1-year old Seasonic PSU is chirping.

[Jeff7]

I thought it was a fan going bad, but I'm sure it's not, having stopped every single fan in the system. Sound is definitely coming from the power supply.

Audio sample, with background noise

Audio sample, with bandpass filtering

Audiography thingy

Is this damn thing dying already? I got it almost exactly one year ago.

It's a Seasonic Super Silencer 460W PSU.


Edit: It doesn't seem to be related to what the computer is doing. I just ran these tests concurrently:
- Prime95 in In-Place Large FFT mode (max head and power consumption
- AIDA32's random access disk benchmark on my 4-drive RAID 5 setup
- Final Reality (I don't have any other 3d benchmarks handy) with full FSAA and 16xanisotropic filtering

No change in the chirping sound.

Update, May 16th:
I've had the computer home since Saturday May 6th, and it's been running most of that time. It's not so much as made a single odd peep in all that time. Could it have been some kind of odd noise in the power lines at the college? Some kind of interference?

Update, May 21st:
Still no funny noises from the power supply.
Interesting side note, and I'll try to get a recording of it sometime - in the bathroom, is a ground fault protect outlet with one of those greenish EL low-power nightlights plugged into it. It makes a regular chirping sound that reminds me of my Seasonic's chirping, though lower pitched.

 

[arcenite]

I would replace it ASAP.

 

[Jeff7]

Well it had better be able to wait until May.
It only seems to do it intermittently, and there doesn't seem to be anything specific that brings it on.

What causes it?

And why does my power supply luck suck? Power supply deaths:
I killed a cheap L&C 300W PSU by running CPU burn on a Tbird 1.0GHz @ 1.4GHz. A resistor popped in the thing and singed the PCB.

I've had an Antec Truepower 430W with something pop inside it that shut down its internal cooling fans. RMA'd. Its replacement started having low voltage problems farther down the line. RMA'd. Had enough of Antec, so I sold it.


Also odd, my -5.00V line is showing as +3.50V
3.3v is showing as 3.09. It didn't show that low when this motherboard was run off the Antec power supply - then it only went as low as 3.15.

Does anyone make power supplies that don't suck? (Besides PCP&C we all know about them.)

 

[stelleg151]

Maybe your motherboard sucks? Im not sure, but I would guess that after two and a half PSU's dying on it, that theres probably something wrong with it. Especially since Antec and Seasonic both make very stable psu's.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: stelleg151
Maybe your motherboard sucks? Im not sure, but I would guess that after two and a half PSU's dying on it, that theres probably something wrong with it. Especially since Antec and Seasonic both make very stable psu's.

Those PSU's weren't on this motherboard. Only one of them was - the last Antec with the low voltage.
The L&C was on an earlier socket A motherboard, think it was an Epox 8KTA or something like that.

The Antec that had something pop inside it was with an Epox 8RDA+ - and the motherboard later died of bulging caps.

Current system uses an NF7-S rev2.0.

Buuut, who knows. I was looking at my old threads and I found this one, about a warbly Truepower 430W, which I believe was the low-voltage one I referred to.

I'd love to get a new motherboard, but I'd really have to get new everything then - namely, a new CPU and new RAM, and maybe a new videocard if the motherboard wouldn't have an AGP slot. All my money's going to pay tuition right now, and will likely be that way for the next 2-3 years, unfortunately.


Maybe this whole problem is related to this shutdown problem. It might have been around that time when I started noticing the stupid noise, but it just didn't bug me enough at the time - probably just thought then too that it was a fan that needed a little oil.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Anything made by L&C or YoungYear is pure, unadultrated crapola.
The TP 430 was the single worst PSU antec had built by CWT. Antec did spec the build however.
The only decent antec PSU that I know of are the NeoHe line. They are made by Seasonic
to antec's spec.

RMA you Seasonic. I'm not into silence..Kinda quiet works for me. I modded both my Zippy/Emacs
for external 92mm fans and seldom even hear them. Might hear'em come July or August.

Several new 80+%efficiant PSUs are coming out in late May. So hang in there if you can.

If you want my rec. for a VG but inexpensive PSU, PM me the line wattage you seek and I'll PM you several links.
I hate talking PSUs on this board with all the PCP&C & OCZ fanboies shouting about how there is none better

...Galvanized

 

[Jeff7]

I wonder if I even can RMA it.
I didn't damage the "Void your warranty" sticker - but before discovering where the noise was really coming from, I unscrewed the fan grille, removed the fan label, and oiled the fan. Think they'll have a problem with it?

RMA terms page

$5 handling fee too if it's not returned in its original packing.:roll:
Yes, we all have a huge warehouse to store original packing materials for every single product we purchase.

And of course, no advance RMA option, so I'll be without a PC for about 2 weeks.

 

[cessna152]

I had this problem at college. It was caused by ****** power coming from the wall. We had constant power fluctuations/brownouts/etc. Do you use a UPS with AVR? That fixed my problem.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: cessna152
I had this problem at college. It was caused by ****** power coming from the wall. We had constant power fluctuations/brownouts/etc. Do you use a UPS with AVR? That fixed my problem.

Cyberpower 1250AVR UPS, so yes. Incoming power is fine too. UPS's logfile shows that it's been 119v since 11:18am yesterday. Frequency fluctuates a bit, but only from 60.0Hz to 60.3Hz.

 

[Operandi]

If this is the 2nd PSU to die on that board I would consider the possibility that the board or something else in the system may the cause of the problems. The sound itself sounds like coil whine which can be caused by either the PSU itself or other components (anything that dose voltage conversion) interacting with it.

