Corsair HX520 buzz/whine issues (other PSUs discussed too)

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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mastabog
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Corsair HX520 buzz/whine issues (other PSUs discussed too)

Post by mastabog » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:11 pm

I would be *extremely* grateful if Corsair 520W owners would tell me if their unit generates any buzz/cricket/tick/whine/etc sound when idle or CPU/VGA under load or even when the mouse scroll wheel or keyboard is used to scroll web pages.

I had this kind of issues with 2 PSUs i recently bought, one of which is the Seasonic S12-430 (the newer one, with sleeved cables). Fan is fairly quiet, but it generates a lot of cricket noise when I scroll web pages with the keyboard or mouse wheel or when the vga is under 3D load (which is a 7900GT and which also squeals!).

Most important aspect for me is silence, both in term of fan speed and buzzing or any other noise coming out of the PSU (coils, caps, etc). I don't need a 520W PSU but I am tired of returning squealing ones so if you guys know the Corsair 520W has a quiet fan and no buzz/squeal/cricket/etc then I'll go for that - I know from the SPCR review that the fan noise from the HX520 is comparable to the newer revision of S12-430 so I'd be happy if that holds.

My old Fortron FSP 350W modded by Blacknoise with a silent fan was quiet all around .. can't use it on the new ASUS P5K mobo because it doesn't post with the 20pin connector.

Thanks a lot in advance!

EDIT: Although this may get me more confused: anyone can recommend a silent PSU in the 400-450W range that has a history of not buzzing/whining/etc? I'd like it to have a 24pin connector and it can even be 500W or slightly more ... noise is what counts most for me:
Last edited by mastabog on Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:23 pm

Wasn't there strong evidence to suggest that the scrolling-related noise was tied to the individual rig and not the PSU used? So instead of having broken PSUs your system wasn't suitable for them, or indeed picked up some sort interference. A squealing graphics card doesn't really spell a very healthy system, and might it be deduced that screen activity causes the crickets? I'm unfortunately no electrical expert, so I can't say for sure what sort of problem the squealing and crickets might point to -- faulty capacitors maybe, providing insufficient buffers? I'd make extra sure all the connections were proper too.

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to test a HX520 personally, but I can say my S12II-430 doesn't have crickets, crocodiles or any other sort of fauna in it. There is that now-standard buzz, but it's only audible at point blank range.

Sounds to me like you put together a rig that didn't start with your old PSU so you bought a new PSU, had crickets so bought a second one and crickets are still there... common nominator new rig? :idea:

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:43 pm

Well, actually no.

I tested two mobos, the P5K and the P5N-E. The P5N-E works with my old Fortron PSU so I got to test that before rushing to start this thread. The fortron makes no noise whatsoever, other than the fan, regardless of the state the rig is in, i.e. scrolling, cpu load, 3d load, etc. The S12-430 for instance has a very annoying cricket sound when scrolling, buzzes quite loudly (high pitch) when under 3d load and cpu load.

The squealing 7900GT is going back on Monday. Scrolling and cpu load noise is there when the S12-430 is used; I tested that with 2 other VGA cards (one of which is an ancient S3 Trio64) that do not squeal.

So yes, I'm pretty certain it's the PSU and not my rig. I'd be grateful if anyone can tell me if the HX520 has any of the above issues. I take SPCR's word for it's fan being silent at idle.

jaldridge6
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Post by jaldridge6 » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:55 pm

Hi, indeed the hx520 buzzes. It is not a motherboard issue. I at first though the buzz was related to the mobo, and tried various different ones with the hx520. it drove me crazy. I eventually went through many mobos trying to get a mobo that didnt cause my psu to buzz. i tried a few other power supplies as well, and they buzzed. it seems like almost every PSU these days has a lot of buzz in them. I tried an S12, 2x hx520s, 2x antec earthwatts, 2x antec NeoHE.... all coil buzzed. Really really really unacceptable. I am still unable to find a PSU without buzz.

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:18 pm

Well, that sucks indeed :( ... thanks for the reply.

Now I'm thining that I may end up RMA'ing PSUs for a long time trying to find one that doesn't buzz/whine. I might just keep this S12-430 and get used to it but it's so annoying, and thinking my old Forton does not and never made any noise other than the fan ... like you said, unacceptable.

Although this may get me more confused: anyone can recommend a silent PSU in the 400-450W range that has a history of not buzzing/whining/etc? I'd like it to have a 24pin connector and it can even be 500W or slightly more ... silence is what counts most for me.

