What's Up With the PSU Noise?

hawkeye1 · Post by **hawkeye1** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 2:04 am

All,

I seem to get a continuous low-level whine that's not too noticable, but when I select certain folders in Power Desk or certain windows (if I have multiple ones open) in Internet Explorer, I'll suddenly get a totally annoying high-pitched whine. If I change to a different folder/window, the whine goes away. I've got three hard drives in my system, and it happens on each on them, so no rhyme or reason as to when it will happen. I'm currently using a SilenX 400 in my system, but to be fair the whine happened with my old PSU as well. So, is this something that happens to others, and is there anything I can do to circumvent this annoying problem?

Thanks/hawkeye1

LushMD · Post by **LushMD** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 5:29 am

Hi Hawkeye. I've had a similar experience using SilenX PSUs. Specifically, of the two SilenX PSUs that I ordered, one continuously whines whereas the other recently developed an intermittant whine, similar in nature to the whine that you described (the whine is getting worse with time though). I e-mailed Peter Kim (of SilenX.com) about this and he indicated that the whine is somehow due to the active PFC circuitry in the PSU. As both PSUs whine, and are thus far from silent, I have decided to return them and try the 350W Fortron PSU w/120mm fan (does not have active PFC). Take care.

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 8:13 am

LushMD wrote:...of the two SilenX PSUs that I ordered, one continuously whines whereas the other recently developed an intermittant whine, ...the whine is getting worse with time though). I e-mailed Peter Kim (of SilenX.com) about this and he indicated that the whine is somehow due to the active PFC circuitry in the PSU...

Similar experience here too. I've noticed the SilenX PSU's will often develop the dreaded whining sound after a few days of use. I'm wondering if using ferrite cores will help, but I'm unsure how to try this at this point (details of how, etc). I didn't know about the cause of the whine being somehow linked to APFC though, that's interesting...

starsky · Post by **starsky** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:15 pm

Siunds like the whine I am getting from my Sonata 380s PUS after continual use for 2 months now.

I have a silenx 400w on the way and will be running it 24x7 for a week when I get it. I will provide feedback.

herosformula · Post by **herosformula** » Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:21 pm

I had the whine from my Fortron 120mm, except that it was variable in pitch, sort of like a police siren. Probably most people would not hear it, but I can hear fairly high pitched noises (I can hear my robot's ultrasonic ranger)

hawkeye1 · Post by **hawkeye1** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 1:24 am

Interesting responses, particularly hearing that others are having the same problems as I am. I'm uncertain what to do now as within the next week or two I'll be building a pretty awesome computer system (well, in my opinion at least!), and the SilenX was going to be a centerpiece of it. But, even as I type, low-level whine is present, and that's not good in my quest for the ultimate quiet/fast system.

Help me all, I'm open for suggestions. Fortron as suggested by LushMD, another PSU suggestion, or some easy altercations to the SilenX (and I do mean easy!)?

Thanks again,

hawkeye1