soft beeping noise under load, possibly PSU?

**Deanodriver** · December 15th, 2006, 09:39 AM

Hi all, long time no see!

I've begun to notice a faint high pitched beeping noise coming from this computer once I load it up (say, by running Folding@Home). I think it's coming from either the PSU or the hard drive. I know that when i had my PC in the hutch thing (since taken it out), the beeping was almost constant, and the bottom fan on the PSU doesn't seem to be spinning.

Since I'm trying to silence this PC, the noise is getting on my nerves, but what could be causing it?

By the way, the system is:

Athlon 64 3500+
Foxconn NF4K8MC-RS
1GB PC3200
XFX GeForce 6600
80GB HDD
Antec TruePower 380W PSU

Thanks.

**NooNoo** · December 15th, 2006, 10:49 AM

Hey DeanoDriver, definitely long time!

Bottom fan on the psu needs replacing! What temperature alarms are set in bios?

**Deanodriver** · December 15th, 2006, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by NooNoo

Hey DeanoDriver, definitely long time!

Bottom fan on the psu needs replacing! What temperature alarms are set in bios?

I haven't got a temperature alarm set in the BIOS. Besides, I've unplugged the speaker, and it still happens.

I originally thought that it was the hard drive, although since it only happens when i load up the CPU...

By the way, I'm running an aftermarket HSF (Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro), so temps shouldn't be the issue,

My thought is the PSU, but all the others I have in the house (to swap and check) are generic rubbish. It's 6 months old, though, I wonder if I could claim warranty?

I've heard these PSUs have dodgy capacitors as well.

**NooNoo** · December 15th, 2006, 03:07 PM

swap out the generic for a minute... does the beeping continue? If not, you have a warranty claim.

**Gabriel** · December 17th, 2006, 06:40 AM

Hi,

NooNoo suggested testing the fans/PSU - those are the most logical and common "generators" of noise.

-BUT-
As much as this might sound bizzare, but I saw (heard...) this happening:

Does the sound involved is a HIGH PITCH (rather than BEEP), if so this might come from electronic parts - capacitors, Transistors, transformation coils even from CPU!. to Isolate the problem, Turn off the Display, Disconnect Speakers and other peripheral. and if you still hear the HIGH PITCH than you will know that one of the electronics parts are doing the noise.

You can stop the Fans from spining by (very carefully) "shubbing" a pencil into the fan grill.

on a side note,
Good to see you on the BB
Gabriel

**Platypus** · December 17th, 2006, 08:04 AM

Gabriel's suggestion is sound. I've heard the CPU regulators on a motherboard make a high pitched sound that resembled a beep as the CPU load changed.

A high pitched sound can be difficult to pinpoint, like trying to locate a mosquito. A tube of some kind that you can hold to one ear and "sniff" around with the other end, stethoscope-like, can help to find the source if it doesn't be something obvious like the PSU.

**Deanodriver** · January 17th, 2007, 02:22 AM

Well, I finally got around to swapping out the PSU for a generic one, and guess what? It doesn't beep anymore!

Looks like the PSU's the culprit.

Thing is, it was fine with the old board and CPU I had.

Would the fact I'm running a 20pin PSU on a 24pin board be a factor in it?

**NooNoo** · January 17th, 2007, 05:47 AM

Most definitely YES

**Platypus** · January 17th, 2007, 07:14 AM

Some PSUs that used an active Power Factor Correction module had problems with high pitched noises...

**Deanodriver** · January 17th, 2007, 11:10 AM

I wonder if it's playing a part in another problem I've been having.

I've been having stability issues, especially when booting (it's intermittent, especially on warmer days), it just shuts down whenever it detects the RAM in the BIOS. Although the RAM is generic, it ran perfectly in the old system. The stability issues can be fixed by taking one of the sticks out, but I'd rather not be running on 512MB of RAM.

I'm getting a bit sick of the problems with this machine, my old setup (despite having an SiS chipset on the motherboard) was rock solid.

**merlinsghost** · January 17th, 2007, 11:28 AM

A couple of suggestions for ya:

The stability issues could be PSU related, not so much because it's going bad (though this may be why), it's that it isn't giving your system the power it *needs* (especially with the newer-ish nvidia-based video cards).

I realize that a lot of spec sheets say you can get away with PSU "X" in system "Y", but a lot of times--especially in systems with new technology--the "older" PSU's just can't cut it.

While your PSU is only 6 months old, it has a very low power output, and given your system specs, I wouldn't want anything less than a 450W PSU (I'd go with a 500W personally; overkill maybe, but better over than under I'd say). In my experience, I've run into a whole lot of trouble with stability and other issues because a minimum spec PSU was being used.

Also, if your motherboard has more than two RAM slots, make sure the slots aren't "specialized"; some boards will only support certain types of RAM in certain slots with certain timings (consult your motherboard's user manual for this). These slots are usually different colors (example: 2 black, 2 blue) and are *not* next to each other. This can also cause issues with RAM stability, especially generic type stuff.

It also might be a good idea to check in your system BIOS to see what resources are allocated for where. I've run into several systems where the settings in the BIOS were just...wonky (for lack of a better term).

Good luck!

**Deanodriver** · January 18th, 2007, 02:36 AM

Well, I'll have a look at buying a better PSU (but I'm on a student budget, and I want one to be near-silent). I can always put this one in my server or in my brother's PC.

Unfortunately, my motherboard only has two RAM slots (I'd like one with four). however, if I want one with four, I'll have to buy a full-ATX board, which means my MicroATX case wouldn't support it, so that's a new case too. Chances are that'd run to a fair amount of money.

**NooNoo** · January 18th, 2007, 04:14 AM

High ideals and low budget are not a happy mix. However near silent psus are not that expensive nowadays, in the UK you pay an extra £10 GBP for silence. However, if you want to go antec or whatever then of course you will have to pay more.

**Deanodriver** · January 18th, 2007, 04:57 AM

Hmm, are these any good?

I've seen them at other stores for $50-55AUD, so they might be the go . 430W is more than 380W as well, and I've heard it's got a 29A 12v rail.