Motherboard 'Buzzing'

[Incinerat0r]

I've just put together a new build (specs below) and I get a horribly loud buzzing from the motherboard which I assume is the VRM's as it comes from around the top/left of the CPU socket.

Intel Core i9 10850K
ASUS ROG Strix Z490-F
EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G5
32gb Crucial Ballistix 3600Mhz
Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD (x2)
GTX 1070ti

Here's a video of the sound:

The noise is barely audible at idle, but once you apply some load it becomes very loud. I have tried the following:

1. Swapped to the PSU from my old PC, exactly the same problem (Coolermaster Silent Pro 850w)
2. Removed the GPU, same noise
3. I read some people resolved the issue by disabling C-State in the BIOS, made no difference
4. Experimented with power options within windows, adjusting min processor state. No difference
5. Unplugged all fans to ensures its not something silly!

What I find interesting is that the noise becomes very loud when I'm running a game such as Valhalla which is only using around 20% of the CPU, where running the basic OCCT test its quite constant. If I run the OCCT Linpack test then the buzzing comes and goes, see video below. The buzzing coincides with the spike in load/temperature on this screenshot: https://pasteboard.co/JEIF0LS.png

My gut feeling is I need to RMA the motherboard, before I tear it down I was wondering if anyone else has experienced the same problem and if you found the culprit to be a faulty board or something else?

 

[Tetras]

Actually sounds more like a grinding fan to me, but my headphones cost about £5 so...

You could try disabling turbo mode, I've found that quietens VRM noise in the past?

 

[Incinerat0r]

Actually sounds more like a grinding fan to me, but my headphones cost about £5 so...

You could try disabling turbo mode, I've found that quietens VRM noise in the past?

Not the fans, I have tried unplugging the CPU fans one at a time and still does it (with case fans off).

Disabling turbo mode certainly quietens it down, when running at 3600 Mhz and repeating the stress tests its barely audible. I increased the ratio in increments of 100 Mhz and the higher it goes, the louder it becomes. With the default BIOS settings it boosts to 4800 Mhz (which is rather loud), I'd expect the default settings to work without any issues?

 

[Tetras]

I can't remember exactly what else I fiddled around with, I think tweaking the power plans helped and it was less apparent when the IGP was turned off, but using power saver did have a big impact on performance. My guess was that the issue is how the turbo uses significantly higher voltage which the VRMs don't seem to like.

 

[Stas823]

Ive never had a motherboard without this buzz. Imo its normal

 

[Incinerat0r]

Ive never had a motherboard without this buzz. Imo its normal

I've never had a computer do it myself, my 3770k @ 4.5 Ghz certainly doesn't make such a noise. It may seem skewed by me shoving my phone inside the case, even with the panels on it's very loud - it can be heard over normal conversation, it takes a boiling kettle 4-5m away to drown it out. Should also add it's inside a Be Quiet Silent Base 802 which has a lot of noise damping and is otherwise very quiet.

I've boxed it up now and will see how it goes with a return, I'm torn between ordering a different board as I think it's unlikely to get returned, tested and replacement delivered before Christmas now.

 

[Tetras]

I've never had a computer do it myself, my 3770k @ 4.5 Ghz certainly doesn't make such a noise. It may seem skewed by me shoving my phone inside the case, even with the panels on it's very loud - it can be heard over normal conversation, it takes a boiling kettle 4-5m away to drown it out. Should also add it's inside a Be Quiet Silent Base 802 which has a lot of noise damping and is otherwise very quiet.

I've boxed it up now and will see how it goes with a return, I'm torn between ordering a different board as I think it's unlikely to get returned, tested and replacement delivered before Christmas now.

When building silent stuff, it's usually assumed that if you return something, buy a different brand, since if there is an issue between the PSU and motherboard, like some kind of resonance.

 

[EsaT]

Disabling turbo mode certainly quietens it down, when running at 3600 Mhz and repeating the stress tests its barely audible. I increased the ratio in increments of 100 Mhz and the higher it goes, the louder it becomes. With the default BIOS settings it boosts to 4800 Mhz (which is rather loud), I'd expect the default settings to work without any issues?

Higher current increases magnetic field and forces to inductor winding behind the noise.
Hence lowering CPU (or GPU) clocks usually lowers level of coil whine.

Should also add it's inside a Be Quiet Silent Base 802 which has a lot of noise damping and is otherwise very quiet.

Does it have denser ~2mm mass damping base layer?
If all it has is light foam, then 10mm isn't much of thickness.
Just for perspective in acoustics light foams are usually used in thicknesses far past 5cm as minimum.

 

[Incinerat0r]

When building silent stuff, it's usually assumed that if you return something, buy a different brand, since if there is an issue between the PSU and motherboard, like some kind of resonance.

I've ordered an MSI board now so will find out one way or the other!

Higher current increases magnetic field and forces to inductor winding behind the noise.
Hence lowering CPU (or GPU) clocks usually lowers level of coil whine.

I understand that, but if it were this noisy with the "out of the box" settings I'd expect every review/forum to be flooded with comments about it. I know that running programs like Prime95/OCCT etc. are not a reflection of normal use, but running games where the overall CPU load is fairly low (20% - 30%) it was still very loud. I'm used to having a high air flow case next to me with the inevitable fan/flow whirring away, but this "buzzing" really is something else. I don't think the videos do justice to how loud it really is.

Does it have denser ~2mm mass damping base layer?
If all it has is light foam, then 10mm isn't much of thickness.
Just for perspective in acoustics light foams are usually used in thicknesses far past 5cm as minimum.

The foam is on the wrong in this scenario as all that sits between me and the motherboard is the tempered glass window. My point was more that the case itself is very quiet until this problem occurs, I'm not expecting absolute silence - would just like to be able to use the computer without a loud buzzing noise distracting me from what I'm playing/doing. The MSI board I ordered should arrive on Tuesday, if the problem remains then perhaps I have to re-align my expectations.