Major caveat: I am using the same monitor I've had for the past decade. Literally, I mean--ten years with the same CRT. (Try that with one of your fancy shmancy LCDs, right?) 21" Dell, approximately 70 pounds, max resolution of 1600x1200... bad habit of devouring souls in darkened rooms; A real man's monitor.
SO! My problem is as follows: when viewing videos (specifically I'm referring to the videos in the opening cuts of Crysis; I have not actually noticed this under other circumstances), my computer makes an extremely high pitched whirring/whining noise. Not very loud, but noticeable (admittedly, I do have exceptional hearing. )This started about a week ago. I built the computer at the end of November.
Environmental factor: ambient temperature in the computer's location gets down to nearly 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) at night, while--of course--the computer's operating temperature is significantly higher. Thermal expansion could potentially loosen parts with time?
I have not fully eliminated the monitor, unfortunately, but I'll do that on lunch break today--just turn the thing off and then start Crysis.
My questions: IF this sound is coming from my computer rather than the monitor, is it a problem? ...and if so, how would I fix it? Has anyone experienced a problem like this before? Is this a problem at all? (I don't mind the noise; it just worries me since it didn't do this initially and does do it now.)
Update: I have tested with and without my monitor now; the sound persists with the monitor turned off and disconnected.