If you can try the Seasonic on another system that would be worth while.

 

[Jeff7]

I've got some digits:
Incoming voltages were measured off of the ATX power connector.

Incoming +12V: +12.20
MBM5: +11.65

Incoming -5V: +3.61
MBM5: +3.55

Incoming +3.3V: +3.27
MBM5: +3.14

Incoming -12: -12.80
MBM5: -12.68

The -5V line is no fluke with MBM - it really is showing positive 3.61v.

Any testing out of the system has to wait until May. I'm at college now, and completely devoid of extra parts to test with.

Maybe I can find funding elsewhere for an upgrade. I'd have to research new motherboards though. I'm totally out of the loop on that stuff.


Crazy thing - now that I've done the voltmeter testing, the squeaking has stopped.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: stelleg151
Maybe your motherboard sucks? Im not sure, but I would guess that after two and a half PSU's dying on it, that theres probably something wrong with it. Especially since Antec and Seasonic both make very stable psu's.

you have no clue huh??

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

ISA & some sound cards need the -5V. Can you pull that pin from the ATX 20/24pin shell then try your rig again.?? IF you've never pulled these small pins they can be very tricky.

Seasonic is VG about RMA.


...Galvanized

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
ISA & some sound cards need the -5V. Can you pull that pin from the ATX 20/24pin shell then try your rig again.?? IF you've never pulled these small pins they can be very tricky.

Seasonic is VG about RMA.


...Galvanized

Well, the odd thing is, I looked at a pinout of ATX and ATX-24 sockets.
The Seasonic has a 24-pin ATX connector. According to the pinout I have, there should be a white wire that would be the -5V connector. There is no white wire there - the spot is just empty. But on the converter, there IS a white wire which is the -5V wire. So it's getting power from somewhere, but it's not coming from the ATX plug.

Pic
From the upper left, there's black, red, red, red, then blank. That blank spot is where the white -5V wire should be. So there is no -5V wire, yet the motherboard's showing -5V on its ATX plug.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
ISA & some sound cards need the -5V. Can you pull that pin from the ATX 20/24pin shell then try your rig again.?? IF you've never pulled these small pins they can be very tricky.

Seasonic is VG about RMA.


...Galvanized

Well, the odd thing is, I looked at a pinout of ATX and ATX-24 sockets.
The Seasonic has a 24-pin ATX connector. According to the pinout I have, there should be a white wire that would be the -5V connector. There is no white wire there - the spot is just empty. But on the converter, there IS a white wire which is the -5V wire. So it's getting power from somewhere, but it's not coming from the ATX plug.

Pic
From the upper left, there's black, red, red, red, then blank. That blank spot is where the white -5V wire should be. So there is no -5V wire, yet the motherboard's showing -5V on its ATX plug.

Thats pretty common.

Lots of modern PSUs have dropped the -5v from their designs since nothing uses it anymore.

*Edit*

I didn't realize you were talking about the "-"5v rail the whole time. My PCP&C Silencer also lacks the -5v rail but shows up as 3.5v under SpeedFan, so what you are reading is normal.

 

[Jeff7]

So where's that 3.6v coming from?

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
So where's that 3.6v coming from?

Not sure, I think it's probably a false reading.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Jeff7
So where's that 3.6v coming from?

Not sure, I think it's probably a false reading.

Well then it fooled my voltmeter too.

 

[Operandi]

But it's just an empty pin correct?

Either way it shouldn't really matter. Nothing uses the -5v rail anymore, and I know Seasonic is one of the manufactures that dropped it from their units.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Operandi
But it's just an empty pin correct?

Either way it shouldn't really matter. Nothing uses the -5v rail anymore, and I know Seasonic is one of the manufactures that dropped it from their units.

On the 24-pin ATX connector it's empty. But the converter that came with the power supply has a white wire that corresponds to -5V on the old-style ATX connector.

I guess I just have to hope(?) that it gets worse by summer. Because the thing hasn't made a single odd noise now for more than a day.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Operandi
But it's just an empty pin correct?

Either way it shouldn't really matter. Nothing uses the -5v rail anymore, and I know Seasonic is one of the manufactures that dropped it from their units.

On the 24-pin ATX connector it's empty. But the converter that came with the power supply has a white wire that corresponds to -5V on the old-style ATX connector.

Then you're probably just reading a 'floating' voltage, probably due to capacitance with the other wires. The newer ATX power specs don't require -5V or -12V, so many new PSUs are omitting them. The -5V and/or -12V rails being totally out of whack is normal.

 

[Remedy]

Originally posted by: Operandi
But it's just an empty pin correct?

Either way it shouldn't really matter. Nothing uses the -5v rail anymore, and I know Seasonic is one of the manufactures that dropped it from their units.

Some temp monitors and clk_gen's still have use for it.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Remedy

Originally posted by: Operandi
But it's just an empty pin correct?

Either way it shouldn't really matter. Nothing uses the -5v rail anymore, and I know Seasonic is one of the manufactures that dropped it from their units.

Some temp monitors and clk_gen's still have use for it.

The -5v rail isn't part of the newer ATX specs (2.0+), it's not needed for any modern system.

 

[Jeff7]

Dammit, it's started chirping again.

Anyone know exactly what would cause that noise? If I remember the bandpass correctly, I think it was between 12KHz and 17KHz.

 

[Operandi]

If it's coil whine it's caused by interactions between the PSU and any component that has voltage regulation capabilities. Common sources are graphics cards, and motherboards.