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Post by dhanson865 » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:37 pm

jaldridge6 and mastabog, it would help if you both would click on the profile link and put at least a country name in the location field.

At this point we have to guess if you are on 220 or 115v AC power, do you use any kind of line conditioner or UPS?

I have something north of 10 power supplies in my apt and I haven't noticed buzzing from any of them.

Now let me qualify that by also saying that no system of mine idles below 60 watts AC and the best case scenario for fans would be if the CPU fan were at 0%, while several 80mm fans are running at 5v. So my ambient noise floor might be higher than yours.

I generally don't have more than one PC on at a time, the rest are just parts that are leftover from upgrades and end up getting made into another PC to giveaway to a family member.

I have been inside the case many times with the system on and have unplugged several of the fans to test different voltages and even with the side of the case off and my head less than 2 feet away from the side of the PSU I haven't noticed anything other than airflow noise.

Most of my PSUs are older but I have:

a Seasonic S12 380 (sleeved) US version
a Seasonic S12 430 (non sleeved) US version
an Antec SL350 (performance / smartpower)

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:47 pm

Thanks for the reply. I live in UK so 220V and yes, I do use an UPS (the APC BackUPS CS 500 which has served me for years).

I'm not running after complete silence (or else I would probably be looking at a fanless PSU) but I do like my rig to be silent. I have my C2D cooled by a fanless Ninja Plus Rev B, and a fanless video card (a bit power hungry though, but not a beast). My system idles at around 115W AC with the S12-430 so I figure around 90W DC.
Last edited by mastabog on Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:31 pm

I'm not running after complete silence (I would be looking at a fanless PSU probably) but I do like my rig to be silent.
the silverstone st30nf is not much more expensive than the Corsair 520W you are looking at, and I have never ever heard anyone complain about coil buzz or whine from it (we probably have 10-20 ST30NF users on SPCR all told). keep in mind that anyone who goes for a fanless psu is going to be fairly extreme about noise, so they would notice if it did.

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Sat Jun 23, 2007 4:10 pm

I wasn't interested in something fanless as I was aiming at something with more juice on the 12V rail but I may reconsider it since I gradually find out that I have a higher chance to find older PSUs that don't buzz/whine/etc than newer ones ... I too have heard only nice things about the ST30NF. Thanks.

elpibe10
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Post by elpibe10 » Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:32 pm

I have both the HX520 and HX620 and they don't buzz or whine.

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:14 am

elpibe10 wrote:I have both the HX520 and HX620 and they don't buzz or whine.
Could you include any more details about your rig? cpu, vga card? any overclocking? Is the hx520 silent (i.e. no buzz/whine) when idle only? Thanks.

Hardtailed
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Post by Hardtailed » Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:12 pm

I used to have some noise when scrolling web pages and such... changed to passive video card and that went away. Don't ask me why.

That wasn't with the HX though, that was an Antec Smart 350.

I now have a HX520 and bo noise at all, it's amazingly quiet.

Rig is in sig below.

Das_Saunamies
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Post by Das_Saunamies » Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:42 pm

The difference for a passively or 3rd-party cooled card is that there's no fan power draw on the card. Just for reference.

LuckyNV
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Post by LuckyNV » Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:24 pm

mastabog wrote:
elpibe10 wrote:I have both the HX520 and HX620 and they don't buzz or whine.
Could you include any more details about your rig? cpu, vga card? any overclocking? Is the hx520 silent (i.e. no buzz/whine) when idle only? Thanks.
my HX620 doesn't buzz or whine, load or idle.

Core2 E6600 @2.88GHz
Gigabyte P965-DS4
X1900XTX w/HR-03 (passive, airflow from TR-U120X)

Case is open mid tower, fans are four 120mm at 7V

andaca

Post by andaca » Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:36 pm

:lol: this is what you get by following other people opinions about what is the best option...


just make up your own mind and be happy with what you have. nothing is
perfect and trust me there are bigger problems in life.


by they way, my zalman 460 psu is silent, but the 3.3V and 5V values are a lil low but not 2 bad.

andaca

Post by andaca » Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:39 pm

mastabog wrote:Thanks for the reply. I live in UK so 220V and yes, I do use an UPS (the APC BackUPS CS 500 which has served me for years).

