Power Supply noise

Garido

Garido

Garido

Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2011
Posts
497
Location
Australia
Hello,

As there is no Power Supply forum I suppose this is the only place which is near relevant (if there is please move).

Now to the problem a hand. I have a problem with the sound coming out of my case. I'm not entirely confident in the diagnosis as I know it is either the graphics card OR the power supply. Having tested them in 2 seperate PCs yields no sound yet when combined it seems as if they counter each other and things get noisy.

It's not plane taking off loud but for me, it is a very large negative. It's a constant hum/buzz (not a coil whine). Is there a chance there is a harmonic vibration where the fans of the card and the PSU counteract each other? I've tried to counter this by adjusting the fan on the graphics card manually but the improvement seems very minimal.

My concern is that if I do buy a larger power supply, althought it may be more efficient and slightly quieter in other systems, that it won't be suitable for me. I don't want to seem like an annoying potter but if you're constantly around this noise, it's akin to chinese water torture.

I'm not keen on replacing the card either as it suits my needs. Of course if I can get a card which offers the same performance, with a lower thermal requirement or power requirement and has very minimal noise, I'd love it. Any ideas
 
Does the noise stop when you halt either or both of the fans? What PSU is it? Have you tried altering the clock speed on the graphics card? It's quite surprising that a few MHz can alter the interaction.
 
Tealc said:
Does the noise stop when you halt either or both of the fans? What PSU is it? Have you tried altering the clock speed on the graphics card? It's quite surprising that a few MHz can alter the interaction.
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I've tried various clocks for my card (as seen in sig) but it has no effect. The PSU is an OEM Thermaltake which came with my V3 case. it's 450W IIRC with a native 6pin connector. I have to try a bit more diagnosis before I can determine for sure which is the culprit.

My concern though is switching PSUs will yield a similar result and will be pointless. Considering how efficient I am with cash is there a very cost effective solution? Sound proofing material could cause a heat issue right?
 
pastymuncher said:
Teaches me to not look your board up. :o

I saw G41 and assumed M-atx board with onboard graphics.
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Not your fault mate. Most G41 boards have integrated graphics.

Interesting development though, it seems that when BOTH the PSU and VGA card are combined that the noise occurs. I'm going to try a more higher end card and see if the PSU makes a noise. Do the higher end PSUs feature sound insulation as well as 80 Plus?

Actually let me put it this way, are there quality PSUs under 35 pounds or is that asking for too much.
 
Never heard of PSU noise Insulation but they tend to feature better components and heatsinks and tend to be quieter. Maybe your PSU just reacts with your GPU. I'd change the PSU for a decent make.
 
Lemin said:
Nearly, This Week Only Offer

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply [BN106]
was £42.98 inc VAT
£41.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-042-BQ&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
Click to expand...

Cheers for the link.

Tealc said:
Never heard of PSU noise Insulation but they tend to feature better components and heatsinks and tend to be quieter. Maybe your PSU just reacts with your GPU. I'd change the PSU for a decent make.
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My PSU is a Thermaltake who I feel are a reputable name in the business. While not the best PSU it does a reasonable job. It's just the noise. I'm trying to find a higher end graphics card to test so that I can confirm that when the PSU is under load, it really has to work hard, hence the noise.

Previous tested with an 8400 GS and no issue as a weaker PSU.
 
The thing is, if it's your rig in your siggy, i doubt if it would pull more than 200-220w at the wall fully loaded so is hardly a lot of stress on a psu. Unless your psu is faulty. What model and wattage is your Thermaltake psu?
 
pastymuncher said:
The thing is, if it's your rig in your siggy, i doubt if it would pull more than 200-220w at the wall fully loaded so is hardly a lot of stress on a psu. Unless your psu is faulty. What model and wattage is your Thermaltake psu?
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It is the rig in my sig. I think it draws more than 300w but my PSU is a Thermaltake outputting around 450w so I should be fine there. The PSU I have is a Thermaltake TT-450nl1nh-1 (W0276).

1x 20+4 pin motherboard connector
1x 4+4 pin CPU connector
1x 6 pin PCIe connector
4x Molex connector
3x SATA connector
1x Floppy connector

If you need more info give me a buzz. Strangely enough the PSU seems fine despite being one of their OEM versions which comes with their V3 case. The only issue is there is a noise, either from this or the card.
 
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Your PSU has a max load of 29A on the 12v rails, which comes to 348W. Some PSUs cheat here and while each rail can provide the 15A and 14A separately the combined 12v loading may be less than this.

Edit: As I thought.
fonte%20thermaltake%20450.jpg


You see this states that 23A is the max total usage. That's only 276W. It also states that 1A must be loaded to each rail as a minimum. Not sure what would happen if you didn't load it like this.

I'm not actually sure how they've determined 450W as the rated power of this unit as 276W (12v) plus 130W (3.3,5v) only makes 406W. Even with the extra power of stanby and -12v power it only comes to 417W.

So even though your PSU is rated as a 450W by Thermaltake it is more a 300W true power unit.

At least they don't try and hide the information from you. This is a low to mid end power supply for basic home/office use.

Your GTS 250 is rated as 150W out of the box and with tweaking probably exceeds this.
 
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Tealc said:
Your PSU has a max load of 29A on the 12v rails, which comes to 348W. Some PSUs cheat here and while each rail can provide the 15A and 14A separately the combined 12v loading may be less than this.

Edit: As I thought.
fonte%20thermaltake%20450.jpg


You see this states that 23A is the max total usage. That's only 276W. It also states that 1A must be loaded to each rail as a minimum. Not sure what would happen if you didn't load it like this.

I'm not actually sure how they've determined 450W as the rated power of this unit as 276W (12v) plus 130W (3.3,5v) only makes 406W. Even with the extra power of stanby and -12v power it only comes to 417W.

So even though your PSU is rated as a 450W by Thermaltake it is more a 300W true power unit.

At least they don't try and hide the information from you. This is a low to mid end power supply for basic home/office use.

Your GTS 250 is rated as 150W out of the box and with tweaking probably exceeds this.
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I feared that the power would be overstated. But for my rig, I should be topping out at ~400w, maybe a bit under. Either way, it seems the PSU is having to work harder. Thanks for going to all that effort because you nailed PSU spot on.

I may look at getting a TT LitePower down the line providing it's cost efficient. Thank you so much for your help.

EDIT: It's strange because TT have added the 6 pin connector and a bunch of others, as well as sleeving all the connectors. For such an OEM unit it's so strange that they would do that. Sure, it doesn't cost that much, but it's a waste of time. I would rather have a better PSU than the sleeving and a tonne of molex connectors.
 
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tuomoy said:
It's worth testing the PSU just in case. I had noise coming out of several just before they expired.
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I have a PSU tester and it seems to be fine. The sound isn't a coil whine or a capacitor but more rather an annoying fan humming.
 
nippynoo said:
Get hold of a length of rubber tube (about a metre), put one end to your ear, and move the other end around the suspect components, like a stethoscope. You'll soon find the source of the noise.
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At this point I'm willing to try anything. I have tubing that I used to water cool my rig so I'll give it a go and get back to you.
 
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