CPU or Cooling system noise?

MbooseMboose North Carolina
edited September 2011 in Hardware
As of yesterday I just finished building a new desktop. The specs are:

Gigabyte H67 chipset mobo
i5-2500 processor
4gb corsair dominator 1333 ram
TX750 Corsair PSU
Liquid cooling system
nvidia geforce 9800 GTX+ oc graphics card

The problem I'm having is that the system is making a ringing? sound or like a high frequency sound sometimes.

Here's what I know so far:
-When I open the case while it's running I think the noise is coming from the CPU/place where the liquid cooling system attaches.
-When the computer is under a heavy workload, the noise stops. When I close all programs and it's "idling" it starts immediately.
-Also, if I have a game open like League of Legends the noise stops. If I minimize LoL but don't exit it, the noise starts until I restore LoL to where I can see it displayed.
-It's not just games either, but when I install programs the noise stops (when the system is under a workload) and when the installation stops, the noise starts back immediately.
-Basically, unless I have a semi-heavy resource using program open on one of my monitors, the noise persists.

Thank you in advance.

I'm quite at a loss for this problem and I'm not sure what it is or what to do to troubleshoot. I'm praying that it's not something wrong with my CPU.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    It kinda sounds like capacitor whine from the motherboard, or possibly the VRMs around the CPU socket. Can you Google capacitor whine and tell us if the descriptions match what you're hearing?
  • MbooseMboose North Carolina
    edited September 2011
    I forgot to mention the OS. It's Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

    Googling around, I came across a video and it's the closest I could find to what I'm hearing. It actually seems to be almost an exact match, except that my noise is coming from around the CPU.

    Video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmJz1DuOlQ
  • MbooseMboose North Carolina
    edited September 2011
    Looking around some more, this IS the noise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ombDdZi7o&feature=related. I think it's the same person/noise from the previous video. Also, what drew my attention to this video is that the pc in the video uses the same PSU Corsair TX 750.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Put a straw between the fingers of one hand and cup your hand over your ear. (CAUTION) DO NOT PUT THE STRAW IN YOUR EAR!!! (END CAUTION) Then move the open end of the straw around the board to pinpoint the sound.
  • MbooseMboose North Carolina
    edited September 2011
    Mt_Goat wrote:
    Put a straw between the fingers of one hand and cup your hand over your ear. (CAUTION) DO NOT PUT THE STRAW IN YOUR EAR!!! (END CAUTION) Then move the open end of the straw around the board to pinpoint the sound.

    I did this exact thing to determine that it was coming from right at or near the CPU.:(
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Try disableing power saving in the bios and see if that makes it stop.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    The CPU socket is surrounded by voltage regulator modules, or VRMs, which have been known to sing when hit with just the right amount of power. The voltage literally causes them to resonate within the audible range.

    Most VRMs are hidden under the heatsinks around the CPU socket, but if your board doesn't have them covered (haven't looked) they'll look like little black cubes with many of them in a row.

    That may give you a place to take a closer look. Don't rule out the power supply, either.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Thrax wrote:
    The CPU socket is surrounded by voltage regulator modules, or VRMs, which have been known to sing when hit with just the right amount of power. The voltage literally causes them to resonate within the audible range.

    Most VRMs are hidden under the heatsinks around the CPU socket, but if your board doesn't have them covered (haven't looked) they'll look like little black cubes with many of them in a row.

    That may give you a place to take a closer look. Don't rule out the power supply, either.

    This is exactly why I suggested him to turn off power saving. Quite a few new boards seem to whine like that with it enabled as it causes the VRM's to hit the right note. ;)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Yar, just tossin' in some context for your astute suggestion. :)
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Thrax wrote:
    Yar, just tossin' in some context for your astute suggestion. :)

    Yea, but I'm a real knob when it comes to obvious subtlety. :crazy:
  • MbooseMboose North Carolina
    edited September 2011
    I went to my control panel to "turn off" power saving mode. I also went to the BIOS to turn it off and also to look for another option "c1e" and I cannot find either of these options. Any suggestions?
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Mboose wrote:
    I went to my control panel to "turn off" power saving mode. I also went to the BIOS to turn it off and also to look for another option "c1e" and I cannot find either of these options. Any suggestions?

    Try looking for c3/c6
  • MbooseMboose North Carolina
    edited September 2011
    Mt_Goat wrote:
    Try looking for c3/c6

    This may be a little premature, but you sir have fixed my problem. I disabled the c3/c6 option, started Windows, let the computer idle and it has not made the noise so far. However, usually it begins on the login screen when it's waiting for me to enter my password.

    That being said, is this something that I should get fixed? Meaning, is disabling c3/c6 just a temporary fix for something that should be fixed promptly?

    Now I just wish that my ears would quite ringing due to the uncommon peace and quiet in my office :)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    It's more like a workaround. Nothing is wrong, per se, you just have a board that squeals a bit when those power states are active. Your board won't explode or die on you or anything, so it's up to you to decide if you are bothered by having to disable those low power states to stop the singing. :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Stop the madness!
    End the violence!
    Stop the singing!
    Let's get together, brother!
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Thrax wrote:
    It's more like a workaround. Nothing is wrong, per se, you just have a board that squeals a bit when those power states are active. Your board won't explode or die on you or anything, so it's up to you to decide if you are bothered by having to disable those low power states to stop the singing. :)

    What he said! ;)
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2011
    Leonardo wrote:
    Stop the madness!
    End the violence!
    Stop the singing!
    Let's get together, brother!

    Well, come on down! :D
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