high pitched noise from overclocking?

[imported_plex]

Ok, I posted this on hardforum and two possible answers were:

1) voltage leak on motherboard (motherboard going bad)

2) due to overclocking, the harddrive is working faster thus creating more noise (harddrive has to seek more)


Here is the problem:

Never notice this before but when I overclocked my machine, I get a high pitch noise that gradually becomes louder as I overclock higher. When I got my machine up to 2.5ghz territory, the high pitch sound almost sounded like an internal alarm going off.

Specs:
Athlon 64 3000+ (venice core?)
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra (nForce 4) motherboard
(2) sticks of 1g Corsair ValueSelect ram PC3200 DDR400
XFX 6800 XT
Lite-On 16x dvd burner
(1) 320gig Western Digital Caviar SE 16meg cache sata 2 (backup drive)
(1) 160gig Western Digital Caviar SE 8meg cache sata 2 (main drive)
Aspire 530w PSU

Far as what I did to overclock:
HTT lowered to 4x
FSB raised to 247mhz
memory divider set to 166mhz
ram posts at 416mhz
cpu posts at 2.2ghz

When I leave everything at default settings (not overclocked), the noise is there but not as bad as when overclocked.

It is not any fans causing this noise. I have stopped all the fans and the noise still exists. It is also not the PSU. It is possible it may be the harddrive going bad but I installed windows on the newer harddrive (320gig) and the noise still existed. It only happens in Windows.

It is also bleeding over into my onboard sound and whenever I open a folder or have activity, I can hear it through the speakers. Sounds like a slight pause then static (both from the speakers and placing my ear right next to it).

I'm stumped. I've installed fresh copies of Windows and nothing seems to be working.


Since the noise that is coming from my speakers sound identical to the ones from the case, I decided to cap the noise from the speakers.

http://www.specialmoose.com/noise.AVI

Again, it is not only coming through my speakers but also through the case.

 

[jiffylube1024]

I think it's voltage regulation circuitry on your motherboard that causes the noise. I've also noticed some high pitched noises when overclocking in the past, such as a couple of ATI Radeon high end cards (a 9800 Pro and an X850XT), and a CPU (forget which one; maybe a P4?).

No noise whatsoever here on my DFI board, though. Maybe find out how many phases your PSU's power regulation circuitry is. I'm not very familiar with the whole technology myself, but from what I've read most good high-end PSU's are 4-phase, and a couple of the very top ones are 5-phase, while average boards are only 3-phase.

Is the noise linear to clockspeed? Like if you boot up in Windows at 2.0 Ghz with low dividors and then gradually overclock with clockgen, does the noise get progressively louder up to 2.5 GHz? It could also be voltage dependent - what CPU voltage are you running at? I had an A64 3000+ and I remember running it at 2.4 GHz @ ~1.5V and 2.6 GHz @ 1.6V.

Someone smarter than me on this issue can maybe help clarify this further .

 

[furballi]

Move the MB outside of the case so you can isolate the noise. Focus on the power section on the MB.

 

[sumyungai]

From past experiences, the noises went away after I replaced an Aspire PSU. Though your Miles may very, but you should always start with the weakest link and your PSU is of low quality so I recommend you replace that with a quality brand name PSU such as Enermax, OCZ, Seasonic, and if you have money PC&C and I'm sure others on here can recommend a few that I've missed.

Also, what makes me suspect the PSU is since the higher you overclock the louder the noise and since the higher overclock, the higher the strain it is on the PSU and MB as well but in this case, I suspect the cheap PSU.

 

[imported_Imp]

My guess is that it's just coil whine. The coils either on your motherboard or PSU are making a high pitched noise as voltage changes. When I first built my system, there was a really annoying high-pitched whine too. The sound seemed to come in and out, but was persistent. Then I added a stick of Ram, and the sound went away (guessing added power draw?). It has only come back lately one in a while for a minute or so. If it is coil whine, it should not be an issue, except you might go deaf (from the noise or self-inflicted).

