Windows 7 PC sounds like it loses power but doesn't?

[gamebynight]

I have a strange problem I don't know how to interpret. I've recently installed a new motherboard and CPU within the past couple of months. Twice since then, I've turned the monitor off and walked away to watch TV while a program downloads. Then, out of nowhere, it makes a little click sound and a whirring down like right after a proper shut down has been completed -- but, within a second, the whirring of whatever motor I'm hearing (HDD?) kicks back on again. Each time I've rushed to the computer to find it still on the webpage, downloads uninterrupted, and totally functional.

This is driving me crazy not knowing what's going on! Please help me understand, since my system is otherwise fully functional with no other oddities.

Here are my system specs:

ASUS P5Q Pro Turbo
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz
4 GB DDR2 Corsair RAM
650 Watt Antec Earth Watts PSU
260 GTX nVidia GPU

Thanks!

 

[CommonTater]

Check the standard stuff...
Loose connections
Dirty connectors
Temperature (Try CPUZ's HWMonitor, it's pretty good)
Voltage


From your description it sounds like the HDD is resetting then resuming.
This could be because of loose cables or R/W errors.
The first is easy... clean the connectors and/or replace the cables
The second is more of a problem...
Try the drive in another machine, try a different drive in your machine.
Turn on SMART monitoring in your BIOS and see if you get errors.
Check your system logs... R/W errors should be noted.

 

[Digerati]

It may be normal. Check your power settings. Perhaps after x minutes of no activity, the drives are set to power off. Or, maybe the system cools down enough that a fan spins down in speed.