"Coil Whine" from my video card is so intense, it comes through my headphones

[Dankk]

Update: OK, so the coil whine is definitely coming from my PSU. I actually managed to record what it sounds like, while playing a game that makes it squeal particularly bad. Does this sound unsafe?: http://youtu.be/j3CQ636QKM4

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Has anyone else ever experienced this?

Whenever I run a game or some other 3D-accelerated application, there's an electrical buzzing noise in my headphones, coming directly from my graphics card. It's not a "hiss" or a "fuzz"; but rather, a very harsh "buzz". It's distinctly electrical-sounding.

I know that it's coming from my graphics card, because the pitch of the noise is directly correlated with my FPS. High FPS = higher pitched noise, lower FPS = lower pitched noise. In a first-person game, rapidly moving my mouse up and down over and over, causes the pitch of the noise to rapidly fluctuate. In BF3 for example, staring at the ground nets a higher FPS, which means higher pitched whining. Slowly looking up at my surroundings, the FPS goes down, and the pitch decreases. The correlation is seriously 1:1.

I call it "coil whine" in the thread title because that's kind of what it reminds me of; like I'm listening to an amplified coil whine from my GPU coming through my headphones.

Things I've tried:

1) Using different kinds of headphones. In short, ALL headphones pick the interference to some extent; cheaper headphones not as much, but higher-quality studio headphones pick it up a ton. (Which sucks, because I have a really nice pair of Pioneer headphones that I'd like to game with, but they're very sensitive and the electrical buzzing noise is so prominent that it's unacceptable.)

2) Using both an on-board sound and a dedicated PCI sound card. I bought a cheap sound card from the store yesterday, thinking that it wouldn't pick up the same interference. Sad to say, the buzzing noise was still there. I returned it to the store since it didn't solve my problem. So now I'm back to integrated audio, using a mediocre pair of headphones because the noise isn't as bad this way.

While the noise is worst in 3D programs, I don't have to have a 3D program open to hear it. Literally just sitting on the desktop and moving the mouse cursor can provoke the noise. As I speak, grabbing the edge of the web browser and resizing the window back and forth makes noise too. It's as if any kind of screen movement causes buzzing noise through my headphones.

Any ideas?

Edit: I have a Sapphire 7870, nothing is OC'd. It's this model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102981

 

[ShintaiDK]

Overclocking? Disabled spread spectrum? Try enable spread spectrum if you disabled it.

 

[PowerYoga]

have you tried out a different graphics card and see if it's the card that's actually the cause? Generally coil whine comes from the PSU and not the video card.

 

[zaydq]

have you tried out a different graphics card and see if it's the card that's actually the cause? Generally coil whine comes from the PSU and not the video card.

Oddly enough though I've seen multiple complaints on several boards and Newegg's comments with people complaining on all multitudes of Sapphire's offerings that they are getting coil whine. I know PSUs are a major cause but I wonder if Sapphire is using something that puts out the same frequency as something in the PSU or if they just cheaped out on parts on the gpu.

 

[blackened23]

If it is coming through your soundcard and headphones, I'm not sure that it's your GPU. I used to own a P8P67 pro motherboard, and from what I remember the mobo audio is very cheap and not shielded. I don't know if any other P8P67 owners can chime in - are you using discrete audio or the motherboard audio?

Coil whine will originate from the card and will not be heard through the headphones. You failed to specify what type of audio card you're using.

 

[ViRGE]

If it is coming through your soundcard and headphones, I'm not sure that it's your GPU. I used to own a P8P67 pro motherboard, and from what I remember the mobo audio is very cheap and not shielded. I don't know if any other P8P67 owners can chime in - are you using discrete audio or the motherboard audio?

Coil whine will originate from the card and will not be heard through the headphones. You failed to specify what type of audio card you're using.

Blackenend is right; coil whine is physical noise generated from the movement of the coils in chokes. To have electrical interference is something else entirely.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Buy an external USB soundcard. No more interference.

I use this: http://www.amazon.com/HRT-Music-Stre...streamer+ii%2B

There are much cheaper alternatives, but I got bit by the audiophool bug.

