Repetative buzzing CPU area on Motherboard (NOT when under load)

[dhodgson7]

Hi all,

just finished building a Windows 10 Dual CPU PC with the ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS motherboard. I've got 2 Intel XEON procs.

There is a buzzing noice coming from the CPU area of the motherboard. It's repetative and annoying, happening every 4-5 seconds. The buzzing stops when the CPU's are under load.

Is there something I can do about this? Check out the video below to hear it buzzing away. You may have to turn your volume up, it was recorded with a laptop mic.

thanks
Dave

 

[lopri]

Hard to tell whether it is a speaker noise or coil whine. If it is a coil whine from the motherboard's VRM I am afraid there isn't anything you can do other than replacing it.

 

[dhodgson7]

I thought coil whine was a consistant noise? Is coil whine related to CPU load?

I've heard from somewhere before that you can do something about this within the BIOS.

 

[lopri]

Usually it happens under heavy load, yes. But even under "idle" there is still a "load" (current) large enough to keep the system on. Try lowering vcore if the option is in the BIOS. But that can cause instability in and of itself, so you may have to lower the CPU frequency as well.

 

[dhodgson7]

So in my oroginal post I said it does NOT happen under load. I don't think it's coil whine. What else do you think it could be if not coil whine.

 

[dhodgson7]

Also after the PC has been on for a while the noise dissapears, then may re-appear.

 

[lopri]

It's a coil whine due to the magnetic field it generates. The magnetic field causes the coil to vibrate. It generally occurs under high frequency/current situation. But if something gets loose over time (due to heat, cheap component, etc.) even a weaker magnetic field can cause such whine.

 

[dhodgson7]

Lopri I don't think it's coil whine. When under load coil whine get's louder or the tone changes. This repetitive buzzing stops when the PC is under load.

 

[extide]

Ehh coil whine depends on the natural resonant frequency of the coils and the frequency of the VRM controller, amongst other things. TYPICALLY it gets worse under load, but it can definitely be worse in other situations depending on your exact setup. I would try and see if you can narrow it down more specifically where the noise is physically coming from because it kinda sounds like it could be coil whine but it also sounds kinda like some sort of EMF that is getting into a speaker or something.

 

[dhodgson7]

Can we all agree though that coil whine is a constant noise or am I wrong? My noise is intermittent, like every 4 seconds. Right now it's not even happening.

 

[extide]

No, it can vary.