PSU/GPU Whine and/or Squeal

Since upgrading my 8800 GTX to the GTX 285, my PC has been emitting a high pitched squeal or whine when running intensive 3D applications. Crysis and 3DMark Vantage are the worst, though the issues is almost non-existant in older games (see: Halo). By listening to the PC, it seems that the whine is actually coming from my PSU and not the graphics card (the sound was louder near the PSU than the card) and I'm just wondering if anyone knows what this is? From what I've read via Google it has something to do with "capacitor whine", though that means dick all to me, since I just want to fix it. Should I invest in a new, quality, PSU to see if it is indeed the PSU? Or should I RMA my graphics card?

What would you all recommend for a quality modular PSU? I was looking at the ABS Tagan series for it's bling factor, but from what I've read they also whine under pressure. I also looked into the reviews of the Silverstone PSU that Xet recommended, and it looks like the reviews are split when it comes to mentioning PSU whine.

Willing to spend up to $300 to make this annoying sound go away.

i get the same thing with my GTX260..... its only when stressed, but im sure this ''capacitor whine'' is coming from the cards....

i just upgraded my PSU & its still there..... while gaming usually the volume is cranked right up, or i have headphones on, so it dont bother me that much...

but it is annoying, if you've been gaming for an hour & then just surf the web with this high pitch squeal for the next 30mins..

it in no way affects performance (i dont think) & they wont RMA for that..
so were stuck with it




:)SK

Hi

Capacitor whine...first time I ever heard of this, and it would seem to me that if a CAP is whining then it's about ready to burst if it's a liquid CAP, or it should be smoking. If this is the case, it's not user fixable unless you're an electronics whiz.

I see in your specs you have an OCZ 850W PSU, you should not be having any difficulty running that card. And unless you have every slot filled on your MB and about 2 dozen other peripherals all running at once, you shouldn't even be CLOSE to stressing that PSU.

One thing that is VERY important with PSU's and not everyone knows, you should have MAX (if possible), 2 devices per cable. The only thing I can see is you have too many devices on single cables and the added stress of that card pushed one of the rails to the limit. If this is the case, throw cable management out the window and put some devices on other PSU chains and see if this helps.

skunksmash said:

i get the same thing with my GTX260..... its only when stressed, but im sure this ''capacitor whine'' is coming from the cards....

i just upgraded my PSU & its still there..... while gaming usually the volume is cranked right up, or i have headphones on, so it dont bother me that much...

but it is annoying, if you've been gaming for an hour & then just surf the web with this high pitch squeal for the next 30mins..

it in no way affects performance (i dont think) & they wont RMA for that..
so were stuck with it




:)SK

Hi Skunk

Are those Solid State CAPS on that card? I sure hope so cause if they're not, I would worry about a whining CAP.

i couldn't tell ya mate....... all i know is the ''whine'' started as soon as the card was installed, will it cause a problem do you think..??

if so im gonna get on to XFX & see what they will do.





:)SK

fairly normal on nvidia cards, I have a 9800gtx which I use for folding (stanford) depending on which work unit it is doing, the noise can be very off putting. loading evga precision (overclocking tool) and moving the shader slider up and down I can play a tune on my GPU :)

General consensus seems to be that there's nothing to worry about, mine is still happily running at 810/1998/1161 @68-74 deg all day, every day (it did make the noise at stock)

My 4850 made that whining noise for a few days when it was new. It hasn't happened since then though

My GTX260 has not made any strange noise aside from the fan when under load but I would not call it a whining noise, it's more of a hum, personally I would be worried if I had a whining noise, that doesn't seem right at all.

Noise from the fan usually means that the bearing or bush needs lubricating or has some dirt jammed inside it. :)