Can anyone confirm this is coil whine please?

[Dreadbeard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVy4zPwmxxc

This is from my own PC, just want confirmation that it is coil whine.

And would love to know if it is a danger to any components?.

 

[COLGeek]

Possibly, but it sounds like you have a seriously loud fan as well. Is that true?

BTW, other than being annoying, coil whine usually doesn't "break" anything,

 

[cliffro]

Coil whine sounds more like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HxFBHdtvGI

Yours sounds more like a fan making a ticking noise from rubbing on something as it rotates.

 

[bgunner]

Coil whine sounds more like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HxFBHdtvGI

Yours sounds more like a fan making a ticking noise from rubbing on something as it rotates.

I agree his sounds like something in the fan. I have heard many things Coil whine but his is not a coil whine. Sry Dreadbeard but Cliffro's example is coil whine.

 

[Dreadbeard]

Ah ok no worries, ill double check all fans when i get a chance, and yeah the fans loud but its a big one haha. Cyclone II not exactly small.

 

[Dreadbeard]

"Cant edit post"

But basicly i remember being told somewhere that the sound im hearing is a possible coil whine "or rattle of coils".

It only happens on high FPs games, and even more since my CPU got upgraded, it seems to be alot louder and more frequent now. Almost like the old CPU bottlenecked something.

Should it be of concern?

 

[COLGeek]

It really does sound like a fan issue, more than classic coil whine. I have listened to your linked recording several times now and it is hard to tell with the fan noise to rule out coil whine.

Is this fan you referred to a case fan or the fan on your video card?

 

[Dreadbeard]

On the GPU its self, MSI geforce GTX 550 TI cyclone II OC.

Thats the GPU.

 

[COLGeek]

Just for grins. Drop your fan speed back to 30% max. Fire up a game and record the sound again.

 

[DarkSable]

Oh dear... my 670 sounds almost exactly like that, though slightly less extreme, and I had always chalked it up to coil whine.

 

[Dreadbeard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv2ZYOxeGsU&feature=youtu.be

Fan turned down to lowest "40%"

 

[Dreadbeard]

I had a thought it could be the PSU throwing the electric through its self to the GPU under load. but i wouldnt really know.

 

[COLGeek]

I am still not hearing coil whine. Sorry, could just be my ears.

 

[Dreadbeard]

Its the rattle in the video thats getting me, no clue what it is but it gets quite loud. Its not my HDD that grinds, this is more a rattle.

 

[COLGeek]

Sounds like a fan issue. Possibly an out of balance blade or bearing issue.

 

[scout_03]

on the first i could hear a ticking sound but the second one look like a fan that is off balance and made a hissing noise when it rotate,use a set of headphones and put the volume to high you could hear it .

 

[Dreadbeard]

Im sorry if i dont completely understand but i find it a little odd that it could be an out of balance fan?, It only happens when everything gets under load in games. But it does get awfully loud.

 

[COLGeek]

Think of what happens when a ceiling fan is out of balance. At slow speeds it may wobble a bit, but it doesn't really affect its performance. At high speeds, it bounces all over the place and may actually damage something with all of the movement.

Open the case (powered down). Put your finger on the GPU fan to keep it from spinning. Power the system on. Any whine? Then release the fan and allow it to spin. Does the noise start again?

I had a Zalman CPU cooler a couple years ago that had a similar problem.

 

[Dreadbeard]

It defiantly slows and stops when I exit games but it does take a while to do so.

 

[COLGeek]

Do you mean the sound slows and stops (like coinciding with the fan speed)?

 

[Dreadbeard]

Sort of, I've never really noticed it but I've never noticed any performance impacts from a fan slowing?

 

[COLGeek]

Your GPU fan will spin up/down automatically to adjust for the heat it is producing. Gaming will require greater processing and will generate more heat, thus the fan will spin faster. When you stop gaming, the GPU processing requirements will lower and so will the fan speed. Really not a matter of affecting performance in this regard as long as the GPU stays at a safe temperature.

 

[Dreadbeard]

I hit around 72 c if I sit in games for hours on end... Can go higher but not much, lately it sits around 68c under load

 

[COLGeek]

Those temps are okay, not to worry, as long as you live with the noise.

You might considering returning the GPU (exchanging it) or you could add an aftermarket cooler to it if the noise is too much.

 

[Dreadbeard]

I think it might be ok, it can get relatively loud even over headphones. But i can live with it, I haven't got any case coolers yet but that's next in for me. I was just a wee bit concerned because it only gets as loud as it does since I put a new CPU in. It did it before but not so much it's like the old CPU bottlenecked the gpu and the new one has released that and now the gpu is doing more without getting so hot. But I'm not too sure, for all I know it maybe the psu but I can't get in the case right now to check.