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Clicking sounds from what I believe is the HDD (laptop).

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Top left of the machine. It's an MSI Gt72 Dominator - the 870m model. It's got a 128GB SSD, but I hear those don't make noises. I automatically thought it was the HDD the first time I heard the noise. There's not continuous buzzing sound, however.

Anything I can do about it. I've got rid of everything on the HDD.
 
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From the top of the machine my first thought would be a cooling fan biting it.
 
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Cooling fan. Blow some air or bang on it
 
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It's got a 128GB SSD, but I hear those don't make noises.
No moving parts in SSDs so no, they don't make noises.

If really a "mechanical" clicking sound, then it is most likely the fan but then the question is, why is a fan clicking? Worn bearings tend to rumble and vibrate, not click. So is the blade scraping something? A wire that moved, perhaps? Or something that got sucked in a vent?

That said, the location of this click concerns me. Notebook fans are generally located near the center of the notebook case, not the top left. Speakers, however, are often located in the top corners. Are you 100% sure the sound is not coming from a speaker? Speakers making clicking sounds is a common complaint.
 
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Fans have been addressed by others so I won't say anything about that, apart from the fact that the fan exhausts are at both sides behind the screen hinge, so it definitely could be a fan noise simply being most audible next to the exhaust, contrary to what Bill has said.

AFAICT your laptop model supports dual HDDs - that or an m.2 SSD + 2.5" HDD. I can't find your exact model on MSI's site, if you could give the full model string it would help. You may have an SSD *and* an HDD in there, and if the HDD is totally failed, it may not show up in windows but still be trying to start, running the read head back and forth, or pulsing the drive motor.

The other possibility is the optical drive, though very unlikely especially since it's on the opposite side from where you're hearing the noise. It shouldn't be making any noise if you don't have any disc in there, but I've had some fail where they continually attempt to look for the first track on a disc that wasn't present. You could hear the motor adjust the laser head back and forth in short bursts, making a click-like sound.

There's really not a whole lot that can be done unless you're willing to take it apart or take it to a shop; the noise could be benign or it could be very *not* benign.
 
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No moving parts in SSDs so no, they don't make noises.

If really a "mechanical" clicking sound, then it is most likely the fan but then the question is, why is a fan clicking? Worn bearings tend to rumble and vibrate, not click. So is the blade scraping something? A wire that moved, perhaps? Or something that got sucked in a vent?

That said, the location of this click concerns me. Notebook fans are generally located near the center of the notebook case, not the top left. Speakers, however, are often located in the top corners. Are you 100% sure the sound is not coming from a speaker? Speakers making clicking sounds is a common complaint.
I don't use my laptop speakers, so I don't think it [the noise] would be coming from there. If it is the fan, then I wiped my HDD for no reason -_- always check first, right!

Fans have been addressed by others so I won't say anything about that, apart from the fact that the fan exhausts are at both sides behind the screen hinge, so it definitely could be a fan noise simply being most audible next to the exhaust, contrary to what Bill has said.

AFAICT your laptop model supports dual HDDs - that or an m.2 SSD + 2.5" HDD. I can't find your exact model on MSI's site if you could give the full model string it would help. You may have an SSD *and* an HDD in there, and if the HDD is totally failed, it may not show up in windows but still be trying to start, running the read head back and forth, or pulsing the drive motor.

The other possibility is the optical drive, though very unlikely especially since it's on the opposite side from where you're hearing the noise. It shouldn't be making any noise if you don't have any disc in there, but I've had some fail where they continually attempt to look for the first track on a disc that wasn't present. You could hear the motor adjust the laser head back and forth in short bursts, making a click-like sound.

There's really not a whole lot that can be done unless you're willing to take it apart or take it to a shop; the noise could be benign or it could be very *not* benign.
I can confirm I'm using an SSD, as I said, as well as the HDD. The HDD does show up and there are no issues moving files or them not showing up, etc. I'd say it is the fan, not the HDD now.

Cooling fan. Blow some air or bang on it
I'll try it.
 
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There's most likely two fans in there - one on each side - since there are two exhaust grilles. I'd say as long as you have to take it apart anyway, just go ahead and replace them both because if one is failing the other probably isn't far behind. Take the heatsinks off and clean them, and replace the thermal compound with something good too (AS5 or Ceramique2).
 
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I don't use my laptop speakers, so I don't think it [the noise] would be coming from there. If it is the fan, then I wiped my HDD for no reason -_- always check first, right!


I can confirm I'm using an SSD, as I said, as well as the HDD. The HDD does show up and there are no issues moving files or them not showing up, etc. I'd say it is the fan, not the HDD now.


I'll try it.
Ah okay. That was our mistake, when you said it was an ssd we (or I at least) assumed you meant that was all.

You can take a look here to try to determine what is where without opening it up yourself.
(around 3 minutes the cover comes off and you can see)


The simplest way to check if it is the HDD is to open the laptop (powered off and battery removed!) and disconnect the HDD (assuming your operating system is installed on the ssd of course) then turn the computer on and use it for a while. If you still hear your noise, it's not the HDD. Then you can move on to eliminating other things.

