Hello. I have been troubleshooting odd problems with my PC that until recently, I haven't thought were related.
I've lost two power supplies in the past three years. Just one day they stopped working, and I had to replace them. I chalked it up to bad luck.
When I built my current computer, I opted for a big, 28" 4K LCD monitor. It looks great, but I've noticed a high pitched sound coming from it at times. I messed around with it, and I noticed that when the screen is showing a lot more white, the whine gets louder. I returned the monitor for a replacement of the same type, which has a quieter whine, but still definitely present.
One day, I was browsing the internet, and I noticed that sometimes my power supply would make a 'clicking' or 'purring' sound. It almost sounds like an old HDD trying to copy a large file, but it was very intermittent. I soon noticed that the PSU clicked ONLY when I was either scrolling up or down on a webpage, or when a new page was loading! Very strange, but I figured that the video rendering is drawing more power, and my crappy PSU is just clicking because it's close to death.
Then just a week ago I had the "Aha" moment. I had the same exact problem above, scrolling on a page which makes the PSU click, but I noticed that scrolling ALSO caused the lamp near me to flicker. Now, this lamp flickers all the time when I'm on the computer, so I didn't think much of it. But I soon realized that the lamp is holding steady, and I can spin the scroll wheel and cause the lamp to flicker. It's plugged into a different outlet from my PC, but they go into the same breaker.
So now I'm thinking all of my problems are because the electrics in this house are problematic. It also explains the 'click' when I turn on my home stereo or PC speakers, and why that lamp keeps flickering. I've known that sometimes my lights dim when the washing machine changes cycles, or the AC clicks on, but I never made the connection to my computer problems until this happened.
I thought about getting an electrician in to look at what can be done, but I understand it might be a problem in how the electricity is fed to the house from the town, so it might not even solve the problem. But my friend suggested buying a UPS - not so much for the battery backup, but just to normalize the power coming from the house and provide a consistent feed to the PC.
Is this plausible? If so, what should I look for in a UPS? What should I avoid? Should I get another one for my stereo to solve its loud clicking problem?
Thanks for any help
I've lost two power supplies in the past three years. Just one day they stopped working, and I had to replace them. I chalked it up to bad luck.
When I built my current computer, I opted for a big, 28" 4K LCD monitor. It looks great, but I've noticed a high pitched sound coming from it at times. I messed around with it, and I noticed that when the screen is showing a lot more white, the whine gets louder. I returned the monitor for a replacement of the same type, which has a quieter whine, but still definitely present.
One day, I was browsing the internet, and I noticed that sometimes my power supply would make a 'clicking' or 'purring' sound. It almost sounds like an old HDD trying to copy a large file, but it was very intermittent. I soon noticed that the PSU clicked ONLY when I was either scrolling up or down on a webpage, or when a new page was loading! Very strange, but I figured that the video rendering is drawing more power, and my crappy PSU is just clicking because it's close to death.
Then just a week ago I had the "Aha" moment. I had the same exact problem above, scrolling on a page which makes the PSU click, but I noticed that scrolling ALSO caused the lamp near me to flicker. Now, this lamp flickers all the time when I'm on the computer, so I didn't think much of it. But I soon realized that the lamp is holding steady, and I can spin the scroll wheel and cause the lamp to flicker. It's plugged into a different outlet from my PC, but they go into the same breaker.
So now I'm thinking all of my problems are because the electrics in this house are problematic. It also explains the 'click' when I turn on my home stereo or PC speakers, and why that lamp keeps flickering. I've known that sometimes my lights dim when the washing machine changes cycles, or the AC clicks on, but I never made the connection to my computer problems until this happened.
I thought about getting an electrician in to look at what can be done, but I understand it might be a problem in how the electricity is fed to the house from the town, so it might not even solve the problem. But my friend suggested buying a UPS - not so much for the battery backup, but just to normalize the power coming from the house and provide a consistent feed to the PC.
Is this plausible? If so, what should I look for in a UPS? What should I avoid? Should I get another one for my stereo to solve its loud clicking problem?
Thanks for any help