iMac G4 idle noise - What could it be?

[2contagious]

Hi,

I hear this weird whirring/high frequency noise coming from my iMac G4.

-It goes away completely when I scroll in safari.
-It goes from a constant noise to a non-constant (1 sec noise, 1 sec silence, 1 sec noise, 1 sec silence, .....) noise when I use a filter in photoshop for example.

What could this be? Could this come from the RAM sticks? Maybe I am wrong about this, but I don't think I heard this noise before I put some new RAM from crucial in there

see you,
2c

 

[MacHamster68]

first i never have heard about ram modules to make noises so i would exclude them as source of the noise
the only things i can think of making a high pitched noise are the fan
and the harddrive and a capacitor can make a high pitched buzzing noise too

 

[2contagious]

Considering the noise goes away / acts differently when using programs, do you think the most likely cause is the hard drive?

 

[MacHamster68]

cant promise its the harddrive as i cant hear the noise and where exactly it comes from even a video made would not indicate really where the noise is coming from , but the easiest way would be to exclude the harddrive if you got a external firewire enclosure and fit the harddrive in there as the iMac can boot from it and run and if then the noise would have moved from inside to the enclosure then its definitely the harddrive

and i hope you had reapplied everywhere heat compound where it should be after fitting ram inside something that very often gets overlooked


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S72X9Gjy5WM