 

[Phynaz]

I'm betting on PSU.

 

[Douglaster]

Can you find from where the whinning is comingo ?

Just glue the coil and everything is fine.

 

[KingFatty]

A cheap way to clean up the sounds in your headset is with this thing:

Kensington Noise Reducing Car Audio AUX Cable for MP3 or SmartPhone, including iPhone 4S - $13.54 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Kensington Noise Reducing Car Audio AUX Cable for MP3 or SmartPhone, including iPhone 4S

Just use one of these female-to-female adapters to enable its use with your headset:
SANOXY 3.5mm Stereo Coupler, Female / Female - $0.74 free shipping
http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY-3-5mm-Stereo-Coupler-Female/dp/B000I963FE/ref=pd_sim_e_45

Nice bonus is you can use it in your car to eliminate the funny ground-loop sounds when charging and listening through the car's AUX port.

Note: I've used this thing in my computer and my car, works great in either to make everything super clear and totally removes the weird computer/coil whine noises in your headset.

 

[RussianSensation]

The 2 quickest ways to test coil whine for your GPU:

1) Run Windows Experience Index and see if your GPU squeals;
2) Run MSI Kombustor GPU Burn in Test called "Triangle of Death" (full screen).

If your GPU sequels like a giant pig in those 2, you may have some form of coil whine in some games.

Both of these tests are super easy to run and are a very quick way to determine if the GPU / PSU combination will result in coil whine on your card. Since neither of these tests use a sound card, that would isolate the onboard sound issue entirely.

 

[Dankk]

Overclocking? Disabled spread spectrum? Try enable spread spectrum if you disabled it.

Ah, I wish it were that simple. I enabled VRM spread spectrum in the BIOS but it didn't make a sight of difference.

have you tried out a different graphics card and see if it's the card that's actually the cause? Generally coil whine comes from the PSU and not the video card.

I have a 6950 I could use. Perhaps I'll swap it in and see if the noise is still there.

If it is coming through your soundcard and headphones, I'm not sure that it's your GPU. I used to own a P8P67 pro motherboard, and from what I remember the mobo audio is very cheap and not shielded. I don't know if any other P8P67 owners can chime in - are you using discrete audio or the motherboard audio?

Coil whine will originate from the card and will not be heard through the headphones. You failed to specify what type of audio card you're using.

When I used a discrete sound card to test if the problem persisted, this is the one I used. It's cheap, I know; but I would've assumed there would be SOME sort of an improvement over onboard audio. Unfortunately, the buzzing noise was almost identical over both integrated and dedicated sound chips.

Buy an external USB soundcard. No more interference.

I use this: http://www.amazon.com/HRT-Music-Stre...streamer+ii%2B

There are much cheaper alternatives, but I got bit by the audiophool bug.

Very tempted to get a USB sound card (a cheap one). But it stinks because, well... I shouldn't have to, you know?

The 2 quickest ways to test coil whine for your GPU:

1) Run Windows Experience Index and see if your GPU squeals;
2) Run MSI Kombustor GPU Burn in Test called "Triangle of Death" (full screen).

If your GPU sequels like a giant pig in those 2, you may have some form of coil whine in some games.

Both of these tests are super easy to run and are a very quick way to determine if the GPU / PSU combination will result in coil whine on your card. Since neither of these tests use a sound card, that would isolate the onboard sound issue entirely.

Ran the Triangle of Death in MSI Kombustor. Putting my ear up very closely to my computer, I actually could not hear any coil whine. None at all.

Which leads me to believe...

Blackenend is right; coil whine is physical noise generated from the movement of the coils in chokes. To have electrical interference is something else entirely.

Yeah. Clearly this isn't coil whine; rather, there is definitely some sort of EMI (electromagnetic interference) going on here. Am I correct?

If so, how in the world would I fix this? Is something poorly-shielded?

 

[Dankk]

Okay... you guys are right. The noise is definitely PSU noise.