I'm not running after complete silence (or else I would probably be looking at a fanless PSU) but I do like my rig to be silent. I have my C2D cooled by a fanless Ninja Plus Rev B, and a fanless video card (a bit power hungry though, but not a beast). My system idles at around 115W AC with the S12-430 so I figure around 90W DC.
mmm. heat related. just move the hot air out ?

elpibe10
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Post by elpibe10 » Sun Jun 24, 2007 5:14 pm

mastabog wrote:
elpibe10 wrote:I have both the HX520 and HX620 and they don't buzz or whine.
Could you include any more details about your rig? cpu, vga card? any overclocking? Is the hx520 silent (i.e. no buzz/whine) when idle only? Thanks.
Yes, the HX520 is completely silent from where I'm sitting (1m away). Specs of my rig :

Asus P5B-Plus Vista Edition
Intel Core2Duo E6600 with Scythe Andy Samurai Master
2 x 1GB DDR2-667 memory
Asus GeForce 8500GT (fanless)
Hitachi 320GB hard drive
Sony DVD-RW optical drive
Zalman ZM-MFC2 fan controller
2 x Noctua 120mm 800 rpm fans @ 750 rpm & 580 rpm
1 x Scythe Minebea 120mm 1,100 rpm fan @ ~950 rpm
Corsair HX520
Antec P182

According to the readout from my Zalman ZM-MFC2, my system consumes 90W when idling and 120W at high (but not full) load.

No whine or buzz from the Corsair. I was previously using a CoolerMaster iGreen 500W in the exact same system but couldn't tolerate it anymore as it whines rather loudly.
Last edited by elpibe10 on Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Delta_42 » Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:21 am

My HX520 is inaudible from 1-2 m

Its in a P180B and powering :

Asus P5N32SLI-E, E6600 o/c to 350MHz FSB, 8800GTS o/c, 4x512Mb, 2x 72Gb Raptors and a DVD-RW with three tri-cool fans and a Noctua fan.

The entire setup is virtually inaudible and the Corsair PSU is fantastic.

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:58 am

andaca wrote::lol: this is what you get by following other people opinions about what is the best option...

just make up your own mind and be happy with what you have. nothing is
perfect and trust me there are bigger problems in life.
Wow, that was deep, very deep and subtle indeed (yes, that was sarcasm).
andaca wrote:mmm. heat related. just move the hot air out ?
It's not heat related. Also, my case has one 120mm intake and 120mm exhaust plus the psu's 120mm.
Last edited by mastabog on Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:41 am, edited 2 times in total.

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:08 am

Hardtailed, LuckyNV, elpibe10, Delta_42 - thanks a lot for your replies! Some of you are using power hungry gfx cards as well, like I intend to use, which is quite encouraging.

AndeeG
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Post by AndeeG » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:05 pm

Well I've got an hx520 and I've never noticed any sort of buzzing at all. The rest of my system consists of a P5B-E, e6600, and an ASUS x1950pro.

panda-R
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Post by panda-R » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:12 pm

i have 2 x HX520s

System 1
E6300 stock
P5B-Deluxe
7900GTO

System 2
E6320 stock
P5B-Plus
8800GTS

absolutely no buzz/whine from either one.. running on 120v if that makes a difference.

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Post by nutball » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:27 pm

mastabog wrote:Thanks for the reply. I live in UK so 220V and yes, I do use an UPS (the APC BackUPS CS 500 which has served me for years).
Where did you get your HX520 from? I bought one from Dabs two or three months ago and it buzzes very noticeably. (system = A62 X2 4800+, 8800GTS). Maybe there's a dodgy batch doing the rounds in the UK.

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:43 am

nutball wrote:
mastabog wrote:Thanks for the reply. I live in UK so 220V and yes, I do use an UPS (the APC BackUPS CS 500 which has served me for years).
Where did you get your HX520 from? I bought one from Dabs two or three months ago and it buzzes very noticeably. (system = A62 X2 4800+, 8800GTS). Maybe there's a dodgy batch doing the rounds in the UK.
You may very well be right about that ... if the posters above with no buzz/whine are on 120V then it could be that these particular PSUs have no buzz/whine on 120V while there is a higher chance of exhibiting some when on 220V.

How many of you guys who posted above (that have no buzz/whine) are on 120V btw?

I haven't yet got mine, but the place I will get it from will be eBuyer.

