Have I Bought a Faulty Motherboard?

Boidy · Post by **Boidy** » Thu May 22, 2008 9:06 am

Hi, I hoping someone on here can confirm something, or point me in the right direction to what I have done wrong.

I've bought compnents to make up a new HTPC for myself.

Antec Fusion 430 case
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 Processor
Asus P5E-VM SE Motherboard

and a few other bits, but these are the important ones for my problem.

If I power the system up with no processor in (bare with me here) all the fans run smoothly and I can here no unexpected noises from the system. When I install the processor, weird sqeeky scratchy noises eminate from the general region of the processor. Best way to describe it is like the sound you heard when your old 56k modem would negotiate a baud rate.
When the system is running, the noise is constant but its intensity does vary with processor load.

I've tried eliminating all other components, all I have left is the motherboard and the processor.

I've done a couple of searches on here and people talk of coil whine on the motherboard, do you think this is what it is?

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Boidy

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Thu May 22, 2008 1:23 pm

Did you attach your cpu cooler correctly with cooling paste?

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Thu May 22, 2008 3:01 pm

Boidy wrote:I've done a couple of searches on here and people talk of coil whine on the motherboard, do you think this is what it is?

Yes, what you described is coil whine.

When I bought my computer 2,5 years ago. I was suffering from coil whine. My culprit was the IGP on my Asus A8N-VM CSM. Some things helped to reduce the noise. One of them was turning fading effects off. (It's under display properties, appearence, effects). Using discrete graphics made the coil whine disappear. At some point I dropped back to using IGP again. And I noticed, that my problem had pretty much disappeared. I have no idea why. Maybe all it needed was time...

Anyway, if you have a spare graphics card at hand it's pretty easy to rule out the IGP as a possible source.

Boidy · Post by **Boidy** » Thu May 22, 2008 10:44 pm

sjoukew wrote:Did you attach your cpu cooler correctly with cooling paste?

There was a small amount already on the bottom of the heatsink, but I didn't add any more. Nowhere on the installation instructions did it say I had to add any more so I didn't. Does too little paste contribute to noise?

Erssa wrote:Anyway, if you have a spare graphics card at hand it's pretty easy to rule out the IGP as a possible source.

I've disabled the internal graphics in the bios and I'm using a Leadtek PX8500GT with HDMI. Didn't make any difference to the noise from the processor though, but thanks for the advice.

Modo · Post by **Modo** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:03 pm

Boidy wrote: There was a small amount already on the bottom of the heatsink, but I didn't add any more. Nowhere on the installation instructions did it say I had to add any more so I didn't. Does too little paste contribute to noise?

No, this was just checking if it's the CPU that causes the buzzing. The standard Intel heatsink comes with the thermal compound preapplied, and it works well as is. From your description, you installed it correctly, so an overheating CPU doesn't seem to be the problem.

Boidy wrote: I've disabled the internal graphics in the bios and I'm using a Leadtek PX8500GT with HDMI. Didn't make any difference to the noise from the processor though, but thanks for the advice.

Try turning Vertical Sync on in the graphics card driver (permanently, i.e. force it for all applications). If the graphics card is indeed the culprit, this often helps to at least lessen the problem. There's no harm in trying. And if that helps, some people have reported that extensive stress testing (as in, a couple of hours straight of ATITool artifact checker) helps a little as well.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Fri May 23, 2008 2:22 am

Boidy wrote:I've disabled the internal graphics in the bios and I'm using a Leadtek PX8500GT with HDMI. Didn't make any difference to the noise from the processor though, but thanks for the advice.

Ah. Anyway, I still believe your motherboard is the culprit.

Boidy · Post by **Boidy** » Fri May 23, 2008 3:42 am

Modo: The noise was there whether the graphics card was installed or not. I'll have a go with your suggestion to see if it makes any difference but I'm now convinced its a component on the motherboard.

astrayan · Post by **astrayan** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:27 am

It's those little coils doing DC-DC voltage conversions next to the CPU. You could try putting some oil or varnish on them if they are not too hot.
Mine aren't too hot. Then they might still squeal and your warranty might be void. So I'd use clear floor paint.. Try pressing on them with your fingers first so see which one it is.

Boidy · Post by **Boidy** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:02 pm

Good suggestion but, the coils/chokes on this board are encased so I can't get to the actual coil to apply anything. They look like the ones in this pic I found online, the little black cubes.

When the CPU cooler is in place, it actually covers these components on my board so I can't even apply pressure to each one in turn to figure which one is whining. I tried running the board with the cooler removed but it thermal cuts after about 20 seconds.

http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/6 ... uxe_04.jpg

Have I Bought a Faulty Motherboard?

Have I Bought a Faulty Motherboard?

Re: Have I Bought a Faulty Motherboard?