Macbook Pro constant "skipping" or "clicking sound

[bgiff1010]

So my Macbook Pro unibody from late 2009 is making this weird noise whenever it is on. It used to do it once it was working too hard, but now it starts as soon as the computer opens. I recorded the sound and you can hear it HERE.
Even when there are no applications running, it still seems overworked. This is what it sounds like with just Firefox going, and fans at 4734 rpm (says iStat Nano). If there is any other information you guys need to help I'll gladly oblige. Thanks!

 

[Dalton63841]

More than likely it is the "death click". Where does it sound like it is coming from? That sound usually means your hard drive is going to go.

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

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Make sure you back up all your data...

 

[bgiff1010]

More than likely it is the "death click". Where does it sound like it is coming from? That sound usually means your hard drive is going to go.

Hmm maybe "clicking" was an inaccurate word to describe it, I looked up this Click of Death on youtube and it doesn't sound anything like that.

It comes from the middle of the macbook, sounds like near the exhaust but it is hard to tell. It sounds like it normally would if it was trying to run a few applications, but now it is more distinct. Not sure how else to describe it.

 

[bgiff1010]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Make sure you back up all your data...

Go figure my external hard drive stopped working a couple of weeks ago, so lost all that data. I'd go out and get a new one today but I'm stuck in this blizzard

 

[ExiledMafia]

Back up your data now before its too late, hopefully its just a hard drive problem. If it is pic up a new SSD and get an external to back up your data. Its a win win solution

 

[bgiff1010]

Back up your data now before its too late, hopefully its just a hard drive problem. If it is pic up a new SSD and get an external to back up your data. Its a win win solution

If money is not an option then yes, but being in college I currently can't afford such expenses, external hard drive yes but SSD's probably not. Of course if it does come to the hard drive failing of some sort then adjustments will have to be made. Any recommendations on where to start looking for SSD's? Not really sure where to start, of course lower priced ones are of more interest

Thanks for the help guys!