High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU - Page 4

macgta16 · 10-25-2009, 10:07 AM

Right, basically now since chris isn't going to swap PSU (his is only 580w), he's gonna pop round my house and have a listen for himself and try and locate where it's coming from (i still, for the life of me, cannot find the source :() and try his GTS260 and then that will rule out it being the graphics card. I'll report back with the results as soon as i can post them.

**greenbrucelee** · 10-25-2009, 11:32 AM

since its hard for us to determin what it is suspect everything which I think you have, ask your friend to look at the hard drive for noise.

macgta16 · 10-25-2009, 01:14 PM

I doubt its the HDD; the only noise that makes is quiet whizzing (which is obviously the disc spinning) but i shall ask for him to check the HDD as well. Also, i've made a possible discovery; i was listening to the PC during shutdown, and the second the display turns off the sound stops, but the machine is not fully powered down at this stage, (basically on my system vista says shutting down, the screen goes off, the HDD parks the heads and the PC turns off) now the sound stops before the heads have been parked, so this could possibly mean it's to do with the graphics card; but as i say i'm swapping with his GTX260 (GTX280 or 260 i'm not sure which) so i shall find out soon.

**greenbrucelee** · 10-25-2009, 01:20 PM

when inverters in monitors start to fail they can make noises.

macgta16 · 10-25-2009, 04:24 PM

I meant the high frequency noise the thread is about stops as soon as the monitor goes off, which is before the PC has fully powered down (head parking)

**greenbrucelee** · 10-26-2009, 07:27 AM

inverters can make high frequency noises when the monitor is getting a signal, i,.e when the computer is on but will stop when they computer is off.

macgta16 · 10-26-2009, 01:10 PM

Yes but the sound is coming from the PC, not the monitor.

**greenbrucelee** · 10-26-2009, 01:16 PM

when is your friend coming?

macgta16 · 10-26-2009, 06:53 PM

He's coming on wednesday morning (GMT, i'm in the UK)

**greenbrucelee** · 10-27-2009, 05:06 AM

hopefully he can identify it.

macgta16 · 10-27-2009, 08:43 AM

I hope so :), the only thing i'm worrying about is if he can't hear it; you sometimes find that certain people cannot hear certain pitches/frequencies of noises; but since he does this sort of thing for a living (fixing relatives/ppls PC's) chances are he'll be able to hear it.

macgta16 · 10-28-2009, 04:35 PM

OK, sorry for the wait :)

Well, according to him the sound he's hearing is completely normal, and apparently it's only really a problem if it's a lot louder; I'm going to keep monitoring it, but to be honest his opinion is probably correct (he does this sort of stuff for a living), and i'm only gonna start getting worried if it gets louder/worse. Thx guys for all of your help! :)

**wrench97** · 10-28-2009, 04:39 PM

Thanks for letting us know.

**greenbrucelee** · 10-28-2009, 04:40 PM

I mentioned this in post 50

if it gets louder worry if it doesn't don't

macgta16 · 10-30-2009, 09:51 AM

Sorry for my constant questions, but i would just like to know in terms of learning, what sorts of computer components can make this noise, and what is it that they are doing?

**greenbrucelee** · 10-30-2009, 03:42 PM

well the inside of the psu can make a noise, but it is not a good idea to mess with power supplies because a psu can carry lethal voltages weeks after being powered down.

a fan can make a noise when the bearings need oild or because of dust on them, this goes for heatsinks too.

gpu can make a noise when its overheating

wires touching the contacts on the motherboard causing infrequent shortages can make a noise

thats about all I can think of

If anything is making a loud noise which you have never hear of before then that points to that component being on its way out.

But some noises are normal such as the fans spining and the flow of air through the case

macgta16 · 10-30-2009, 05:43 PM

When you say loud, what do you mean? do you mean as in so loud that you can't hear yourself think?

**greenbrucelee** · 10-31-2009, 12:00 AM

if it is very loud yes, apart from fans I have 6 fans in my case and when I'm playing games I have them all on full whack speed which can be very noisey if it's a quiet game.

quite honestly I think your worrying about something which isn't a problem.

Phædrus2401 · 10-31-2009, 12:15 AM

Sometimes for some reason a graphics card will "click". Not all do, and it isn't restricted to certain models; it seems nearly random. I'm not sure why this is, but it apparently has to do with the capacitors. Well, if the clicking is rapid enough it can sound like a tone; and if it's thousands of times a second it can sound like a high pitched tone. That's one possibility that occurs to me.

**greenbrucelee** · 10-31-2009, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phædrus2401

Sometimes for some reason a graphics card will "click". Not all do, and it isn't restricted to certain models; it seems nearly random. I'm not sure why this is, but it apparently has to do with the capacitors. Well, if the clicking is rapid enough it can sound like a tone; and if it's thousands of times a second it can sound like a high pitched tone. That's one possibility that occurs to me.

yep when the capictors get hot the can vibrate.