In this one game, the coil whine is so loud that I didn't need headphones on to hear it. I recorded what it sounds like and posted it on Youtube. Is this amount of coil whine normal? http://youtu.be/j3CQ636QKM4

 

[blastingcap]

So you are using an OCZ PSU... that's the problem (though frankly I don't think that's much coil whine... not a real problem... hard to tell how loud it is from a youtube video though). Generally speaking, OCZ gets mediocre PSUs from OEMs and slaps stickers and endorsements on them. Doesn't change a thing--they are still mediocre.

For an inexpensive but well-built, all-Japanese-caps solution, try the Rosewill Capstone 450W. I've run it with a 3570K + 7850 + 7970 before all in the same system, all at 100%, for hours at a time. Quiet, efficient, and affordable at ~$60 w/ free shipping if you can wait for a sale.

For an even cheaper solution, try playing with things like V-sync.

 

[Dankk]

So you are using an OCZ PSU... that's the problem (though frankly I don't think that's much coil whine... not a real problem... hard to tell how loud it is from a youtube video though). Generally speaking, OCZ gets mediocre PSUs from OEMs and slaps stickers and endorsements on them. Doesn't change a thing--they are still mediocre.

For an inexpensive but well-built, all-Japanese-caps solution, try the Rosewill Capstone 450W. I've run it with a 3570K + 7850 + 7970 before all in the same system, all at 100%, for hours at a time. Quiet, efficient, and affordable at ~$60 w/ free shipping if you can wait for a sale.

Very tempting. I might just have to pick up that PSU. I was about ready to buy a USB audio adapter, but on the other hand...

I'm disappointed to know that my OCZ unit is shoddy, especially considering I've only had it for a couple months. I was informed that while OCZ's power supplies vary in quality, the Fatal1ty series is on the higher end of things. Guess I was informed wrong.

Just goes to show I need to ask the people on Anandtech first before buying anything these days.

Any other input is welcome.

 

[Marty502]

Hey man,

I recently had a situation similar to yours, got lots of coil whine from my computer. It got the loudest AFTER closing anything that was graphic intensive, and it could last for 20 minutes. Voltage readings were odd sometimes too, very fluctuating.

I had a solid PSU (Thermaltake Purepower 600W) that has hardly ever been too strained, a very frugal GPU (Radeon 4670) and an ancient, almost 7 years old mobo (DFI Infinity NF4) so I decided to replace the mobo and upgrade to what's on my signature now.

Now it's gone, with the same PSU and same GPU, no coil whine. It was the motherboard, which probably after years of overclocking and voltage bumping thought it was enough.

And maybe it was a coincidence, but just one week before buying the new gear I got massive hard drive issues, which resulted in a Caviar Blue completely dying and a Caviar Black with lots of bad sectors. Coil whine was at it's worst by that point.

So I suggest you do something about it ASAP.

 

[Keysplayr]

Do you plug your headphones into your speakers, or into a jack on the PC itself (like a front speaker/headphone out jack, usually green) on the front of the PC?

I had a severe whine playing some games a short while ago. The dumbest thing got rid of it. I unplugged my speaker jack from the rear sound card, (green), and plugged it into the front speaker out jack on the front panel of my PC. Whine completely gone. I know this isn't a proper fix, only a workaround for me. A bad ground could cause this whining through speakers or headphones.

EDIT: I just want to clarify. The whine is coming "through" the speakers or headphones? Or is the whine physically coming from your computer case? Thanks.

 

[blastingcap]

Very tempting. I might just have to pick up that PSU. I was about ready to buy a USB audio adapter, but on the other hand...

I'm disappointed to know that my OCZ unit is shoddy, especially considering I've only had it for a couple months. I was informed that while OCZ's power supplies vary in quality, the Fatal1ty series is on the higher end of things. Guess I was informed wrong.

Just goes to show I need to ask the people on Anandtech first before buying anything these days.

Any other input is welcome.

Actually I stand corrected, the components used seem fine, Japanese caps and all. http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/OCZ-Fatal1ty-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/1019/1 It appears to be a PC Power and Cooling PSU which is first-tier, or at least used to be, and presumably they are still good. I guess it's just bad luck to get the coil whine but it doesn't sound too loud to me. So, I stand corrected and apologize for painting OCZ with too broad of a brush.

