Coil whine heard through headphones after installing Windows 10. Coincidence ?

apsolpt

Reputable
Jul 29, 2016
10
0
4,520
Hi, I'm having a hard time dealing with this buzzing in my ears, this never happened before I dont know if it's just a coincidence but it started happening after installing windows 10 which was a huge pita to install, I installed bf4, went to play and in the loadout screen I was hearing a quiet buzz noise, alt tabbed and the buzz noise was more audible, closed the game and the noise stopped.

Then I remembered that I didn't yet limited the framerate to 60fps hence the audible noise, but no it didn't solved the problem the noise was still there but quieter. Then I tried updating audio drivers, reinstalling, nothing.

I have a Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z97 that I bought mainly because of the audio characteristics (Onboard Creative Sound Core3D™ quad-core audio processor, AMP-UP Audio technology with exclusive Upgradable OP-AMP, Audio Noise Guard with LED path lighting, High end Nichicon audio capacitors)
PSU is Seasonic S12II-620 and the GPU is Gigabyte GTX 970 G1.

So the strange thing is after I installed windows 10 and this whole problem started I can hear the buzz noise more easily through my headphones than from the pc case which is weird I guess.

There's two switches on the motherboard that you use to gain boost to power high impedance headphones like the ones I have, I tried switching them to the high setting which I never use but to see if something changed and now even when moving the mouse it makes a interference noise.

What can be the problem here ? I restarted the pc and reinstalled so many times windows 10 because it didn't want to recognize my HDD only the SSD, I had to unplug the HDD, install windows 10 again then plug the HDD to get it recognized. Could that damage something in the computer that now is making this buzz noise ?

Sorry for the long text.
 
Solution


Those things might help against EMI (usually it's just a grounded metal cover), but they can't help against voltage regulation issues. Reseating the components can help eliminate contact issues, though if the actual problem was the PSU it's likely to come back again.
It's a "coincidence" due to Win 10 being slightly faster than your old OS. Basically your power supply can't handle the 970G1's more aggressive power profile. You can try to see if sticking the GPU in "prefer maximum performance" mode helps, since that will minimize the power state changes
 

apsolpt

Reputable
Jul 29, 2016
10
0
4,520
This morning I opened the pc case, and what I did was, re-tighten the screws of the motherboard, removed the gpu and connect it again. Turned on the computer went to test with msi kombustor which was the one that made the loudest noise because of the high fps, to my surprise the noise was alot quieter barely audible.
Tested with other headphones and it made the same level of noise I had before doing this test, then plugged mine again and the noise was quieter again. I think this is related with the impedance of the headphones making it more easier or harder to listen the EMI but it shouldn't because this motherboard supposedly have audio noise guard as they call it, the audio part is separated on the pcb.
 


Those things might help against EMI (usually it's just a grounded metal cover), but they can't help against voltage regulation issues. Reseating the components can help eliminate contact issues, though if the actual problem was the PSU it's likely to come back again.
 
Solution