High pitched sound from new build

Fan sound... I would open the case and see if that helps localizing the sound. Temporarily blocking the fans one by one with a pencil might help isolating the sound. I would start with the northbridge fan if it has one. Also, don't forget the power supply, they have fans inside as well. If none of the other fans are the culprit, then the power supply is the only other fan-bearing thing.

Actually I took a stethoscope and went all over the case, and believe it is the power supply. Corsair approved my RMA. We'll see once I get a new one if that truly was the culprit.

System specs?

Certain Mobo's have coil shrieks with certain PSU's.

Asus P6X58-E
Intel Core i7 950
Corsair 6GB DDR3 PC1600
EVGA Nvidia 465GTX


I ordered a Corsair CMPSU-650HX this time to see if there's any change. If it does work, I may have a Corsair CMPSU-620HX for sale.  

Well the P6x58's don't have a known coil shriek issue so PSU might be a good candidate.

Um also, why'd you use a stethoscope as opposed to running the build with the case open to see where sound is coming from?

It was too hard to accurately detect exactly where the sound was coming from when I had the side panel open.

Unfortunately this Power Supply has the noise as well BUT it's definitely coming FROM the Power Supply. I don't think I have the luck to get two Power Supplies with the same issue. If I put my ear right up to the Power Supply fan I can hear the noise clear as day.

So what could be causing both power supplies to do this? Could it be some sort of electrical noise from my motherboard?


Edit: I was able to capture a sound recording of it.
http://cid-c408d06cee2f382b.office.live.com/self.aspx/P...

See my post above.

It could be that they used a bad batch of fans for that batch of PSU's.
The transformers could make a buzzing noise, but that usually happens when using high-voltage ones, not the kind that are inside the PSU.

Yeah I have no idea the two Power Supplies I have are two completely different models and bought months apart. I'm hoping to hear back from Corsair on the issue.

They should follow up on that with you.
Good luck!

I called Corsair Tech support and the guy I spoke to seemed to think it was my UPS that my PC is connected to. I removed the UPS and hooked the PC to a normal surge protector but nothing changed, still getting the noise.

I'm going to try and buy an HX850w to see if perhaps it's just the PS being overworked or something.

You could borrow a spare PSU from someone and try it on your system. just for troubleshooting.

I did find something interesting last night. I found a suggestion that has helped but not fixed my issue.

Someone suggested switching from high performance to balanced in the power options. Once I did that the sound stopped but has not gone entirely away. It has helped with the constant whine I was getting when Firefox was open.

So after installing the new 850w PS, the sound is still there yet it is MUCH less noticeable. I really had to strain to hear it this time.

So ultimately, I've had enough fiddling with this. I'm guessing it's some sort of capacitor/coil whine on the motherboard. Is it just an annoyance or will this cause actual damage? If it's just an annoyance, I think it's soft enough now that when I put the side panel back on I probably won't even hear it.

I don't think it will cause damage. I would just close the case and use the system as I wanted. After all, if it will croak after a while, what's the point in worrying about it? I would still get to use it to the extent of it's life span.So, enjoy it and don't look back  

That's what I was thinking, short of sending each component back I have no idea what's causing it.

Coil whine isn't normally damaging, sound is actually a result of harmonics in the freq of the power going through the coils. It's supposed to be beyond human hearing range, but sometimes due to interactions of Power Supply (as in power company and house wiring) and hardware interactions, ends up being in the audible range. Some people also have larger range of hearing than others.

If you can live with it it should be fine. If you really want to get rid of it though, you can try switching Mobo's to like an Asus Sabertooth or GA x58-ud3r.