High Pitched whir from rig

[ghostops117]

so my current rig is three months old and i am getting a constant high pitched whir when the computer is on, i have tried everything i know and originally came to the conclusion that it was my corsair ax750 psu so i got that replaced and the noise persists
looking for any ideas or help

 

[Dwarf]

Hi ghostops117 and welcome to W7 Forums

The source of the noise is likely to be coming from a fan or from a floppy/optical/HDD drive. Unplug your machine (always do this when connecting/disconnecting internal cables) and disconnect all drives and fans (except for the CPU fan). If you have a graphics card and have also got on-board graphics, temporarily remove the card and use on-board instead. With everything disconnected, power back up. Don't worry about missing OS system prompts. If the noise is no longer present, reconnect one component at a time and retest. If the noise returns, verify by disconnecting the last component connected and test again.

Please let us know your results.

 

[ghostops117]

all right idid what you suggested and with everything disconected there was a slight whir coming from the psu, reconnected the optical drive- no change, all fans one at a time also no change then when i re-installed the gpu the whir came back full force, the card is an xfx hd 5770

 

[Dwarf]

It does sound as though it is the fan on the graphics card that is noisy. Try removing any accumulated dust that may have gathered on its blades and the fins of the heatsink to see if that helps.

 

[ghostops117]

well i cleaned off all the dust i could find but the problem persists, its getting rather frustrating because i have sensitive hearing. really was hoping the new psu would solve the issue but im baffeled

 

[pparks1]

what power supply did you replace your Corsair with?

I understand the whine you talk about, I have a Corsair HX620, and I have that whine..but fortunately mine only happens when I fire up a game and the advertising splash screens are loading up. Once I'm in game, things are fine and regular apps don't cause this. Mines been this way for over 2 years, but the box is stable as a rock.

I found this thread a long time back on the Corsair forums, but cannot find it now;
In my case, I'm using a 9800GTX+...so this seems to ring true for me.

"Since April of 2008(I found out last week, its most likely been known longer than 2008... Keep reading!) the enthusiast consumer VGA & computing industry has been complaining about PSU's, MB's and VGA's singing with the installation of certain Nvidia 9000 & GTX series and 3000 & 4000 series ATi VGA high power demanding cards.

It seems the newer VGA cards shove massive amounts of power back into the power loop which will cause a resonance issue with chokes in the PSU's, MB's and VGA's made with 'aluminum-zinc environmentally sealed copper coil chokes', because the feedback loop on the power management circuit is moving much faster than that of the output power feeding the computer system. This causes the resonance in the PSU's aluminum-zinc covered, copper coil capacitors!

This resonance event is not just localized to specific components, that this resonance issue has a 50/50 chance of being present on most any component using 'Analogue chokes' in its design.

In the later part of the 90's, Ferrite encased copper coil chokes were designed for specifically addressing the 'aluminum-zinc cover over copper coil resonance issue' in digital musical equipment, as this was something audiophiles were complaining about. It was some time later in 2008(all most 10 years later) when three manufacturing companies incorporated Ferrite chokes into their VGA & MB PCB designs, due to consumer complaints about singing chokes, in Mainboards, PSU's and GPU card designs. Since that time, manufacturers that have integrated components with Ferrite Chokes will not have a 'choke resonance related noise issue'. Those companies that use the older technology will continue to have choke resonance issues. An issue that has been well published and acknowledged in the digital component manufacturing industry "prior to" release of high powered VGA cards!"

I finally just dealt with the slight noise...because it doesn't happen often at all. in googling this in the past, it seemed more work to get rid of then it was worth;
Here is another link;
http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=75121

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1414867


My noise is similar to this;

 

[ghostops117]

i replaced the ax750 with the same unit because i fought with corsair to get an rma replacement and won. so basically its a noise im going to have to get used to

 

[Digerati]

Sorry I did not see this thread earlier - I might have been able to save you the hassles of a new PSU.

This may be a bit awkward, simply because graphics card fans are typically on the underside of the card (in tower cases anyway), but I would suggest you open the side panel of the case, and with the computer running and the whine driving the dogs crazy, VERY CAREFULLY touch bare metal of the case to discharge any static in your body, then EXTRA CAREFULLY gently touch the center hub of the graphics fan for just a split second. This will cause the speed of the fan to alter and if the fan bearings are doing the singing, the pitch of the sound will immediately change. If the sound changes, you know you have a noisy fan - and they can be replaced. If the sound remains constant, then it is something else and maybe you can pinpoint the source by sticking your head in there.

Do note that there are cases, primarily designed for home theater PCs, that are designed to suppress noises. You can also buy noise suppressing linings for cases.

 

[ghostops117]

the sound did not change...this is becoming excessively frustrating
i think i read somewhere that some psu/mobo combos dont get along, is this a possibility?

 

[Digerati]

i think i read somewhere that some psu/mobo combos dont get along, is this a possibility?

If that were true, it would be a serious non-compliance to "industry" standards as the ATX Form Factor Standard spells out exactly how cases, motherboards, PSUs, and other associated devices WILL get along - physically and electrically.

Until Man can create perfection 100% of the time, there will be exceptions. And those would most likely be due to a manufacturing defect in one of many components in a very small percentage of PSUs or motherboards, rather than a design flaw affecting an entire line or brand.

Now many years ago some companies, one in particular - we won't mention it's name - Dell - was notorious for using non-standard (read: proprietary) motherboards and PSUs in their computers. Replacing the PSU with a standard ATX supply would often destroy the board. After many complaints, that practice changed.

 

[pparks1]

the sound did not change...this is becoming excessively frustrating
i think i read somewhere that some psu/mobo combos dont get along, is this a possibility?

Yes, it happens. See the above stuff that Posted with regards to Corsair PSU's and Nvidia 9xxx GTX cards.

 

[Digerati]

Well that's not PSU/Motherboard issue, but the point is still valid - it indicates one or the other (or both) is not conforming to ATX standards and the companies need to sort it out, quick.

I note several years ago I had a Maxtor HD that produced a high pitch whine. Pulling the power to it made it simple to point fingers at it. I RMA'd it and got an identical one back (same revision number - different serial number). It whined too! Seems one of the factories got some bad (or the wrong) bearings for motors. RMA'd the second one and the revision number had advanced - no whining either.

 

[ghostops117]

a new symptom has popped up from time to time, if im browsing the web or something occasionally the whir will coincide with the spinning of my mouse wheel

 

[Digerati]

If you are certain the sound is coming from inside the computer case, and not the speakers, then my "guess" would be you have a singing capacitor - and these can last for years with no problems, or die prematurely. You might contact the motherboard maker and see what they say.