High Pitched noise coming from my rig.

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Roz3us

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Jul 15, 2015
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Here is my story. So before I upgraded my pc everything was working fine and no noises whatsoever.

The upgrades:
-Mobo: Asus Maximus VIII Hero
-CPU: i7 6700k
-RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V

The rest of the rig:
-GPU: GTX 660
-Case: Corsair Carbide 540
-PSU: Corsair TX850
-Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX
-Storage: x2 ssd x1 hdd

Since this upgrade, everytime I start a game I get a very high-pitched noise that resembles the noise you hear when your ear is "ringing", and that noise never stops after it starts. If I restart the system, it will come back up. If I leave the system off overnight and turn it back up the next day, it doesn't start up with the noise being present, but it comes back as soon as I launch the first game of the day. Sometimes it happens even if I don't launch a game. But once the noise starts, it stays there constantly at the same pitch and doesn't stop, which is driving me nuts when I dont have my headphones on. Note: The high pitched noise I am hearing is only present when the system is on, when I shut it down it stops (mentioning this because I've read cases on the forums that some people have such noises even with the system off).

I've had this problem for a while now, like 2-3 months. So I thought that since the old rig did not make that noise at all, it had to be one of the new things and my first guess was the new motherboard, so I RMA'ed it and with the new one I had the exact same noise.

Also, while I was waiting for the new mobo, I setup the old rig back to see if it would still be silent, and it was!

After a week or two of the initial upgrade, I also bought a MSI GTX970 Gaming to replace my old 660, so I ruled the GPU out because the noise was there before I got the new one installed.

I've tried tweaking with the CPU power settings a lot, to no effect (as suggested on similar topics).

*A random observation I just made while writing this is that the area close to the power cord on my PSU is warm.* I have no idea if that's how it's supposed to be and my guess is no.

Sadly, I do not have a spare PSU to test if that is the problem, but how could it be if it didn't make a sound on the old rig? If you guys think the PSU is indeed causing the noise, please suggest a few high-end PSU's as replacement. I am not looking to sli or multimonitor, only upgrade that's coming soon is a GTX1080 and a new monitor, haven't settled on the model yet.

Any ideas? Thanks for reading, if you still are.
 
Solution
PanStef
Buying a new psu would probably fix the issue but if the psu isn't the source it would be wasted money. So try to find some friend who has a power supply hanging around and use that, if the sound persists then i really don't know what's it could be. If it goes away then yes, purchasing a new psu would fix the problem. Afa finding a psu to test you can even find someone that is willing to remove their psu from their pc so that you can test and then give it back to them.
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MystoPigz

MystoPigz

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May 14, 2015
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I think it may be coil whine (I may be wrong), which is when the components emit a high pitched noise when running:

"Coil whine, as Linus from Techquickie's YouTube channel explains, is a phenomenon found in a lot of technology today, but especially in video cards. It usually occurs when a component is working really hard and begins to vibrate, emitting a high-pitched noise in the process. This is pretty common when playing games as they tax your video card the most for substantial lengths of time. Additionally, games or other graphic intensive software will tax your video card at different levels, causing a variety of high pitched sounds to occur."

Source: http://lifehacker.com/this-video-explains-what-coil-whine-is-and-how-to-avoid-1669522880

There is no way to stop it. The only way to prevent it is by reading reviews and seeing if there are any mentions of coil whine on components. I may be wrong...

-MystoPigz
 
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PanStef

PanStef

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What you hear is a supersonic sound that comes probably from one of your internal componets. A special regulator circuit rapidly switches the power on and off. The capacitor smooths this out, creating a constant voltage. This output voltage is continuously sampled by the switching regulator so it knows if the capacitor needs more 'on' or 'off' time. Now this switching circuit works fast- in the kilohertz range. Most switching power supplies use a switching frequency above 20-30KHz so the human ear can never hear it. However for one that is in the 10-20KHz range, the switching is sometimes translated into audio frequency noise by aging capacitors as they are also vibrating. The noise changes based on how much power is being consumed by your computer. When the computer is consuming power, the switch is 'on' more often. When the pc uses less power, the switch (even if it operates at a supersonic frequency) may only be 'on' one out of every several hundred cycles, which creates an audible tone in the capacitor.
On the other pinpointing where that sounds comes from is a real pain. If you are able try changing components and see which one makes the noise stop when not used.
This may help you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_hum#Humbucking
 
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Roz3us

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Jul 15, 2015
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Thank you for the quick responses guys.

@Mystopigz, my case is not coil whine - I have heard on videos what it sounds like, and the sound I am getting is nothing like it. It's more like the supersonic sound @PanStef describes.

@Panstef,
Thank you for the in depth explanation. So what I got from this is that, the new stuff I bought consume more power, aka mess with the PSU's on/off switch which results in the supersonic sound I am hearing. About pinpointing, I only changed 3 components originally (as explained in OP), Mobo, CPU and RAM. I also RMA'ed the Mobo, so that cannot be producing the sound either. I have no idea if CPU and RAM can even be the culprits here, as I have not read such a case in my search the past 2 months.
To conclude, do you think by purchasing a new, higher rated PSU would fix the issue? If so, I have my eyes set on EVGA SuperNOVA 850 P2, thoughts?
 
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PanStef

PanStef

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Apr 19, 2014
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Buying a new psu would probably fix the issue but if the psu isn't the source it would be wasted money. So try to find some friend who has a power supply hanging around and use that, if the sound persists then i really don't know what's it could be. If it goes away then yes, purchasing a new psu would fix the problem. Afa finding a psu to test you can even find someone that is willing to remove their psu from their pc so that you can test and then give it back to them.
 
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Solution
R

Roz3us

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Jul 15, 2015
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4,510
I forgot to update this, but after my EVGA Supernova 850P2 arrived and replaced my old TX850, the sound just vanished completely, so it was the correct guess that my PSU was at fault for that annoying screeching sound!

Thanks alot :)
 
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