Buzzing from Antec NeoHE 430

Bungee · Post by **Bungee** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:58 pm

Hi. For the last few months I have been assembling and silencing my new computer. I haven't really used it yet, because I'm still waiting for a good time to make the switch from my old computer (with all my important data) to the new one.

But I did some testing yesterday, and discovered that the Antec NeoHE 430w PSU is buzzing (coil whine?), whenever I do something on the screen.

So if I open an explorer window and constantly push PageUp or PageDown, the buzzing is always there, even though the screen has stopped scrolling. There is also buzzing if I scroll a page in Internet Explorer. If I open a webpage with a flash-animation, there is some buzzing, which disappears if I move the flash-animation out of sight.

My system is:

Antec P150 and NeoHE 430 (serial 0509xxxxxxx)
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe
AMD Athlon64 3500+ (cooled by Scythe Ninja)
EVGA 7600GT (cooled by HR-03 and 92mm Nexus)
2x512MB Kingston Memory
Samsung 250GB (2504)
Benq 1650
120MM Nexus fan (running around 5V at back)
80MM Nexus fan (running around 7V at front)

The computer has also restarted a few times, but it can be on for hours without happening, so not sure why, and it's very difficult to test.

But why do I get the buzzing ?

I have read that PSU could buzz, if there is a very light load. Not sure how light that has to be, but could that be it ?

I have also read, that Antec has not used the best capacitors in their PSU's. That might explain the restarts, but I don't think that's the problem.

Or is there any incompability between the videocard and PSU? Not sure if I can get another PCI-E for testing.

I have considered the new Corsair HX520W, but since I'm not sure of the problem, I don't know if it will help.

cloneman · Post by **cloneman** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:41 pm

I had a similar problem of buzzing that occurred with page scrolling, I never really figured out where the sound was coming from, but I *THINK* it was the video card. Although I had an antec SP-350 PSU, which began whining (permanently) a short while later, so you never know...

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:08 pm

Luckily there have been a bunch of problems with the NeoHE, so you can just RMA it.

high5 · Post by **high5** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:08 am

The so-called scroll noise has usually been related to the VGA.

I'd suggest you to double-check whether it's really coming from your PSU.

You can help yourself with some cardboard to isolate certain areas inside your computer in order to determine the source of the noise.

Bungee · Post by **Bungee** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:04 am

It's 100% sure, it's the psu that makes the noise. I have replaced it with the Corsair 520, and the scrollnoise seems to have gone. I haven't had a chance to do a test in completely silence, so I don't know if the Corsair fan is slightly louder than the Antec, but I feel more confident using the Corsair in an almost 24/7 computer.

But it was HELL removing the PSU, because the upper department in P150 is smaller than the PSU, so I had to remove the motherboard to make the switch. In all of my older cases, I could just unscrew the PSU, and slide it out to the left.

cloneman · Post by **cloneman** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:49 pm

nice to see an update on the topic.

I'm on my second whining SP-350 (Smart Power 2.0 that comes with the 3700-BQE)

I'm planning on stopping over at USPS post office on my next trip across the border to send it in for RMA. No way I'm paying international shipping!