Whistling PC
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Thread: Whistling PC

  1. #1
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    Whistling PC

    Ok, I've never seen or heard this before, but my PC seems to have started making a faint but very annoying whistling sound which varies with CPU usage (when the CPU is intensively used the pitch of the whistling changes).

    What in the world could be causing this? Can the CPU itself emit a whistling sound? It's an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ or 3300+ or something like that.

    Anyone have any idea where this sound can be comming from? It's really starting to drive me insane.

    Thanks
    Last edited by ClickHere2Surf.com; May 5th, 2006 at 06:09 PM.
    "[...] drug companies are killing far more Americans than all terrorists, murderers and criminals combined [...]" - NewsTarget.com

  2. #2
    Registered User street1's Avatar
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    Cpu fan would be the first thing to check.

    May just need cleaning.May be going bad.

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    I thought so at first, but as I said the sound changes immediately with CPU usage (even if a minimize a window, during the half second of the minimization animation the sound changes instantly at the start and end of the animation), so it almost would be impossible for the fan to be doing that, it certainyl couldnt change speeds that abruptly and spontaneously.
    "[...] drug companies are killing far more Americans than all terrorists, murderers and criminals combined [...]" - NewsTarget.com

  4. #4
    Registered User street1's Avatar
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    Vibrations from failing Mosfets just don't seem likely but,who knows.

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    Does this help: I turned off the PC, all fans stopped, the noise continued, I unplugged the PC, the noise continued, I pressed the power button with the PC still unplugged to drain all remaining power and the noise stopped.
    "[...] drug companies are killing far more Americans than all terrorists, murderers and criminals combined [...]" - NewsTarget.com

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    I also wanted to add that it's a very high pitch and faint sound, many people cannot hear it at all, but I hear it enough for it to be really annoying, but then again, I can also hear when someone closes their car door from quite a few houses away and even through the sound of a fan, PC and movie playing which also no one else hears. Often we're watching a movie on my projector and I say "the delivery is here" and my friends say like "the doorbell didn't ring" but I had just heard the car stop in front through the sound of a movie, fan, and inkjet printer printing, one was like "how the hell did you hear that?" and my other friend said "oh he has super hearing" or something like that lol.
    "[...] drug companies are killing far more Americans than all terrorists, murderers and criminals combined [...]" - NewsTarget.com

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    OMG please help! It sounds like a god damn siren to me! Is it the mosfets? Are those in the psu or on the mobo?
    "[...] drug companies are killing far more Americans than all terrorists, murderers and criminals combined [...]" - NewsTarget.com

  8. #8
    Registered User gemstone's Avatar
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    Have you looked into the possibility of EMI being picked up by either the onboard speaker\beeper or your sound system, it's a problem I have come across from time to time and find rerouting of soundcard in\out wires and the addition of a ferrite core around the motherboard to case connections can make it go away, I'm thinking interferance since it is still there when eveything is turned off, which eliminates a lot of potential causes.

  9. #9
    Registered User street1's Avatar
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    This super sensitive hearing issue needs attention.Read all of the below site.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply

    In thinking back you could have a loose mounting screw anywhere in the mounting

    of your hard drive any optical drives like CD or DVD etc.....

    Many times a hard drive with loose mounting screws can cause a whine of a sort from the vibration.

    You could get the similar noise from a fan mounting bracket or screw.

  10. #10
    Registered User street1's Avatar
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    I posted too close to (gemstone)the speaker/beeper is a solid issue I didn't think about.

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    street1: What do you mean by this super sensitive hearing issue needs attention?
    "[...] drug companies are killing far more Americans than all terrorists, murderers and criminals combined [...]" - NewsTarget.com

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    Registered User slgrieb's Avatar
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    I think what Street means is that if you insert a pair of knitting needles into your auditory canals until you encounter painful resistance, and then push them in another quarter inch more you'll have resolved lots of annoying noise issues. But, I could be wrong.

    Another possible solution is to check your BIOS and see if you have any utilities like Asus Q-Fan enabled. These settings will adjust fan speed based on CPU load, and will cause the kind of symptoms you describe.

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    Registered User xpuser357's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=slgrieb]I think what Street means is that if you insert a pair of knitting needles into your auditory canals until you encounter painful resistance, and then push them in another quarter inch more you'll have resolved lots of annoying noise issues. But, I could be wrong.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    That is

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    The PSU is brand new and doesn't feel hot, it is a quality Antec SmartPower 450 watts, but the sound does seem to be comming from the PSU, could this noice be normal? Remember it is very faint, most people don't hear it at all, to me it sort of sounds like a far away siren from a few streets away but I can tell it's comming from the PC, similar to the high frequency sound old analog TVs made that also I can hear and many others can't.
    "[...] drug companies are killing far more Americans than all terrorists, murderers and criminals combined [...]" - NewsTarget.com

  15. #15
    Registered User gazzak's Avatar
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    The whining comes from a vibration of the windings on a transformer or coil. The transformers are supposed to be "glazed" with a sealant to keep them from whining, but if there's any loose windings, it'll whine.

    If it's the motherboard coils making the noise then touch any coils on the MOBO with a match or lolly stick and see if the noise stops. If you suspect the PSU then you'd have to open it to do the same test and so void any warranty. Personally I'd just try another PSU first, 90% chance it'll be that.
    There's no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you've got
    your hand or head stuck in something

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