anyone else get light hissing/electrical noise?

Perfect_Chaos

Perfect_Chaos

Perfect_Chaos

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I was wondering if it was to do with my motherboard, or possibly graphics cards.

Now i wonder if it's the hard drive

it hisses noticeably during loads of GTA IV more than anything else, i do get it from time to time anyway but just very light.

maybe indicative of the hard drive? or is it likely something on the board? i don't get why it doesn't really hiss during loads of other games if it can be the hard drive.
 
I have a hissing noise.

Sometimes its my amp, others its the PSU.

I just physically turn them both off and the hissing stops.
 
Hi

This hissing noise is most likely any DC voltage changing circuit in your system. The typical way to do a DC-DC voltage step-down in computers is to chop up the DC into pulses and then smooth these out with an inductor. Because the input voltage is pulsed the smoothed waveform is a lower voltage - et viola!! By controlling the mark-space ratio of the pulses (i.e. their width and the width of the gaps between them) and using negative feedback you can set the output voltage incredibly accurately.

The so called "Buck Convertor" - where the switch will be a high power MOSFet (a type of transistor). Often multiple MOSFets are used to supply more "phases" of power.

So back to your question Mr Perfect Chaos!! The high speed switching signal from the MOSFets (entering the inductor coils) is most likely "leaking" harmonics out into the air or vibrating the circuit board at a harmonic frequency. The adrupt transients from 0-1 and 1-0 in a digital signal do cause a lot of noise at high power. VRMs are present around your CPU on the MB, on your GPU and in all PSUs.

To test which VRM is causing the problem will require a bit of detective work. It might be easiest to test for PSU noise by removing it from the case so you can isolate the noise it is making from the main PC!! Also you google on the MB, GPU, and PSU to see if other uses have similar problems with the same model.

Personally I would suspect the PSU because Intel do a lot of testing to eliminate VRM noise and the GPUs aren't exactly highend. Antec aren't exactly at the topend of PSU manufactures. I get a similar high pitched whine off my crappy old Ultra-X PSU I use as a Desktop PSU for "electronics stuff". :D

Bob
 
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Yes, it's most likely coming from inside the PSU. It's pretty much trial and error TBH.

I have a similar issue and have tried 3 PSUs, a Zalman 850, Tagan 480 and BFG 800. The BFG emits the least electrical noise, but it is still there. What I found was forcing vsync removed it completely with the BFG but not the others.

As above, I have read that hot glue, or even heat resistant silicone applied to the coils can prevent this from happening. Just bear in mind you can't completely cover the coils or you risk overheating issues. Also if you plan on opening the PSU and working in there, be careful as they hold a heck of a charge even when off.
 
Just turn the sound up, you won't notice it as much :-)

Unfortunately there are many things that could be making the noise, none of them particularly easy to find, never mind fix, without replacing components to seek the culprit.

It shouldn't do any damage, although the above suggestions are mostly worth a go (be careful in your PSU!); as long as you can stand the sound then you can just ignore it.
 
well since everything is new bar for the graphics cards in my last system there is quite a lot to be ruled out, first i have to find what actually causes the noise. I should try running an intensive app maybe.

are there any specific programs to test for this kind of thing or do i just need to run anything that would stress cpu/memory etc?

anyone reading this with a similar setup and get the same thing?
 
my gfx card makes a hell of a noise whenever its moving things around the screen, even when u maximize a window it hisses for a second while its doing it lol
 
its cap/coil sqeal could be PSU/mobo/gfx card. Nothing to really test it but it usually gets worse when something is underload. Games@ high FPS produced it for me on a tagan piperock psu and 280gtx combo
 
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