10-25-2009, 10:07 AM	#61 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU Right, basically now since chris isn't going to swap PSU (his is only 580w), he's gonna pop round my house and have a listen for himself and try and locate where it's coming from (i still, for the life of me, cannot find the source :() and try his GTS260 and then that will rule out it being the graphics card. I'll report back with the results as soon as i can post them.

10-25-2009, 11:32 AM	#62 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU since its hard for us to determin what it is suspect everything which I think you have, ask your friend to look at the hard drive for noise. __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

10-25-2009, 01:14 PM	#63 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU I doubt its the HDD; the only noise that makes is quiet whizzing (which is obviously the disc spinning) but i shall ask for him to check the HDD as well. Also, i've made a possible discovery; i was listening to the PC during shutdown, and the second the display turns off the sound stops, but the machine is not fully powered down at this stage, (basically on my system vista says shutting down, the screen goes off, the HDD parks the heads and the PC turns off) now the sound stops before the heads have been parked, so this could possibly mean it's to do with the graphics card; but as i say i'm swapping with his GTX260 (GTX280 or 260 i'm not sure which) so i shall find out soon.

10-25-2009, 01:20 PM	#64 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU when inverters in monitors start to fail they can make noises. __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

10-25-2009, 04:24 PM	#65 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU I meant the high frequency noise the thread is about stops as soon as the monitor goes off, which is before the PC has fully powered down (head parking)

10-26-2009, 07:27 AM	#66 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU inverters can make high frequency noises when the monitor is getting a signal, i,.e when the computer is on but will stop when they computer is off. __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

10-26-2009, 01:10 PM	#67 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU Yes but the sound is coming from the PC, not the monitor.

10-26-2009, 01:16 PM	#68 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU when is your friend coming? __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

10-26-2009, 06:53 PM	#69 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU He's coming on wednesday morning (GMT, i'm in the UK)

10-27-2009, 05:06 AM	#70 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU hopefully he can identify it. __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

10-27-2009, 08:43 AM	#71 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU I hope so :), the only thing i'm worrying about is if he can't hear it; you sometimes find that certain people cannot hear certain pitches/frequencies of noises; but since he does this sort of thing for a living (fixing relatives/ppls PC's) chances are he'll be able to hear it.

10-28-2009, 04:35 PM	#72 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU OK, sorry for the wait :) Well, according to him the sound he's hearing is completely normal, and apparently it's only really a problem if it's a lot louder; I'm going to keep monitoring it, but to be honest his opinion is probably correct (he does this sort of stuff for a living), and i'm only gonna start getting worried if it gets louder/worse. Thx guys for all of your help! :)

10-28-2009, 04:39 PM	#73 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,579 OS: Win7	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU Thanks for letting us know. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

10-28-2009, 04:40 PM	#74 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU I mentioned this in post 50 if it gets louder worry if it doesn't don't __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

10-30-2009, 09:51 AM	#75 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU Sorry for my constant questions, but i would just like to know in terms of learning, what sorts of computer components can make this noise, and what is it that they are doing?

10-30-2009, 03:42 PM	#76 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU well the inside of the psu can make a noise, but it is not a good idea to mess with power supplies because a psu can carry lethal voltages weeks after being powered down. a fan can make a noise when the bearings need oild or because of dust on them, this goes for heatsinks too. gpu can make a noise when its overheating wires touching the contacts on the motherboard causing infrequent shortages can make a noise thats about all I can think of If anything is making a loud noise which you have never hear of before then that points to that component being on its way out. But some noises are normal such as the fans spining and the flow of air through the case __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified Last edited by greenbrucelee; 10-30-2009 at 03:44 PM.

10-30-2009, 05:43 PM	#77 (permalink)
macgta16 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 72 OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP1	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU When you say loud, what do you mean? do you mean as in so loud that you can't hear yourself think?

10-31-2009, 12:00 AM	#78 (permalink)
greenbrucelee Mentor Hardware team Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,849 OS: XP SP3 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU if it is very loud yes, apart from fans I have 6 fans in my case and when I'm playing games I have them all on full whack speed which can be very noisey if it's a quiet game. quite honestly I think your worrying about something which isn't a problem. __________________ Microsoft certified professional, Network +, A+ certified

10-31-2009, 12:15 AM	#79 (permalink)
Phædrus2401 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New Orleans Posts: 3,810 OS: Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 + Ubuntu 9.04 My System	Re: High frequency noise coming from PC - Suspected PSU Sometimes for some reason a graphics card will "click". Not all do, and it isn't restricted to certain models; it seems nearly random. I'm not sure why this is, but it apparently has to do with the capacitors. Well, if the clicking is rapid enough it can sound like a tone; and if it's thousands of times a second it can sound like a high pitched tone. That's one possibility that occurs to me. __________________ Good PSU brands: Corsair, SeaSonic, CWT, PC Power and Cooling, Thermaltake Toughpower, CoolerMaster Real Power Pro On 80+ Certification - PSU Information and Selection - Power Supply Myths You don't get what you don't pay for.