 4070TI and the old power supply with a model from be quiet! replaced with 1000 watts.
After the gamer replaced the old parts with the new hardware, he booted the system back up. Immediately after starting, he heard an unfamiliar noise that seemed to come from the gaming PC. He suspected a fan problem with the graphics card or the power supply.
A video showing the cause of the error on Reddit
Where does the noise come from? Fortunately, his initial suspicions were not confirmed. The clacking sound did not come from a fan on the two new components. When searching for the cause, ThickMemory2360 finally found the culprit in the front area of the PC case.
The new power supply was installed in the front of the case with a short distance to the fans. A power cable from the power supply touched the fins of the bottom fan and caused the audible clicking noise during operation. The problem could be solved in just a few simple steps.
No experience in troubleshooting and community feedback
How could the problem have been avoided? Since it remains unclear what type of case the player has, it cannot be said whether the power supply could have been installed in a different position. This would have provided more space between the power supply and the fans in the front.
It would be even better to carefully store the power supply cables in the housing after they have been installed so that the cables are not left lying around. Cable ties are the method of choice here. In order to generally have a better handle on your cable management, power supplies with the connections for the power cables on the side are particularly suitable.
Why did he miss the cable? As a self-proclaimed PC newbie, he was unaware of his mistake. In addition, he had no prior experience in hardware fault diagnosis and now thought he had a serious problem. Carelessness when upgrading your PC is one of the biggest causes of subsequent errors, which with luck can be discovered before your own expensive hardware is damaged.
The system is about 2 years old and was his first gaming computer back then. Since the successful assembly, ThickMemory2360 had not touched the inside of the computer. The planned upgrade of the graphics card and power supply should now go just as smoothly.
What do other users say? The community reacts overwhelmingly positively to his story. Many admit to having had similar experiences:
SeriousSkeletor points out the lack of cable management, which would have saved the player from worrying about their hardware:
If you plan to build a new gaming PC yourself or want to replace certain hardware components for a more powerful upgrade, be careful not to make the following mistakes. This sometimes happens even to experienced professional screwdrivers. Lack of care also includes:
5 beginner mistakes to avoid when building a new gaming PC