Coil whine free PSU - Recommendations

fromage · 15 Jan 2021 at 10:14

Hi All,

I know coil whine can be a bit of a lottery but there definitely appears to be PSU's out there that looking at various reviews/reviews that seems to be more susceptible that others.

I have a EVGA GQ which whines with my RTX 3080 (was fine before on my 5700) and a quick google does show it seems to have a history of whining for some people and its generally considered a mid/low tier PSU.

So what 750-850w should I go for ? I heard the RM (non x) have reports of whining, is the RM X worth giving a shot ? I only have a 5600x and yet to see over 500w at the wall so 750w will be fine.

mattyfez · 15 Jan 2021 at 11:21

Cant say i've had issues with my RM - I did have issue with wine on game menu screens where the frame rate was rediculously high, so I set a frame rate cap of 120fps in the graphics which resolved the issue.

VonScar · 15 Jan 2021 at 14:41

A quick fix on coil whine. I apply Vsync at driver level, will limit FPS to refresh rate of monitor. A long shot but may reduce it until you get new one. A new PSU.

Coil whine is a lottery, I have had 2 Corsair PSU's coil whine free. My EVGA current 750 watt PSU is coil whine free.

Try and get a Gold rated PSU, means that the PSU has greater control on power draw, which may reduce noise. Oh and one with a fan that is silent.

fromage · 15 Jan 2021 at 16:38

VonScar said:
A quick fix on coil whine. I apply Vsync at driver level, will limit FPS to refresh rate of monitor. A long shot but may reduce it until you get new one. A new PSU.

Coil whine is a lottery, I have had 2 Corsair PSU's coil whine free. My EVGA current 750 watt PSU is coil whine free.

Try and get a Gold rated PSU, means that the PSU has greater control on power draw, which may reduce noise. Oh and one with a fan that is silent.

Yeah my current EVGA GQ is a gold PSU but generally seems to be mid tier on most tier lists.

My Coil whine even though does change tone/pitch with FPS seems to be purely down to GPU load/power draw, so even at 4k and 60fps its just as loud (lower pitch) then 1080p at 250fps. I originally thought it was the GPU but the noise is definitely coming from the PSU

VonScar · 15 Jan 2021 at 17:29

RMA it and get a new one.

fromage · 15 Jan 2021 at 20:24

Yeah that's my plan though I need a new PSU to replace it while its being RMA'd first, would then sell the fixed/replaced EVGA.

Drumroll · 15 Jan 2021 at 20:44

Previous PSU EVGA G2 750W, great, only the fan was annoying (high pitch), replaced, same thing. Maybe the vertical mounting of the Lian Li O11/XL and the Phanteks Enthoo Primo. Tried the PSU with the fan facing down, no noise.
Upgraded the PSU for a Corsair RM1000i. No noise, haven't noticed the fan kick in.

eeii · 25 Jan 2021 at 14:28

EVGA G2 and supernova I have had zero coil whine issues with these models in various watt flavours.

pc-guy · 27 Jan 2021 at 10:37

doesnt this depend on utilisation of the PSU as well. if someone has a 1600w supply and only has a 300w-400w draw then it probably isnt going to be a problem where someone with a 650w supply and drawing 500w then much closer to the limit and thus the whine gonna be there?

photoshop · 27 Jan 2021 at 23:45

My Corsair RM750X suffers from coil whine. Its the most audible part of my silent system.
Its going back and getting replaced with a Seasonic Focus GX 850W. Lets hope its quieter.

photoshop · 28 Jan 2021 at 14:06

photoshop said:
My Corsair RM750X suffers from coil whine. Its the most audible part of my silent system.
Its going back and getting replaced with a Seasonic Focus GX 850W. Lets hope its quieter.

The seasonic is exactly the same. Exactly the same coil whine. PSU is almost identical too the Corsair in many regards.

Alex h · 28 Jan 2021 at 14:39

My seasonic focus hasnt got no coil whine at all ive got platinium not gold got it when it was on a offer

venomx · 1 Feb 2021 at 09:44

RM750x here. Silent all the time

Jay85 · 1 Feb 2021 at 12:16

Both my EVGA's GQ 750w and P2 1000w don't whine. Whisper quiet on a clocked 9900k and 3090.

Lukas24 · 6 Sep 2021 at 18:41

Fromage, or anyone,
do you have more information on this? did you end up buying an rm750x (2021) ? did it whine?
i still am using an old hx620 from corsair and it whines badly, especially at higher fps,
i'm looking at the new rm750x (2021) to replace it. the only thing besides my fear of coil whine is that the "fan off" mode might heat up my case more than a silent fan thats always on

Grey M@a · 6 Sep 2021 at 19:31

I have just built a new gaming rig:

5900x
3080ti
ASU’s dark hero x570
32GB Corsair Dominator Cas14
860w Fractal Ion+ Platinum,

Just had to RMA the PSU today after 3 days, it whines when its powered off, I can hear it all day when working on the silent laptop.

Seems to whine when its connected to the 24 pin mono cable, if I disconnect it and leave all other cables connected it will stop whining.

Never had issues with PSU’s before, is it a trend of poor parts being used or just a thing with PSU’s these days.

Lukas24 · 6 Sep 2021 at 20:39

according to an article corsair posted in 2013 it (ao) has to do with the tightness of coil windings.
so yes, it indeed has to do with the quality of parts on that aspect.

i'm still very curious about the new rm x psu's since the article was written in 2013 about the rm units back then,
would it still apply or did they leave that ambition since...

i found it very hopefull that a major psu manufacturer posted an insightful article about it, but how much did it really translate into the current PSU market?

pastymuncher · 7 Sep 2021 at 09:32

I have just installed a 2021 Corsair RM850x as I seem to be suffering from the dreaded RTX3000 transient spike and my Aerocool Project 7 650w didn't seem to be able to keep up with it. I have more testing to confirm that it was indeed the psu at fault though. The 2021 RM850x is a quality compact unit and I have zero coil whine (didn't have any with the Project 7 either) however, I can't help but feel that Corsair has cheaped out with the packaging. The psu itself came in a clear poly bag in a foam enclosure to protect it in transit. The cables also came in a clear poly bag which is very disappointing as I would have expected a nice pouch for them. The cables themselves are horrible. They are stiff and bulky due to the capacitors in them and the EPS and 24 pin cables are so stiff it's impossible to get a tight bend in them to go from the motherboard into the cable management slots next to it. The sleeving on the 24 pin just looks cheap and nasty. The pci-e cables have daisy chained second connectors on them and they are impossible to hide from view. Needless to say I have had to use cable extensions to get around these issues and the cables let down what is otherwise a excellent psu. I know the ML fans these refreshed units use are more expensive but not including a nice pouch for the cables with a psu at this level is pretty tight fisted. If this psu change doesn't cure the problem the Project 7 is going back in.

BurningHorizons · 7 Sep 2021 at 14:47

Just returned a new HX850 due to a continuous high-pitched coil whine. Not a cheap PSU either. Disappointing.

FredFlint · 7 Sep 2021 at 16:42

I have a RMx 1000W and it does not have coil whine, even at high fps as i tested it with an opengl program i did that runs at > 1000fps. The only nosie comming from my pc is from fans.