I can hear my CPU!!

[killerclick]

Whenever CPU utilization is high I can hear a slight buzzing noise from my CPU.
It's not the speakers - I've turned them off, even disconnected them and I can still hear the noise.
It's not the fans since they're turning at near constant (low) speed. I've even stopped the CPU fan and there is still noise at high CPU utilization.
It's not the HDD or DVD, I've disconnected them and booted from a USB (Linux) and I can still hear the noise.

Did anyone experience this? What could it be? I have a Thuban 1055T.

 

[omnisome]

Vibration? Disconnect and reconnect the processor, see what that does

 

[warmon6]

Whenever CPU utilization is high I can hear a slight buzzing noise from my CPU.
It's not the speakers - I've turned them off, even disconnected them and I can still hear the noise.
It's not the fans since they're turning at near constant (low) speed. I've even stopped the CPU fan and there is still noise at high CPU utilization.
It's not the HDD or DVD, I've disconnected them and booted from a USB (Linux) and I can still hear the noise.

Did anyone experience this? What could it be? I have a Thuban 1055T.

Are you sure thats it's not the psu?

Last i checked, cpu's cant make any noise that our ears can detect (that i know of).

I would suspect it's more of the psu. There been times where people hear buzzing noises from them.


Now you say that you hear it only when there high cpu usage, well high cpu usage = more power needed to run. Thus increases load on the psu. Could be wrong but i would start there.

Also what the rest of your system specs?

 

[Psychoteddy]

Often times this is what's known as an induction coil singing it's swan song. If the sound is coming from the power supply, Replace. It. Now. Before. It. Fries. Everything.

 

[wolfram23]

What motherboard do you have? I have an Asus P7P55D Pro, and mine has a whine sound at idle if it goes into C6 idle state, but at C3 it's fine. It's wierd. But anyway I guess Asus boards do it sometimes. Not sure about under load, but then, my GPUs will make a noise under extreme load (like FurMark testing).

 

[Psychoteddy]

I need to correct an error. After further research into this issue and sifting through many forums, it has been revealed to me that squealing induction coils are not a fatal problem. In fact, it can be corrected by using a bead of silicone on the offending inductor or women's nail polish (clearcoat, since some have metallic flakes in them). Apparently this is a trick of the trade used by many experienced electronics experts.

The reason that I said this was because I had a GTX 295 that had a similar issue which died a couple weeks later after developing this problem. HOWEVER, this may have been due to the fact that the inductor was under heavy load due to a failed capacitor, or it may have been the sound of the capacitor itself venting dilectric material (which can sound similar to a squealing coil).

Either way, check your motherboard, graphics card and PSU for any capacitors (black/silver cylinders on the board) that have a bulge or damage. DO NOT disassemble the PSU to do this. You may not be able to see into the PSU, this is ok. However, there are VERY high amounts of current stored in the capacitors that may KILL YOU if you touch them. DON'T EVEN TOUCH THE SMALL ONES. Ask me how I know...

If all capacitors appear ok, you may want to invest in a PSU tester to rule out PSU issues. If the PSU test out fine, then all is well and you have nothing to worry about.

Sorry again for the misinformation.

 

[Thanatos421]

GPUs are known to whine if whatever you have on screen is rendering at rediculous frames per second. The Starcraft II menu was doing this and frying video cards left and right. It was rendering at over 300 fps and super heating the GPU core.

 

[Psychoteddy]

GPUs are known to whine if whatever you have on screen is rendering at rediculous frames per second. The Starcraft II menu was doing this and frying video cards left and right. It was rendering at over 300 fps and super heating the GPU core.

I don't really know where you got this information from but the only thing that can fry a GPU is a bad overclock or failed components. A game does not determine how hard a GPU runs. It may be a demanding game but the GPU determines the maximum amount of output it can sustain. It may have been that Starcraft did not have Vsync enabled in the menus. Without this, the GPU would be free to render the menu as fast as it can. Which, if someone had overclocked properly, would have stress tested the GPU for 100% usage for an extended period of time. Stock GPUs, I would venture to guess, did not have this issue. If you have any other information to correct me though, please share it (I'm not being sarcastic or pompous, I'd genuinely like to know if that's possible)

 

[wolfram23]

^True. I've been playing Risen lately which does not have Vsync so in game I'm usually ~100fps but the menu goes crazy, between 2500-3000 FPS lol. But temps dont' really change, maxing out under 70C.

 

[Thanatos421]

That's exactly what I was saying. You simply said it differently. And yes, it was killing cards. Go look at the Blizzard forums. I'm not saying that the unchecked rendering is the direct cause, but there are far too many people who posted that their cards are dead after leaving the menu up for too long. I'm not sure exactly why the Starcraft menu was any different than any other game where the menu renders at gigantic FPS, maybe because it was actually 3d modeled instead of your standard 2d with effects menu. I know CoD4 did the same on my PC, but never caused my card to overheat. I was simply pointing out that the only "whine" I've ever heard come from my system was the gfx card rendering out of control

 

[Psychoteddy]

That's exactly what I was saying. You simply said it differently. And yes, it was killing cards. Go look at the Blizzard forums. I'm not saying that the unchecked rendering is the direct cause, but there are far too many people who posted that their cards are dead after leaving the menu up for too long. I'm not sure exactly why the Starcraft menu was any different than any other game where the menu renders at gigantic FPS, maybe because it was actually 3d modeled instead of your standard 2d with effects menu. I know CoD4 did the same on my PC, but never caused my card to overheat. I was simply pointing out that the only "whine" I've ever heard come from my system was the gfx card rendering out of control

You're misunderstanding me though. What I'm saying is that the GPU should be able to render the menu unchecked without overheating ad infinitum. If the GPU is overheating while rendering at full boar then there is something wrong with either:

1.) GPU Voltage too high
2.) GPU clocks too high
3.) Poor ventilation, case or otherwise
4.) Failed voltage regulators
5.) Clogged vent ports
6.) Bad TIM
7.) Other hardware failure

The same thing happens with many other games, and it's common for 2D menus to render that fast. My GTX 295 will crank out 4000 FPS in The Sims 3 menus, CoD Menus, etc with no issue (because it's not OC'd, I don't need to yet)

 

[Thanatos421]

I guess all the cards posted there could have been factory OC cards that failed due to overvoltage at such high fps. I agree with what you're saying. I just can't turn a blind eye to so many people having identical problems with SC2. Like I said, I have never had personal issues with the GPU whine, aside from it being annoying.

 

[Psychoteddy]

I guess all the cards posted there could have been factory OC cards that failed due to overvoltage at such high fps. I agree with what you're saying. I just can't turn a blind eye to so many people having identical problems with SC2. Like I said, I have never had personal issues with the GPU whine, aside from it being annoying.

Yeah some of the factory OC cards could cause that too. Mine is a stock GTX 295 Co-op for that very reason. If I'm going to break it I want to do it under my own terms. I'll NEVER buy a factory OC card. Not worth the extra cost for something that takes a few hours to do myself, and probably better.