High pitched noise CPU/Motherboard

akount · 30 Oct 2014 at 20:00

Hello. I put together a new build just last week with the following parts.

Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon)
Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 Intel Z97
MSI Radeon R9 280 Gaming 3072MB GDDR5
TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB)
SuperFlower Amazon 450W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply
Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler

Ever since putting it together, there's been a really high pitched 'squealing' noise coming from inside the case. I've not been able to pin-point the exact location of where the noise is coming from, but definitely seems to be around the CPU area. When I open applications up or game, the noise gets louder and unbearable. When idle it still does it, but not as much.

I've heard this could be 'coil whine' but I've been using the same PSU and GPU and cooler from before and it never used to make this noise. I've tried disabling speedstep and other c-states, but nothing changed. Possibly i'm lacking PSU power? Hopefully someone knows more or can help, thanks.

Nichrome · 30 Oct 2014 at 20:13

With this power supply no wonder you have issues, as this card requires at least ~550W. Remove the GPU and see if you have high pitch noise then.

akount · 30 Oct 2014 at 20:52

Took out GPU and nothing changed. Noise is still there.

Danny75 · 30 Oct 2014 at 22:10

There's a chance the squealing noise is being caused by the sticker on the CPU cooler fan being a bit loose and catching the heatsink as it spins. Could be something else of course but worth checking. I've had "a" squealing noise made by a loose fan sticker in the past.

akount · 30 Oct 2014 at 22:56

Nope wasn't the sticker.. any more ideas? Anyone else heard of this happening before? Besides it being coil whine?

deano-5 · 31 Oct 2014 at 00:46

Nichrome said:
With this power supply no wonder you have issues, as this card requires at least ~550W. Remove the GPU and see if you have high pitch noise then.

PSU is fine

akount · 31 Oct 2014 at 14:45

It definitely isn't coming from the PSU, more like the CPU/Motherboard area. Is it possible to stop my fan with a finger to see if that's the cause?

DaleTheWhale · 31 Oct 2014 at 14:49

Sounds like coil whine to me, it can happen after some time.
Load up a game/benchmark where you get a mass amount of FPS and you'll notice it get louder, the first benchmark from 3DMark is a good test.

mtj111 · 31 Oct 2014 at 17:55

You can stop the fan for a few seconds without issue. It's likely coming from one of the components on the board though.

akount · 31 Oct 2014 at 20:07

After putting my headphones in and listening to music. The high pitched noise is now coming from the headphones instead? And barely any noise from the motherboard like before.. not sure what to think now. Totally confused.