Okay so for a good while now my computer has been making loud noises, I just ignored it cause I assumed it was nothing big and probably normal since it's 4 years old. But now the loud noises have kinda turned into rattling noises and whenever I load up a game I can play either not at all or for a few minutes as the computer will stay on but the monitor goes to sleep?
Can anyone help? It'll be much appreciated

Update: Okay so a few hours ago I took my computer apart to see if there was anything I could do, there was a lot of dust so I cleaned that. Switched my computer on and the noise was still there so with the computer apart I kept it on to see where the noises were coming from, and I find this thing (sorry idk what it's called) with a very small fan In it & I this is the fan that's causing the noises & what I think causing the monitor to close too.
Oh & if it helps my PC is a HP Pavilon Elite

Last edited by Al3x : 10th Jul 2014 at 2:02 AM.

The monitor goes to sleep, as in the picture comes back on if you move the mouse, or as in turns completely off so that a restart is the only thing that gets it back to working?

If it just shuts off momentarily, you might want to check your computer's sleep settings.
If you have to restart, then there might be something wrong with the computer - anything from dust, to one or more parts getting fried (power unit, processor, graphic card, or some other component).

You don't say if you have a stationary computer or a laptop, but if it's a laptop and you've been using it a lot for playing, you might want to start doing backups. The monitor going black and not coming back on was one of the first symptoms my old laptop started showing, before it died. Laptops that go through a lot of use last somewhere around +/- 5 years, at least if you don't change any parts.

As for the rattling noises, that doesn't sound normal (unless you have a particularly noisy fan). Perhaps you might want to consider taking the computer to a repair shop and see if they have an opinion.

Thank you for te help
When the monitor shuts off the only way to get it back on is to switch off the computer & switch it back on.
It is a computer
Yeah I think you're right & should take it to a repair shop, thanks for the reply

Rattling noises could be indicative of a dying hard drive. Something you could try before taking it to the shop is to boot from a LiveCD/DVD and see if it turns itself off again.

Oh that sounds really bad
And sorry what do you mean boot from a live cd/DVD like just play a cd or put in a DVD?

Bump wit update :p

I mean, you start your computer from an operating system located on a CD or DVD.

Does this only happen when you're playing sims? What about other games, if you play any?

Rattling could be hard drives or fans - it's not really possible to know which without being there and messing with the computer.

What are your Game Help:System Specs^wiki? If you install HWMonitor and run it while you use your computer normally for an hour or so (or however long you usually use your computer), what temperatures does it report at the end?

I only play sims, but it happens when playing sims 3 and sims 2.
I took my computer apart to see where the noise was coming from & it is from a small fan.
& I wish I could but when I took my computer apart I think I messed with the wifi adapter as my computer isn't picking up any wifi signals, Yay! so I'm stuck using my phone but I do know my computer has 6GB more & 1TB hard drive.
It's a HP Pavilon Elite HPE, thank you for the help & reply

Last edited by Al3x : 11th Jul 2014 at 7:23 AM.

Okay. If it's just one fan, then you may just need to make sure there are no cables or cable ties dangling in the way of the blades, clean it, or screw it in a bit tighter. It could also be that the fan has worn out and needs replacing.

Do do those things to get rid of the rattling, but be aware that that may not fix the crashes, and you may have some more work to do on that front.

The wifi adaptor should be fairly easily fixable just by pulling it out, cleaning it off, and then reseating it (and making sure to plug it back in, if necessary). That assumes it's a PCI-E card - if it's integrated onto the motherboard then you may have more difficulty. I apologise if you already know that and just hadn't got round to doing it, but I didn't want to assume.

Thank you so much for your responses, really have helped I had no idea how to fix the wifi adapter haha! Thank you!