Cooler Master Centurion 590 Black

[madattheinternet]

First off, what kind of noise is it? Does it get louder over time, louder when gaming or is it the same sound from the time you press the power button until you shut it off? Is there a vibration associated with the noise?

The FIRST thing I would check is cabling. If there's an object, especially a ribbon cable or zip tie, interfering with one of the fans, you could be in for a lot of noise. Pull the side panel off and check clearances for all of the fans, make sure they're free of obstructions. Coolermaster shipped zip ties with the centurion for cable management, make sure that the assembler clipped the excess zip tie from the "knot" as it could be hitting the blades of the fan.

The second thing I would check is the optical drive. Is there a disc in the drive? At the speeds modern drives spin, even the slightest difference in the weight of the disc can cause all sorts of horrible noises.

Third is the fans. From my personal experience, the Centurion 590 that I tested was completely silent. Coolermaster's included case fans are very quiet, but if misaligned they could make a lot of noise. You can disconnect, one at a time, the front fan and the back fan to see if that alleviates the noise. Don't put the computer through any intensive tasks while they are unplugged, just leave it on long enough to diagnose where the sound is coming from. If your power supply or CPU fan is bad, the best way to find out is to either physically stop the fan briefly (very briefly) or replace them with a known good unit to see if the noise stops.

Hard drives have been known to be noisy. A little noise is expected but noise like you're describing can mean it is defective. Try disconnecting the power from the hard drive before powering the computer on to see if the noise disappears. If that is the case, you're going to need to replace the drive.

Lastly, when you say "had it built" do you mean your son bought the components and installed them or did you have someone else do the work? If it's the latter, double check to make sure that some of the "low noise" components weren't switched out for "some stuff the builder had laying around his workshop." As with any good you purchase, if there's something wrong, contact the supplier! Demand that the builder replace or repair the component that is noisy.

Good luck and let us know what the results were!