 

[Meghan54]

It appears to be a PC Power and Cooling PSU which is first-tier

Incorrect. That Fatality was built by Highpower (Sirfa) and no PCP&C power supply was ever built by Highpower. PCP&C only used three OEM's for their power supplies.....the Silencer line was initially made by Sparkle then moved to Seasonic, and Turbo-Cools were built by Win-Tact, which were essentially a rebadge of off the shelf Win-Tact server power supplies.

And OCZ used essentially the same OEM for their 1kw Fatality ps....Sirfa, a not-too-good OEM.

Despite the "good" components used in the Fatality power supplies, there's much more to them than just the caps, etc., such as how good the pcb is, soldering, how well the layers of the pcb are isolated, etc. Highpower, Sirfa, Sirtec, and a host of other lower tier OEM's cut corners throughout their power supplies in those type of places where you cannot see what's been done.

 

[blastingcap]

You are right. I didn't read the full review till this morning as it was late at night and assumed wrongly. The review states: ""The [power supply] is manufactured by Highpower." Which makes me much more leery of it. You're also right about the soldering etc. and I would have liked to see more voltage regulation tests done, not just "pass/fail". Jonnyguru, Anandtech, TPU, and HardOCP, among others, do better PSU reviews so I would recommend to OP to look there for recommendations. In general though, Seasonic has a stellar reputation, and I've personally had good experiences with Super Flower designs (like those used in the Rosewill Capstone 450W and Kingwin Platinum series).

Incorrect. That Fatality was built by Highpower (Sirfa) and no PCP&C power supply was ever built by Highpower. PCP&C only used three OEM's for their power supplies.....the Silencer line was initially made by Sparkle then moved to Seasonic, and Turbo-Cools were built by Win-Tact, which were essentially a rebadge of off the shelf Win-Tact server power supplies.

And OCZ used essentially the same OEM for their 1kw Fatality ps....Sirfa, a not-too-good OEM.

Despite the "good" components used in the Fatality power supplies, there's much more to them than just the caps, etc., such as how good the pcb is, soldering, how well the layers of the pcb are isolated, etc. Highpower, Sirfa, Sirtec, and a host of other lower tier OEM's cut corners throughout their power supplies in those type of places where you cannot see what's been done.

 

[Dankk]

Do you plug your headphones into your speakers, or into a jack on the PC itself (like a front speaker/headphone out jack, usually green) on the front of the PC?

...

EDIT: I just want to clarify. The whine is coming "through" the speakers or headphones? Or is the whine physically coming from your computer case? Thanks.

The coil whine is, quite literally, leaking INTO my sound cables and manifesting clearly inside the earcups of my headphones. So yeah, it's doing much more than just leaking out the case.

I've been able to minimize the noise by plugging my headphones into the front, but using the front panel jack comes with problems of it's own. For some reason only one channel works. And there's a short that causes my PC to freeze sometimes when something is plugged into there.

This might bother me, except that I don't like to use my PC's front panel jacks for anything, ever. I try to keep the front of my PC completely clean and plug in everything in the back. So I'd rather not use the front at all.

Incorrect. That Fatality was built by Highpower (Sirfa) and no PCP&C power supply was ever built by Highpower. PCP&C only used three OEM's for their power supplies.....the Silencer line was initially made by Sparkle then moved to Seasonic, and Turbo-Cools were built by Win-Tact, which were essentially a rebadge of off the shelf Win-Tact server power supplies.

And OCZ used essentially the same OEM for their 1kw Fatality ps....Sirfa, a not-too-good OEM.

Despite the "good" components used in the Fatality power supplies, there's much more to them than just the caps, etc., such as how good the pcb is, soldering, how well the layers of the pcb are isolated, etc. Highpower, Sirfa, Sirtec, and a host of other lower tier OEM's cut corners throughout their power supplies in those type of places where you cannot see what's been done.

