High pitch whine from PC ~help!

[jake877]

So i ended up buying the HAF 922 and had a techy friend help me switch cases and after i got home and fixed the kinks out.. such as (cpufan plugged into PWR FAN instead of CPU FAN 3pin lol) plus i fugred out how to open my cpu fan and lubricate that.. works good as new... but now i have a very scary problem.

Once i fixed up everything i started up my comp and then after 5 seconds i start hearing this super high pitch whine... so high my Mother couldn't hear it... i unplugged my gfx card... still there. stopped all my fans... still there. Sprayed the crap out of EVERYTHING...to no avail... all i did was switch cases... how so many things coudl screw up at once has got me... atleast everthing else was fixable.. this ive got no clue... although every google refrence to high pitch noise leads to PSU... so i pulled it out sprayed it some more... shook it... smacked it a lil...

hmm i was just messing with the power supply and i stopped the fan and the high pitch noise got quieter but was still there.. so that woudl most likely mean the bearings in the PSU fan need lubricant? is it really safe to actuLLY OPEN UP THE psu THO? any help is most appreciated.

or do u think the fan speed or how the sound went through the fan made it louder

[Aldersan]

Quote: "Now I have a loud high-pitched whine, just on the cusp of hearing (it must be getting close to ultrasonic), which is slowly driving me insane...
After some poking around, I decided that the sound seems to be coming for the power supply unit (a 300W unbranded PSU that came with my case.)
After a bit of searching around on the web, I read that power supplies (and other things) start to whine when they are starting to fail, and that the sound in this case would come from one or more 'whistling capacitors' that are breaking." from http://goo.gl/ngEhG hope that helps!

[jake877]

I find it so odd that it screws up when i move it to a new case... like yah i drove the whole computer to a friends but... i doubt a few pumps on the road woudl screw it up... why would it decided to break now... or could it be because i have more things plugged in now then i had b4?

IT IS THE POWER SUPPLY!!! I unplugged 3 of my HDD'S and bam when th epsu started i heard a very faint whine for a split second the it was gone...

[Aldersan]

Dunno, electronics are weird like that lol, i'd try a different power supply and see if that makes the noise too, if it does then its probably your motherboard or something, but if it doesn't then its the power supply most likely.

[jake877]

if u didnt see i updated my top post

"IT IS THE POWER SUPPLY!!! I unplugged 3 of my HDD'S and bam when th epsu started i heard a very faint whine for a split second the it was gone..."


hmmm i was just testing but i was plugging in different HDDS to see if it was possibly one fo them that was screwing it up... and when i had them all plugged in 30gig ssd, 540 cav green, 750 cav black. the sound seems to be there but almost barey noticeable.. and when my 2 tb is in... its LOUD...

hmm i unplugged ll my hdds and just plugge din my 2tb and once again... loud as ever.

Also this is current PSU http://www.highpowersupply.com/hpc560A12s.html

any ideas?

[artoodeeto]

I would still recommend replacing the PSU - you definitely don't want it to fail while it's running and plugged into everything else, as it could take out anything that's hooked up to it.
Also, to confirm it is indeed the PSU, unhook it from the m/b and everything else, (including the wall socket), turn off the master power switch, stick a paperclip between the green and black wires on the plug that goes to the motherboard, and then plug it back into the wall. Turn the master power switch back on, and it should start up:
http://aphnetworks.com/lounge/turn_on_psu_without_motherboard_the_paperclip_tric k

It'll have no load, so it may or may not whine, but if it does then you know for sure. It could be your 2TB HD, but I think that's less likely if the whine is happening (no matter how faint) without it plugged in. So yeah, bottom line, replace the PSU since it could kill anything plugged into it if it dies...

[Aldersan]

whats your specs on your computer? could be power supply isnt putting out enough juice? dunno

[jake877]

Specs:

CPU = Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
with an ULTRA 12v cpufan/heatsink hooked up to a temp reader

GFX: gtx 460 OC

Memory: 4096MB RAM

Mobo: ASUS P5Q-E

Case: HAF 922 (2x 200mm fans and a smaller one at the back)

HDD: 30gig SSD, 540 cav green, 750 cav black,
2tb samsung(pulled out of a external hdd...)
thing with this hdd is... its acted up b4... nt working when held in a certain angle and would get hot and seemed to vibrate more... people have told me its because of the size being 2tb... idk tho...

O and a wireless receiver via PCI slot and a dvd rom drive.. bt its not even plugged in atm.

PSU: Model: HPC-560-A12S aka 560watt says HIGH POWER on the back...
this link is bang on: http://www.highpowersupply.com/hpc560A12s.html

Also @artoodeeto the high pitch noise seems to be gone with less plugged in.
Also if ur wondering im on my laptop maing these posts as im too scurred to turn my cmp on anymore knowing that my PSU could fry everything inside.