 

[Uhtrinity]

Sometimes failing electrolytic capacitors can do the same thing, I would suspect something in the powersupply or on the motherboard. Just last week I worked on a system that did this, except it would come from the monitor at low dos resolutions.

 

[swtethan]

mine does the same thing, it went away after months of use, high pitched, annoyed the heck out of me, it seems to be the psu, whenever i plug it into the wall it starts to wind up.

 

[imported_plex]

I updated the bios on the board and the noise seems to have changed a little. The PSU is brand new but I had no idea the quality of Aspire until the PSU was in transit to me (bought it based on newegg reviews ).

I'm thinking about purchasing the Antec P150 (model? the silent case) that comes with a silent PSU. I've read that some say it is a decent PSU while others say it is not. What do you guys think? Will the 430w be sufficient enough for my graphics card (asks for 450w or more)?

 

[themusgrat]

I am listening to the same thing right now. I am OCed to 1.6v now, and that might be the problem. But since I first heard it, I have had a new mobo, a new video card, and a new PSU, so that is probably not your problem. Though the PSU should not be ruled out. But my case makes it interesting, there is no obvious answer.

EDIT: I have an Enermax Liberty 500, which is more than sufficient for my setup.

 

[sumyungai]

Originally posted by: themusgrat
I am listening to the same thing right now. I am OCed to 1.6v now, and that might be the problem. But since I first heard it, I have had a new mobo, a new video card, and a new PSU, so that is probably not your problem. Though the PSU should not be ruled out. But my case makes it interesting, there is no obvious answer.

EDIT: I have an Enermax Liberty 500, which is more than sufficient for my setup.

In my situation, I built an aspire Q-pack that came with a 420watt aspire PSU with a biostar tforce Mobo and it had the annoying whine, but at the time, I thought it was the Mobo or graphics card. Then, I decided to test the psu with a multimeter and the +12v was at 12.89 at one point, which scared the crap out of me. I end up replacing it with an Enermax Liberty 400watt and the rails were rock solid at 12.01 even under load, and what do ya know, the noise went away as well.

Like I said before, it could be anything Mobo, Graphics card, or PSU, but in this case since he has a cheap PSU, I would suspect that first and foremost.

 

[svsnow]

thats wut u get for JIPPING UR RIG WITH CRAP PARTS
LOl
i would replace the mobo and PSU anyways .... then your sound will most likely be gone and ur system will be more stable + reliable.
cheap psu is just asking for trouble..wen it goes out. it will take other compnents out with it. and that mobo isnt that greath either.... but make the psu replacement a priority first

 

[themusgrat]

I agree. I would replace the PSU even if it isn't the problem. If you are going to root out the source, start with the PSU.

 

[Pederv]

Open your case, put an empty papertowel roll up to your ear and point it at different places in your system. When the sound is the loudest, you've probably found your problem.

 

[criznittle]

I had the same issue after overclocking an FX-6300 and a budget ASUS board to 4.8GHz. I thought it was maybe one of the new fans installed, so i reluctantly stopped each one of them while it was running to see if i could stop the noise. None of them made any difference with the amount of whining so I googled around a bit and found this thread, which helped a great deal.
Once i set it my OC back to 4.5GHz and lowered the voltage quite a bit, the humming/whining seemed to stop completely. :whiste:

I appreciate your information. But in the future please don't bump old threads.

-Thanks
ViRGE

 

[Deders]

Ok, I posted this on hardforum and two possible answers were:

1) voltage leak on motherboard (motherboard going bad)

2) due to overclocking, the harddrive is working faster thus creating more noise (harddrive has to seek more)

Very unlikely, the 2nd one is highly amusing to those in the know but I remember a time I thought this might be possible.

As someone has mentioned it is most likely due to coil whine, the difference is frequencies is most likely causing components to resonate in a way that is making this noise.

This is usually created by 2 components, usually a graphics card and PSU, but in your case the motherboard is a factor.

 

[Phynaz]

How the heck does somebody necro an eight year old thread???