I swap out my old P4 2.4C with P4P800 with AMD MB+CPU today, in my Antec Sonata. However, once i turn on the machine with the new MB + CPU + Gfx card, there is a super loud high-pitch buzz. I try my best to localize it and i think it's coming from the PSU (I'm 80% sure). Do you think my PSU is dying? If this happen on a normal day i would assume it's the PSU, but since this happen exactly at the time after i swap the MB+CPU, i am a little suspicious. Can it be anything else?
The Sonata PSU is 20-pin while the new MB is 24-pin. However, by default the 4 extra pins on the MB are covered and i assume a 20-pin PSU should work. Do you think this may be the reason? Would getting an ATX 2.0 PSU help?
Components details:
Old: P4P800 Deluxe + P4 2.4C + Geforce4 Ti4200
New: Gigabyte K8N Ultra-9 + Winchester 3200+ 90nm + ATI X800XL
Thanks!!
Addy.
Help! My Sonata PSU squealing!
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar
-
Devonavar
- SPCR Reviewer
- Posts: 1850
- Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2003 11:23 am
- Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Congratulations, you've got coil whine. Yes, the most likely suspect is your PSU, and no, it's probably not going to die on you just yet. Coil whine is often component-specific, and is very difficult to diagnose and/or fix. Be prepared to try out some unconventional (and not widely tested) mods to fix this. Do a search for coil whine or coil buzz for more information.
Replacing the PSU might help, then again, a new PSU might have its own ideosyncracies. As far as I can tell, a lot of coil whine is usually sample specific, not model specific, so even different instances of the same model can behave differently.
One thing you might try is to disconnect as many peripherals as you can and see if that helps. Coil whine is sometimes produced by the particular power draws of the USB or Firewire (or even IDE) interfaces. Usually, these are more likely to produce whine on the motherboard than in the PSU though.
It's also possible that finding a 20->24 pin adaptor for your power supply might help, since this would distribute the power that your X800XL draws more evenly. The 4 extra pins are part of PCIe power requirements and are used mainly for powering the video card via the motherboard. Most (all?) 24-pin motherboards will work powered from a 20 pin header, but it will definitely be happier (and possibly more stable) with power supplied to all 24 pins. There's no need to buy a new PSU for this though, the power is all coming from the same place. So long as your PSU can supply the necessary amperage for your components (and your TP380S can), a 20->24 pin adaptor is all you need.
Replacing the PSU might help, then again, a new PSU might have its own ideosyncracies. As far as I can tell, a lot of coil whine is usually sample specific, not model specific, so even different instances of the same model can behave differently.
One thing you might try is to disconnect as many peripherals as you can and see if that helps. Coil whine is sometimes produced by the particular power draws of the USB or Firewire (or even IDE) interfaces. Usually, these are more likely to produce whine on the motherboard than in the PSU though.
It's also possible that finding a 20->24 pin adaptor for your power supply might help, since this would distribute the power that your X800XL draws more evenly. The 4 extra pins are part of PCIe power requirements and are used mainly for powering the video card via the motherboard. Most (all?) 24-pin motherboards will work powered from a 20 pin header, but it will definitely be happier (and possibly more stable) with power supplied to all 24 pins. There's no need to buy a new PSU for this though, the power is all coming from the same place. So long as your PSU can supply the necessary amperage for your components (and your TP380S can), a 20->24 pin adaptor is all you need.
Thanks for the reply. I am still surprised that the 'whine' is so bad. It's really unbearable. I thought i know what coil whine sounds like, but the one i have is 10 times worse than i ever encountered.
Anyway, i have tried unplugging everything except the MB + CPU + HD, (X800XL removed), but the squealing doesn't improve at all, so the culprit is probably the MB.
I haven't tried the the 20-24pin converter yet, as i don't have one readily with me. Will try it as soon as i can get it somewhere.
Do anybody have similar experience with their sonata PSU + some MB?
Anyway, i have tried unplugging everything except the MB + CPU + HD, (X800XL removed), but the squealing doesn't improve at all, so the culprit is probably the MB.
I haven't tried the the 20-24pin converter yet, as i don't have one readily with me. Will try it as soon as i can get it somewhere.
Do anybody have similar experience with their sonata PSU + some MB?
A related question: Do you think the PSU squealing are correlated with potential PSU failure? For the past 2 days I run Prime95 to test the system stability, and i have blue screens of DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION several time.
As my memory come from previous system and memtest have been perfectly stable, i believe the problem shd be either MB, CPU or PSU. And the fact that the PSU is squealing like crazy is making it the probable suspect.
As my memory come from previous system and memtest have been perfectly stable, i believe the problem shd be either MB, CPU or PSU. And the fact that the PSU is squealing like crazy is making it the probable suspect.