Loud Electrical Buzzing / clicking under load

XiDuel · 12 Nov 2013 at 17:37

I have been having a problem with my computer recently; that whenever I play any graphically intensive game (Battlefield 4/3, Mirrors Edge, etc.) there is a loud clicking / humming / buzzing noise coming from what sounds like the graphics card.

This started after I bought an MSI 7970 to replace my old GTX 460. It made this noise. I got an RMA, which also made that noise. I replaced my Corsair 500w PSU with an OCZ Fatal1ty 750w. The noise remained. I replaced the 7970 with an R9 280x. Guess what? The noise is still there! Whenever I put my GTX 460 back in, the noise disappears. My CPU is overclocked 4.5GHz at 1.38v. All GPU's are factory overclocked.

Any ideas on how I could stop this? It's quite irritating without headphones.

PC Parts:
- Quad core i5 OC @4.5GHz
- HIS R9 280X IceQ
- ASUS P8Z77-V
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Pro
- 16Gb Corsair Vengence LP (4x4Gb)
- OCZ Fatal1ty 750W

EdgeDs · 12 Nov 2013 at 18:11

Strange it persists across multiple cards and psu as my first guess would have been psu as you have already changed cards have you tried a different plug socket? Really have no idea other than trying each part seperatly. Good luck

RJC · 12 Nov 2013 at 18:24

XiDuel please remove the link as it contains competitors and re-check the FAQ regards these.

XiDuel · 13 Nov 2013 at 16:05

EdgeDs said:
Strange it persists across multiple cards and psu as my first guess would have been psu as you have already changed cards have you tried a different plug socket? Really have no idea other than trying each part seperatly. Good luck

I unplugged everything from the sockets apart from the computer and one monitor, and it didn't affect anything...

spixelspixel · 13 Nov 2013 at 16:08

It's coil whine, happens on almost every recent graphics card. The 79xx cards tend to be louder than most.

XiDuel · 13 Nov 2013 at 16:10

spixelspixel said:
It's coil whine, happens on almost every recent graphics card. The 79xx cards tend to be louder than most.

But should the screen be flickering as well? It happens mostly in dark patches on my main monitor, but through my second there are massive flickers on any window.

spixelspixel · 13 Nov 2013 at 16:17

XiDuel said:
But should the screen be flickering as well? It happens mostly in dark patches on my main monitor, but through my second there are massive flickers on any window.

No.. screen shouldn't be flickering

XiDuel · 25 Nov 2013 at 21:13