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Help me diagnose a strange squealing sound

Beerlake

Beerlake

Member
I have this really weird problem with my computer that I just noticed couple days ago. Diagnosing it is a little difficult because I can't say for certain when it started. I also don't really have spare parts to swap out, other than an old gpu that probably still works, but hopefully I don't have to.

Basically, most of the time the system is fine. But when I fire up a game, during the intro fmv, company logos and such, the system makes this squealing high pitched noise. But when the actual game starts, it's fine. I haven't been able to reproduce it in any other way. I've only tested it with two games that I have installed, The Witcher and that new Lara Croft game.

Also worth mentioning is that in Witcher the fmv's are in bink format, and as such I can just go to the game folder and view the videos from there. No squealing happens when I do it like that.

So, graphics card? It sounds strange that it would freak out like that when there's nothing to render really, and then in-game when it actually has work, it's normal.

Since I'm not 100% certain when it started happening due to the fact that I haven't been playing any games lately, here are some of the fairly recent changes to the system that I can recall.

New hdd that works great and passes all checks, extra sata power cable to the psu, bios update to the mobo.

My first thought was to just rollback to a previous version of bios, but this Asus board doesn't allow me to. So it's hard to say if that had anything to do with this. Rest of the system in signature.
 
Well, it sounds like a fan. There aren't that many in a system. Open the case, do something to make the noise start, and put a finger (carefully) or an eraser (again, carefully) onto the various fan blades to stop them or slow them down and see if the noise stops.

It's likely the graphics card. Hard drives can make strange noises, too. Rule out the fans, first.
 
Well, I changed the gfx card, but the sound persists on the same situations.
It seems like it's actually coming from the PSU.

It's fine on everyday use, but triggers on some situations.

I've been reading up on possibly similar situations here and elsewhere, and I'm wondering, is it possible that the bios update I did changed (broke) something in the mobo that is then causing the sound in the PSU? Some voltage change or whatever?
 
Before trying drastic measures and undoing, I'd try to pin-point exactly where it's coming from by using your ears. If it is the power supply, I'd do what RebateMonger mentioned and stop the fan, carefully, with a pencil. Have fun. By the way that sound in the video I get through the headphone output on my workstation during HDD reads, sure it's not coming from your speakers?
 
Monitors can squeal also so check it. Sometimes a way of better locating the source is to plug one ear and listen thru a tube (like the cardboard core of a wax paper or aluminum foil roll) pressed tightly against the other ear. This provides better directionality. Rotate your head around to maneuver the tube and close in on the direction of maximum loudness thru the tube. (You might even be able to get it right down to the component this way.) The final check is to verify the component by listening using a solid rod (eg, high density plastic). Transformers, coils/choke/inductors and transistor components are able to cause high pitched squeal. Sometimes all that is needed is to pot the component in damping compound (bees wax, glue dot, rubber cement).
 
Like C1 says check the monitor. The videos are switching the screen to a different resolution or refresh rate.
 
It's not a fan, I've checked them all. It's not the monitor since it happens even when the monitor is off.

I have pinpointed the sound to PSU or right under it, which would be cpu socket etc. I read around the internet that some people have had issues with the p55 chipset causing some PSUs to squeal. Corsair's forums have a sticky in there recommending to turn off some of the power related features in these situations, but those didn't help.

So it seems like it's more common than I initially thought since I assumed that it was the gfx card that was on its way out.

I'm still wondering if a bug in bios might cause something like this though.
 
I figured something out by accident today. It seems that the squeeling starts when the framerate gets really high. Like really really high.

In the examples like that Lara Croft game, the framerate as measured by Fraps is well over 1000 during the opening videos and such.
Another example, which actually was the key to discovering this, is Minecraft. It has that option to instantly limit framerate, which in my case basically toggles the framerate between 170~ (limited) and 2200 (unlimited).

I have no idea what to do next though.
 
there are some inductors and/or caps that can squeal when they get old and get stressed due to video or audio demands. having a higher frame rates can cause inductors to emit sound due to certain frequencies being pushed through them. I'm not positive if this is an indication of imminent failure or just shrinkage of component materials.
 
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