I suppose the coil whine is OK if it's only coming from the chassis. However, even if it's a relatively good PSU, the fact that the noise is so intrusive to the point of leaking into my sound system is an absolute no-no.

If anything, I'm gonna pick up that Rosewill Capstone PSU that BlastingCap speaks so highly of, unless there's any other recommendations. I'm certainly willing to spend $70 on a PSU that doesn't suck. I'm tired of this noise and I want to use my nice headphones without picking up a ton of interference.

Thanks for the help guys, I realize this thread should probably be moved into the Power Supply forum by now. Thanks for being patient with me.

 

[blastingcap]

The coil whine is, quite literally, leaking INTO my sound cables and manifesting clearly inside the earcups of my headphones. So yeah, it's doing much more than just leaking out the case.

I've been able to minimize the noise by plugging my headphones into the front, but using the front panel jack comes with problems of it's own. For some reason only one channel works. And there's a short that causes my PC to freeze sometimes when something is plugged into there.

This might bother me, except that I don't like to use my PC's front panel jacks for anything, ever. I try to keep the front of my PC completely clean and plug in everything in the back. So I'd rather not use the front at all.

I suppose the coil whine is OK if it's only coming from the chassis. However, even if it's a relatively good PSU, the fact that the noise is so intrusive to the point of leaking into my sound system is an absolute no-no.

If anything, I'm gonna pick up that Rosewill Capstone PSU that BlastingCap speaks so highly of, unless there's any other recommendations. I'm certainly willing to spend $70 on a PSU that doesn't suck. I'm tired of this noise and I want to use my nice headphones without picking up a ton of interference.

Thanks for the help guys, I realize this thread should probably be moved into the Power Supply forum by now. Thanks for being patient with me.

Hey you don't have to take my word for it, look at these reviews for the Capstone 450W:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5698/rosewill-capstone-450w-and-650w-80plus-gold

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=250

Note however that the cabling is a little shorter on the Rosewill Capstone 450W to comfortably fit the really big cases, so if that's an issue (you have a mammoth case), you may want to look for another one. It is also not modular if that's important to you. But for ~$60 what do you expect? (Note: Super Flowers don't often come with MOVs, so always use their PSUs with good surge protectors--which you should be doing anyway, because a small PSU MOV is not going to be anywhere as good as a beefy surge protector.)

If money is no concern try a Seasonic X-560 as that gets great reviews... but it costs nearly double.

 

[Dankk]

Hey you don't have to take my word for it, look at these reviews for the Capstone 450W:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5698/rosewill-capstone-450w-and-650w-80plus-gold

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=250

Note however that the cabling is a little shorter on the Rosewill Capstone 450W to comfortably fit the really big cases, so if that's an issue (you have a mammoth case), you may want to look for another one. It is also not modular if that's important to you. But for ~$60 what do you expect? If money is no concern try a Seasonic X-560 or something.

Cable length shouldn't be a problem; I just have a regular mid-tower Cooler Master Elite 430 case, and a 4+4 pin extension cable for CPU power if I need it. Also, while the Rosewill unit isn't modular, there are still only 6 affixed cables to it anyway, compared to some higher-end units that are an absolute mess of cable spaghetti. I'll be using 5 of those 6 cables. I'm certainly capable of some cable management.

Thanks again.

 

[blastingcap]

Cable length shouldn't be a problem; I just have a regular mid-tower Cooler Master Elite 430 case, and a 4+4 pin extension cable for CPU power if I need it. Also, while the Rosewill unit isn't modular, there are still only 6 affixed cables to it anyway, compared to some higher-end units that are an absolute mess of cable spaghetti. I'll be using 5 of those 6 cables. I'm certainly capable of some cable management.

Thanks again.

No problem. Also there is a sale going on today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151088 If you are looking for allegedly higher build quality (some of the reviews scare me but it has a good rep overall). $100 for an X-650. "$30 off w/ promo code EMCYTZT2242, ends 9/23"

 

[KingFatty]

The ground loop isolator will remove that noise I heard in your video, same as the sound I fixed on my PC.