soft beeping noise under load, possibly PSU?

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.

Hey DeanoDriver, definitely long time!

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

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

Hey DeanoDriver, definitely long time!

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

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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.

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

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

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.

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?

Most definitely YES

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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. :)

cooler master is a good solid make.

sweet, I'll get one, I can get them for $55AUD, which, IMO, is a bargain. I was expecting to pay $80-100 (paid $90 for my Antec)

I guess i'll stick the Antec in my server, then :)

make sure the cheaper version has the 24 pin atx plug!! I got caught out like that a couple of weeks back.

the beeping has been fixed by moving the system to another case (fullatx one rather than microatx), however this other case is rubbish, so i'll be looking for a decent one soon.

Now just to get a nice midtower case with decent airflow for not much money.

Update...

I've bought a new case, a nice CoolerMaster Elite RC331. The stability issues aren't as bad as they were (could also be in part due to the cooler weather). Still using the old PSU, though. However:

I still have a problem with my mouse, where it'll occasionally just die for no reason, and I'll have to unplug+plug it in again to get working, dunno if it's USB ports or the mouse itself, but I think it's USB ports, didn't happen with the old setup. This was intermittent, didn't happen for ages, then happened quite often.

I've done a memtest on the RAM, and it seems to be OK so far. However, the memory problem still persists (although not as bad) if the machine is restarted after being on for a long while. However, wait a couple of minutes, and it starts fine.

I haven't noticed the beeping, but then again, I haven't been running Folding@Home or anything to load the CPU at 100% for long periods of time.

My concern is whether the first two problems are motherboard related. I'm still thinking about buying a new board (I want something with a passively cooled chipset).

However, a mate of mine's after some Socket 939 bits for a new machine, and if my board's not the problem, I could offer him my board and RAM, sell the CPU on eBay or forums or similar, and go a cheap AM2 (dualcore) upgrade. Hopefully it's not my board.

On the usb issue, have you got the ports set not to turn off to save power?

Well, I bit the bullet, and decided to upgrade instead. Firstly, I put the power supply that came with my case in it, which is nothing like as powerful as the Antec, and it makes a hell of a din, but it seems to work so far. Probably need to RMA the Antec, I reckon it could be the cause of the issues.

Also, I decided to upgrade, went and picked up:

Athlon 64 X2 3600+
Asus M2NPV-VM
512MB generic DDR2-667 (only temporary until I can afford a nice 2GB kit)

Pretty good for $216AUD (about $175USD at current exchange rates), I think :)

It's stable now, and it's fairly quick, although it needs more RAM!

You always need more ram!

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

You always need more ram!

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I do, and I'll hopefully be getting a nice 2GB kit in a couple of weeks (gotta sell my old mobo/RAM, a mate of mine wants it, so i'll get him to test the board and see if it's the problem). I'm trying to decide between 667 and 800, though. There's a ~$40 price difference (heard good reports about A-DATA RAM).

Soon after that, I'll have to get a new PSU, then a nice 12cm rear fan, and then, hopefully, I can leave this system alone for a while (put money towards stuff my car will need soon) :)