So I get home one day and notice that my pc is making this annoying, buzzing sound.  Turned it off and got to work.

Replaced and tested with other components.  Using the old trial and isolation methods.

Power Supply
Case fan
Processor fan
Processor

(over and over again)

And finally concluded that it wasn't any of those parts.  Placed everything back the way it was.  And still the same buzzing sound.  

Which leaves one component which I haven't replaced . . . the motherboard.

Now I got this here "antique" system.  A PII 300 MHz (aka P.O.S. hand-me down Gateway).  Which is all right for the meantime.  Usually too busy for playing games and no yearning to get out and upgrade the system.  

Question:  Any of you guys ever experienced this?  And after a "near" exhaustive test changing part by part, the results pointed towards the remaining article= MOBO.  

Suggestions?  Comments?  Predictable response of "UPGRADE!!!"?

PS.  Everything works fine by the way.  Everything is running normal except for that damned sound.  And yes, I have also tried the "physical" method- namely bang the damned case with a good solid thunk.  No dice.

PPS  And if I DO upgrade, I'm going out there and the first thing I grab is that WD 120 GB 7200 RPM- 8 MB buffer HD!!!

I used to get that quite a bit.  Just figured it was my fan.  Eh, finally stopped happening.  Didn't seem to harm anything.

HD possibly dying?? I've heard of lots of HD's dying, especially WD's, but mine's still kicking (knock on wood)

If your video card is new enough check it for a fan, i bought this POS geforce 4 and the fan on it starts up every once in a while makes this whinney buzzy sound.. also check if you have a CASE fan you cant see.. hard drive could be it.. or your power supply fan.. your MOBO shouldn't make that nose unless its chipset has a fan on it as well.. but i dont think those old mobo's had them.. your processor and other things should not be able to make any sounds.. only moving parts .. IE FAN/HARD DRIVE/CDROM DRIVE/FLOPPY DRIVE and thats about it..

Watch out for hard drives above 100 gigs, i heard some bad things about them, (nothing specific) but mostly mentioned about the IBM brand.. just do reasearch before you buy anything :)

My computer sounds like this 63 VW bug, that belonged to a friend in HS. A whole cornucopia of annoying sounds.
I've been waiting for it to blow-up, so I can upgrade.

LMAO. I know that feeling. My "play" server is a 300 mHz. PII with something like 6 fans in it. You should hear it when I fire it up on a cold morning. Sounds like it's ready to buy the farm.

It could be any of the drives, Hard, Floppy or CD.

this uncommon but possible, do you have a CD in yoru cddrive? even used this one before and had it buzz? could be a imbalanced cd.

who did you eliminate the fans? stop each one?

it could be the case cover if its not fastened down tight enough. this is easily tested by removing the cover. stopping each fan for a few seconds is quite safe. just watch the fingers... harddrive could be failing some will buzz when the start to die. others click. a few scream. even fewers just go BANG and die promptly and never work again.... oh sorry that last was a gunshot to a defetive harddrive...

bah. BS. 100's and higher hanve no probs. just IBM and its DeathStar(normal name, Deskstar) series 50gigs-75gigs would randomly die.

WD, Maxtor are both good. my PCs currently have WDs in the, 60 in main. 80, 100 in server.

you might check your video card's fan (if it has one).  geforce and early geforce2's had really cheap fans over their heat sinks. I lost a video card that way last year.  

If its an older hard drive: they tend to make noise when the bearings heat up and the lubricant has started to break down.

And when you do upgrade the drive, dont forget a new controller card.

Personally I'm waiting for serial ATA to become more common before I ditch my old drives.

Thanks for all the help.  Found out after reading your posts that I DID forget one more component.  

It's most definitely the vid card.  A few months ago I bought a 32 MB e-TNT 2 model at a fair for 29$ (real cheap).

So the fan's going haywire and I guess I'll just replace it.  

Shucks, I was already dreaming about a new MOBO as well as that WD 8MB HD.  But hey, I get to keep this old system a little longer.

AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

Finding replacement parts is even more of a pain in the ass that finding the problem!

Get this!
The card is an Nvidia e-TNT2 M64 with an Nvidia fan following these specifics:
 
Dimensions= 40mm x 40mm x 10mm
2 PIN power hookup

I've gone to:  Fry's, Micro-center, 2 local stores, websites (pricewatch, Nexfan.com, evga.com, etc), and even chat sites.  

AND NATCH!!!  Some fans will fit the dimensions but the 2 pin power won't match.  I can't go risking buying a 3-4 pin hookup since it might not work.  For crazy overkill, I COULD get an adapter, there have been ones for 3 to 4 pin, but none for 2 to 3.  This is absolutely nuts.  All I need is one lousy stinking fan costing less than 8-10$.  And nothing.  SHEESH!

SUGGESTIONS!  COMMENTS!  CIGARETTE FOR THE CONDEMMED?! [soapbox]


PS.  I chatted a bit with the "A+ certified" person behind the counter at Fry's and he's telling me that it's hopeless.  And they don't carry it.  NO SHIT!  Damned fool!  Dashing my hopes like that AND pissing me off!

[url]www.vbd.com/[/url]

[url]www.vbd.com/shop/products_detail.asp?CategoryID=6&ProductID=31[/url]

You're welcome.

Muahaha I was right!! Yep my cheapo ass geforce 4 does the same thing, only randomly.. doesnt hurt if you can stand it, just leave it in there ;) i guess you could also try a spray of WD40 if your carefull but a new fan isn't that hard, just make sure you can remove the one you have.. i cant remove mine, but thats okay cuz it was only 80 bucks and i planned on replacing it once doom3 comes out :)

[:o] (bows is awe and humility)  [^]