<<offtopic>>
I noticed Dabs usually has higher prices and the delivery prices are downright ridiculous (at least it was the few times I looked at getting something from them). Almost all my stuff is from eBuyer. Very good prices, free delivery on lots of stuff or if the order surpases a certain (not high) amount. I've had a very good experience with their customer support too and they always agreed to my refund returns. Many times they even collected it, didn't have to send it back myself. A very nice touch which has pretty much won me over on that aspect.
<</offtopic>>
Last edited by mastabog on Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:38 am, edited 2 times in total.

Derfel
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Post by Derfel » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:25 am

I'm in the UK and have had a HX520 for quite a while, I change systems quite often and so far it has run silent without any buzz, whine etc with the following kit (all the time in a P180 with Scythe Ninja).

Asus P5W DH Deluxe, C2D 6400, 2GB Corsair, Geforce 6800
ECS p4m800pro-m478, 3.5Ghz Northwood, 2GB Corsair, PNY 6600GT
IC7-Max3, 3.4Ghz Northwood, 1gb Crucial, PNY 6600GT
MSI P65 Platinum, C2D 4300, 2gb Corsair, Geforce 7600GT Passive
Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD, C2D E2160, 1GB OCZ, Geforce 7600GT Passive


Edit: I've had it for about 10 months and would have bought it from ebuyer or ocuk, I sold my Silverstone ST30NF on ebay for the same price I bought this for.

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:36 am

Thinking about the 110V vs 220V issue with PSUs' whine/buzz, 220V/50Hz needs a lower input current than the 110V/60Hz to achieve the same output current on the standard 12/5/3.3V ... off the top of my head, the frequency of the switched capacitors needs to be higher for the 110V input than the 220V in order to obtain the same output voltage which would explain the audible high pitch sound I hear from many of them; the one for the 110V being somewhere higher in the ultrasound range where our ears can't reach - maybe cat owners can try and annoy their cats with the PSU, see if they run away (cats are supposed to react to ultrasound) :). Maybe a local expert can confirm my theory (not the cat one)?

edit: well, it certainly is not an it's-always-like-that theory since the post above confirms there are units with no buzz/whine on 220V.
Derfel wrote:I've had it for about 10 months and would have bought it from ebuyer or ocuk
Derfel: So where did you buy your HX520 from?
Last edited by mastabog on Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:40 am, edited 2 times in total.

Derfel
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Post by Derfel » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:42 am

sorry, what I meant was I bought it from one of them but can't remember which though I'm afraid, however I can't find it in a quick browse through my ebuyer order history though so guess it was from www.overclockers.co.uk

mastabog
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Post by mastabog » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:37 pm

Derfel wrote:sorry, what I meant was I bought it from one of them but can't remember which though I'm afraid, however I can't find it in a quick browse through my ebuyer order history though so guess it was from www.overclockers.co.uk
Ah, ok. thanks for digging that up.

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Post by LuckyNV » Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:47 am

mastabog wrote: You may very well be right about that ... if the posters above with no buzz/whine are on 120V then it could be that these particular PSUs have no buzz/whine on 120V while there is a higher chance of exhibiting some when on 220V.

How many of you guys who posted above (that have no buzz/whine) are on 120V btw?

I haven't yet got mine, but the place I will get it from will be eBuyer.
my HX620W is from Ebuyer.co.uk, some reason it was only £86 a few months back while everyone else was selling at least £98, so I quickly snapped one up.

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Post by zistu » Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:04 pm

mastabog wrote:Thanks for the reply. I live in UK so 220V and yes, I do use an UPS (the APC BackUPS CS 500 which has served me for years).
There have been several reports of this on several forums, including the Corsair support forums. I'm no expert on this topic by far, but from what I understand from the articles I have read, PSUs using "Active PFC" technology have problems when being connected to UPCs that do not output a perfect Sine Wave. (More information)

From what I gathered, there are 3 main types of Sine Wave output shapes generated by UPSs:

- Square Sine Wave
- Modified/ Stepped Sine Wave
- Sine Wave
(More information)

The last in that list, "Sine Wave" output is the ideal outout form, since it equals the power given to you straight from a wall outlet.

I checked the APC documentation on your UPS and it states that your UPS outputs a "Stepped Sine Wave". (PDF fle page 2)

This could be the source of your trouble. I would try the PSU connected without the UPS, just to see if that reduces or removes your problem.
Your old PSU would not have this issue, most likely because it had no Actice PFC functionality implemented.

Hope this helps. The Smart UPS series from APC does output full sine waves, but always check the documentation or technical info on the site.

Edit: Added the URLs after posting to bypass the spam filter.

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