[Aldersan]

it could be a defect of the drive, but im not sure if that would cause the psu to act like that..try it with a different psu would be my suggestion again

[jake877]

my friends arent as tech savvy as i am..i srsly dont know if i can find a friend who has a decent enough power supply to test. I may have to buy one.. but if it turns out it isnt my PSU i wonder if i can even take the new one back. Although at this point the facts do tend to point at a old psu at the end of its days... not able to push out the amount of power it should be able to... am i right in saying that? god... i really dont wanna buy a new powersupply... horrible timing.

[Aldersan]

well i looked up the specs and the 460 only requires 450w, and i dont think hdd's take that much wattage, so i dunno if its not pushing out enough power or not, you'd think you'd be getting problems with operation, besides the sound (like graphics card not working or something), could just be dying, hard to tell :/

[jake877]

no kidding eh? i like my power supply! it has nice shiny numbers! If this helps i turned it on and went into my BIOS to watch the voltage changes(bro told me to) heres what i found:

CPU: 1,104 average ranged from 1.112 - 1.096

3.3V: 3.360 stayed perm

5V: 5.230 - 5.208

12v: 12.152 - 12.096

Temp: CPU-19.5*C MB-33*C

i have no idea if this helps or not.

A friend of mine told me "The 12v rail might be the same as the one with your videocard -- which THAT ONE rail might not be able to maintain the amperage required by both videocard and HDD"

[CorsePerVita]

Your system is running pretty flippin' cool so I don't see that as an issue. Those diags look pretty nifty.

- Do you have onboard video? If so try booting with onboard to see if it's the car
- If whine is still present, disconnect drives from power and boot system, if whine is still present it's another fan

The key to good troubleshooting is just taking it one step at a time.

If you unplug a drive and the whine is there, it's not that drive. If you disconnect a fan and it's still there, it's not that fan... keep going till you're down to the power supply and you'll have your answer.

Switching over to a new case can upset things inside of the supply or fans. Dust, dirt, all kinds of crap. Anything that gets into bearings or in crevasses that weren't upset before and things just go awry. It happens.

[jake877]

Its not my card... an dyes i have tried just about everything. It is deffitily coming from my PSU and is strongly present when my 2tb hdd is plugged in.

[xr4man]

my vote is for power supply.

i just saw this one is on sale right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL101311&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL101311-_-EMC-101311-Index-_-PowerSupplies-_-17341017-L07B

[jake877]

oddly enough through my testing.. its my 2tb hdd.... samsung,, y u wong me... it makes my psu go on the fritz...

2tb (only) plugged in = whine

cav green, cav black, ssd = no whine

do u think my psu is damaged? Sense the noise is gone... do u think its safe? or should i just go and get a 70$ 600watt power supply?

[diluzio91]

Try plugging the 2tb into an external dock maybe? It could be the tb drive is pushing you over the edge, or it could be that the the PSU...

A decent power supply can be had pretty inexpensively these days, so hit up newegg and get crackin.

[xr4man]

^^^i'm sort of thinking the same thing.

[jake877]

well at a local computer store they sell a 600watt cable management psu for 70$

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1264&ID=2057

my bad original link is wrong

[diluzio91]

heh, for 70 bucks give it a shot, a local store will accept returns if it doesn't fix the issue.

[jake877]

original link was wrong sorry my bad.

So i hooked everything back up except the Samsung hdd and the computer seems to work fine... i ran a high end game and i now have my dvd rom drive plugged in and the watt usage on the back sits t 65 on idle 100ish on elevated use and max of like 170 in a high end game. I had the computer right next to my head... the super loud whine was gne but idk if i was hearing things/paranoid but i did hear a faint hum/whine but even my 360 controller battery pack charger makes that noise... so im assuming thats a normal functioning sound. Im still a lil bit worried but i dont really have the money right now to buy a new PSU..i could but id have to dig into my savings... idk am i paranoid? should i get a new one asap. any advice is valued.

is my PSU: http://www.highpowersupply.com/hpc560A12s.html

[Twigsoffury]

Getting the right voltage out from the wall outlet? Under supplied capacitors can scream while they attempt to "fill"

Same thing as disposible camera capciators going eeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEe When you hit the charge flash button.


But that could of happened if the power company didn't have a exact 110v at the time (tends to happen more around the evening and early morning when most people are sucking juice)


Use a multimeter/voltmeter to make sure your yankin 110v from the walls. (or what ever it should be according to your area)

[jake877]

yah thats not the problem lol.