HDDs can and will click and whirr even when operating correctly, but you'll have to use your judgement as to whether what you are hearing is normal or not (very loud? Repeated fast clicking? Screeching or buzzing noises? Repeated spin-up while OS is looking for files, coupled with long wait times? Etc etc.). You can use any of a number of free tools to check the SMART data of the HDD for signs of early failure (though it could still be failing if all SMART data shows good - again a judgement call).
There's most likely two fans in there - one on each side - since there are two exhaust grilles. I'd say as long as you have to take it apart anyway, just go ahead and replace them both because if one is failing the other probably isn't far behind. Take the heatsinks off and clean them, and replace the thermal compound with something good too (AS5 or Ceramique2).
There are. This laptop series has seperate fans for CPU and GPU; the heatsinks and shroud (air guide) also appear to be entirely seperate however it may not be possible to replace a fan without replacing the entire assembly - that would depend on how it's constructed and whether MSI sells the fan alone as a replacement part or only the entire assembly.

As for replacing both fans without
1) Troubleshooting to 100% certainty that the noise is being produced by the fan
2) Inspecting, cleaning, re-testing
3) Finding the cause of the fan noise
4) Checking to see if the second fan is affected by whatever the cause is - even if not yet making noise

...I can only say:
 
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Ah okay. That was our mistake, when you said it was an ssd we (or I at least) assumed you meant that was all.

You can take a look here to try to determine what is where without opening it up yourself.
(around 3 minutes the cover comes off and you can see)


The simplest way to check if it is the HDD is to open the laptop (powered off and battery removed!) and disconnect the HDD (assuming your operating system is installed on the ssd of course) then turn the computer on and use it for a while. If you still hear your noise, it's not the HDD. Then you can move on to eliminating other things.

HDDs can and will click and whirr even when operating correctly, but you'll have to use your judgement as to whether what you are hearing is normal or not (very loud? Repeated fast clicking? Screeching or buzzing noises? Repeated spin-up while OS is looking for files, coupled with long wait times? Etc etc.). You can use any of a number of free tools to check the SMART data of the HDD for signs of early failure (though it could still be failing if all SMART data shows good - again a judgement call).

There are. This laptop series has seperate fans for CPU and GPU; the heatsinks and shroud (air guide) also appear to be entirely seperate however it may not be possible to replace a fan without replacing the entire assembly - that would depend on how it's constructed and whether MSI sells the fan alone as a replacement part or only the entire assembly.

As for replacing both fans without
1) Troubleshooting to 100% certainty that the noise is being produced by the fan
2) Inspecting, cleaning, re-testing
3) Finding the cause of the fan noise
4) Checking to see if the second fan is affected by whatever the cause is - even if not yet making noise

...I can only say:
I'm wondering how it could possibly be the HDD if the noise is not coming from the lower right? for some reason the noise has been absent for a while, which I find odd, but it can't be a bad thing can it?
 
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SSD don't make noise. Unless it a hybrid. Pull the drive out and start it up
 
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There are. This laptop series has seperate fans for CPU and GPU; the heatsinks and shroud (air guide) also appear to be entirely seperate however it may not be possible to replace a fan without replacing the entire assembly - that would depend on how it's constructed and whether MSI sells the fan alone as a replacement part or only the entire assembly.

As for replacing both fans without
1) Troubleshooting to 100% certainty that the noise is being produced by the fan
2) Inspecting, cleaning, re-testing
3) Finding the cause of the fan noise
4) Checking to see if the second fan is affected by whatever the cause is - even if not yet making noise

...I can only say:

1) If the noise is coming from that corner it's a guarantee that it's the fan. There are no other moving parts in that area.

2) Fans - especially the better ones that don't use a sleeve bearing - usually can't be easily disassembled or cleaned beyond wiping the grime off the blades.

3) The source of the noise is usually a failing bearing - the remedy for which is replacement.

4) See #2.


You don't need to spend what MSI wants for the entire cooling module, you go on ebay and find a replacement fan for a fraction of the price. It's cheap insurance against having to take it apart again to replace the other one later WHEN it goes.
 
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I'm wondering how it could possibly be the HDD if the noise is not coming from the lower right? for some reason the noise has been absent for a while, which I find odd, but it can't be a bad thing can it?
I would normally say that the mostly solid casing on a laptop bottom can reflect sound around inside to some limited degree, but the bottom panel on that laptop appears to be pretty open so that line of thought doesn't really fly.

You're probably right, it's just that the HDD is one of the easiest things to empirically check. Assuming that your OS is installed on the SSD, the HDD can be unplugged as long as you want with no problems while you wait to see if you hear more noises. Doing something like unplugging a fan requires you to at very least be monitoring temperatures to make sure everything stays cool enough while you check.

My other line of reasoning was that fans generally spin pretty quickly, say 500-600RPM for a low low speed fan or an average fan on it's absolute minimum. If it's physically hitting something every time it spins, it'd be making a noise in the range of 10 times per second at that speed. More likely than something stuck in or sticking into a fan is a failing bearing; though in my (admittedly limited) experience with failing bearings in fans, they tend to get noisier and make whining or scratchy sounds rather than clicking noises but those fans DO have a shroud on them that they could potentially be hitting every few rotations if they're wobbling because a bearing is wearing out.

Chances are, yeah, fan, as everybody has said. For myself I just prefer to be sure before I spend any money. Like taz has said, you can ebay a replacement fan (or aliexpress or any other direct china import service for even cheaper if you're willing to take the risk) a replacement for less than what MSI might charge... unless it's under warranty. For now though, if the sound has gone away and everything seems to be working fine, I'd let it be, and just keep an ear open and a watchful eye for any weirdness. If it makes you feel better, you can check on the HDD SMART data to see if it's got any signs of early failure but 99% chance that it will come back all clear.
 
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