Ok, I been building silent pc, but some new noise is now bothering me a lot. Apparently CPU makes noise when CPU usage goes up. It makes this strange noise which is louder then any of my fans in this case (besides Seasonic SS400). This noise is more consistant when playing games that are CPU hungry. (was playing UT2004 demo) Is that normal? Can someone confirm that I am not just making it up by listening to the sound in their CPU?
Specs:
AMD 64 3200+
AsusK8V
1GB Mushkin DDR3500
zalman 7000
Antec SuperLanboy
Seasonic SS400
etc...
Does CPU make noise? (AMD64 3200+)
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
I cannot explain why I have this hunch, but I think that your problem is in one of those three donut shaped deals with the copper wire wrapped around it. That's a toroid inductor.
Unfortunately, I've been reading online and I couldn't find any explaination to the cause, except that inductors (sometimes called chokes) sometimes can make noise. Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong. This is stuff I SHOULD know, but I slept through class when they were teaching this.
-
MikeC
- Site Admin
- Posts: 12285
- Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Contact:
sthayashi -- I must be having a good day because I still agree. 
This phenomenon is not unusual, it happens probably on ALL boards and coils. The question is at what level? Well designed PS circuits keep the coil resonance low enough to be inaudible; bad ones not only buzz and whine but are modulated by load. It happens with several of my board/PSU combos, sometimes swapping out PSUs and/or other components (VGA mostly) helps, but some motherboards just do it no matter what. (Ditto PSUs)
This phenomenon is not unusual, it happens probably on ALL boards and coils. The question is at what level? Well designed PS circuits keep the coil resonance low enough to be inaudible; bad ones not only buzz and whine but are modulated by load. It happens with several of my board/PSU combos, sometimes swapping out PSUs and/or other components (VGA mostly) helps, but some motherboards just do it no matter what. (Ditto PSUs)
Thank you guys for helping me with this problem. i am not trying be picky, just want to have a silent PC. Overall I am satisfied with the noise, but I just can't stand this new noise. I removed PSU and listened carefully to where the noise was coming from and it does appear it is coming from one of thoise coils... would you recommend another AMD64 board that will be silent or should I RMA this one? I do have Seasonic SS400 A2 that I am thinking returning, because it's pretty annoying as well, could it be affecting motheboard?
The noise level is tolerable when the case closed, but once it's opened it gets pretty annoying...
The noise level is tolerable when the case closed, but once it's opened it gets pretty annoying...
From what MikeC said and what little I've read, it's really hit and miss. Though on the Tagan Power supplies, it's more of a hit than a miss (but supposedly corrected on the next batch of PSUs).
RMA'ing the board may be the easiest thing to do. if you have spare compatible computer parts lying around, you may want to try it with a slightly different setup. Like with a different video card as MikeC suggested.
RMA'ing the board may be the easiest thing to do. if you have spare compatible computer parts lying around, you may want to try it with a slightly different setup. Like with a different video card as MikeC suggested.
Well, if klas are happy with this mobo, then he can silence the coild with easy way, using the hot-glue pistol, to glue them as much, as possible, witch will eliminate the noise at all, and it's still removable, so RMA is possible - in case we got wrong and the coils is not the culprit 
However i believe they are, because nothing else can make noise on mobo. I did not see, tough, the point of replacing videocard at all Maybe replacing to any low-power one could reduce the load and reduce the noise too? Yes, possible.
But i rather play with hot-glue pistol that replacing videocard
However i believe they are, because nothing else can make noise on mobo. I did not see, tough, the point of replacing videocard at all
Maybe replacing to any low-power one could reduce the load and reduce the noise too? Yes, possible.But i rather play with hot-glue pistol that replacing videocard
-
Gooserider
- Posts: 587
- Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2003 10:45 pm
- Location: North Billerica, MA, USA
- Contact:
I agree with those who suspect coil resonance as the problem. Coils are one of the few electronic parts that tend to make noise inherently. This is because the wires build up magnetic fields around them that interact with the core and the other wires which causes them to vibrate when the current through the coil attempts to fluctuate. The coils are supposed to be wound tightly enough, and then get dipped in an insulating varnish to stop the vibration, but often this doesn't work as well as it should. Since most people run computers that are noisy enough that you can't hear the coil noise, manufacturers don't care all that much, and may not want to accept coil noise as an RMA reason.
More of a concern is that a vibrating coil is an eventual failure risk - coil wire is made with a very thin insulating varnish to keep the coil from shorting out when it is being wound, or in service. This varnish can be worn away over time allowing the coil to short out.
The best way to isolate the problem coil is to start the machine doing something that causes the noise, then gently push on each coil with a finger or soft rubber probe (a pensil eraser?) and see what makes the noise level change.
The best cure is to do the same sort of thing that we do to all the rest of our computer parts, namely isolate and damp the vibrations. The best way to do this is to coat the coil with some sort of paint, rubber sealant, or other material that will surround all the wires, and anchor them in place. Note that it is important to choose a coating that won't damage the existing varnish insulation. Hot glue as suggested earlier MIGHT work, but I'm not sure since it would have a tendency not to penetrate to the inside of the coil. I'd be more inclined to use something like electricians Goop, or a similar liquid rubbery product.
Another caution is that this should NOT be done on coils where the exact value of the coil is critical (such as an oscillator circuit) as this will cause a slight change in the coils value. For an electrical smoothing circuit like the coils on the mobo, this isn't a particular factor.
Gooserider
More of a concern is that a vibrating coil is an eventual failure risk - coil wire is made with a very thin insulating varnish to keep the coil from shorting out when it is being wound, or in service. This varnish can be worn away over time allowing the coil to short out.
The best way to isolate the problem coil is to start the machine doing something that causes the noise, then gently push on each coil with a finger or soft rubber probe (a pensil eraser?) and see what makes the noise level change.
The best cure is to do the same sort of thing that we do to all the rest of our computer parts, namely isolate and damp the vibrations. The best way to do this is to coat the coil with some sort of paint, rubber sealant, or other material that will surround all the wires, and anchor them in place. Note that it is important to choose a coating that won't damage the existing varnish insulation. Hot glue as suggested earlier MIGHT work, but I'm not sure since it would have a tendency not to penetrate to the inside of the coil. I'd be more inclined to use something like electricians Goop, or a similar liquid rubbery product.
Another caution is that this should NOT be done on coils where the exact value of the coil is critical (such as an oscillator circuit) as this will cause a slight change in the coils value. For an electrical smoothing circuit like the coils on the mobo, this isn't a particular factor.
Gooserider