PSU emiting a continuous high-pitched sound

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Hi, I have a little problem with my PSU.
I might be paranoid but my PSU is definately emitting a high-pitched continuous sound when the computer is on.
It's a Thermaltake TR2 550W ATX 12V 2.0

The computer is an Asus P5E3 Premium, E8400 @ 4.4 Ghz, 2 GB DDR3 1800 Mhz, 9800 GTX, WD 640 GB

I've tried all sorts of PSU 'calculators' and all say that I need a PSU well below 550 W (between 300 and 500) so power is not an issue.

I've had this PSU for about 8 months and never had a problem with it, overclocking went perfect with it. It may have had this sound before but I only noticed it recently while testing out some fans.

Here are the specs:

+3.3 V - 30A
+5V - 28A
+12V1 - 14A (max load) , 16A (peak load)
+12V2 - 15A
-12V - 0.3A
+5VSB - 2A

This sound isn't coming from the fan as it starts as soon as the computer is started, with the sound of the cooler spining-up in the background.

Another interesting fact is that after the computer starts, and with it the sound, it stops at the boot splash screen and after the image finished it's appearance, the sound starts again and never goes off from that point on.

I've recorded this strange sound. Maybe it'll help:

http://www.soundupload.com/audio/fe5mrlez3ogvz4jw - original recording without filtering

http://www.soundupload.com/audio/mvune4yaqyiug995 - filtered background noise to hear only fan and strange sound

http://www.soundupload.com/audio/03qjf0902ugcauyl - filtered background and fan to hear only strange noise


Be sure to turn up the volume, it may not be heard, it's quite high pitched.

So is it normal for a PSU to emit such a sound or am I just damned paranoid?
Thanks

 

[mpilchfamily]

See about RMAing the PSU. That sound indicates a problem with one of the compnents inside the PSU. Either a component isn't secured properly or is going bad.

 

[kollapse]

I was thinking of buying one of those Thermaltake PSU Testers, that supposedly show if a PSU is working well or failing. What do you think?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Go for it. Its only going to tell you that the PSU can turn on and that its reading power from the connectors. It won't tell you anything about the sound you are hearing or weather the PSU can still be trusted while making that sound. In general you shouldn't be hearing things like that. Overall there may be nothing wrong with it but its best to be safe and send it back. It is a good enopugh reason to get an RMA for the unit.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
Go for it. Its only going to tell you that the PSU can turn on and that its reading power from the connectors. It won't tell you anything about the sound you are hearing or weather the PSU can still be trusted while making that sound. In general you shouldn't be hearing things like that. Overall there may be nothing wrong with it but its best to be safe and send it back. It is a good enopugh reason to get an RMA for the unit.

Well said. Also, pretty much any other component that fails in a computer will fail in a passive way meaning it won't damage other components when it dies. However, PSUs can and will go BOOM! and can take other parts with it. If it is making a noise, don't use it anymore and RMA ASAP.