Seasonic X-750 idle whine/buzz.

Armadillo

Armadillo

Armadillo

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29 Feb 2004
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So back in January I bought a Seasonic X-750 to replace my HX750i that was having problems.

I didn't notice at the time, but it has a buzzy/whine sound at idle and only at idle. System in case it matters is:

5820K
X99-SLI
R9 290 Vapor-x.

At idle the system draws about 80-100W at the wall (assuming cheap power meter is accurate) and the psu makes a constant low pitch buzz.

It's 100% coming from the psu. The second you put any load on it, the psu goes totally silent. Doesn't matter if it's the gpu or the cpu only, any load will make it silent. Simply opening a youtube video or playing a 1080p file on hdd which bumps the draw up to 120-150W and it's completly silent. It will stay silent, no matter how much it's loaded up. It's also silent when the pc is off, but psu/mains is still on so, so still supplying 5v standby. It's just the idle load that it buzzes with.

I wouldn't say the buzz is excessivly loud. If you put your ear to the back of psu, it's definitely audible and the difference between load and no load is clear. Normally using the pc, you can hear it, but it's more the constant cutting in/out that makes it noticible. So when you open something and there is that quick cpu load spike, it will stop for second.

Now the pc is quite close to me (I can take of setup if needed to show how close I sit) and at the same level as me. I think if it was on the floor like in a lot of setups, probably wouldn't hear it. Case fans are pretty silent as well, louder fans and probably unlikely to hear it. Case is a 750D airflow, so also not really a case that traps sound.

Most threads of buzzing whining, seem to be under load/high fps. I do see a few posts of similar issues on a huge range of psus.

So is this something that can be rma'd? Something inherent to the analog design of the Seasonic (Over 30 days, so I think OCUK's policy would be replace, so would just get the same again) or am I just expecting too much for a PSU to be completely silent under such a low load, while the pc is so close to me?

I just want silence, but it seems it's a never ending quest :(.

Thanks.
 
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Busy, so forgot about this for a while.

I still have the hx750i. The only issue with that was it/or the gpu had bad whine at high fps with it. At low load/idle the hx750i is silent. The buzz is definitely the Seasonic, can put ear next to it and the second any load is put on it, the buzz stops. I suspect if I turned off speed step or any power saving states, it would probably go and be silent as there would be a bit more of a load on it, but shouldn't have to turn off features to get the psu to be quiet.

Checking one of the reviews here does say "It is very quiet, but there is a slight buzz at all times (even the pc is off - turning the PSU off/removing the power cable finally removes the buzz). It's not bad and I am hyper sensitive to such noises so probably wouldn't bother most." Although mine is silent when pc is off and only buzzes at idle and seems a little excessive.

I've got a decent mic, so I'll try and grab a clip of the buzz, at the very least it will be something to show if I set up an rma, which is looking likely as it's so annoying :mad:
 
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Ok, so not had time to try and set up an rma or anything yet. I did manage to record it, little bit of fan noise, but I think it's clear enough.

https://instaud.io/Vuo

Constantly makes that annoying buzz while idle. Second you put any load on it, gpu or cpu, it goes completely silent. Definitely the psu making the noise. I guess it's some kind of coil whine, not sure why it only does it when at low load though. Does that seem excessive? I can hear it when sitting here, especially at night when it's quiet, so will be probably try for an rma. Just a bit of hassle if something like that is considered acceptable and it just comes back :(.
 
Tetras said:
Have you tried changing the c states?
Click to expand...

deFiniLoGy said:
Raise one directly with Seasonic
Click to expand...

Forgot about this. It's gone back to Seasonic, although via ocuk as it was free (dpd dropoff point) and I have a spare supply to use in the meantime, so doesn't matter if it takes a little longer.

Didn't mess about with any c states, didn't see why I should have to turn off power saving etc just to stop. Current supply is quiet at idle without doing anything.
 
Thought I'd give a quick update. Must have been something wrong with the first.

Got a replacment, replacement is basically silent. If I was being very critical, there's a very faint buzz if you put your head to the grill on the back, but no worse than I've heard from other supplies.


That's being picky though, normal usage, even with the pc right next to me, in a quiet room, can't hear it :). Hopefully it stays that way.
 
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