[SOLVED] A very high pitched noise is coming from my new PC

Joybuzzer

Reputable
Feb 21, 2016
11
2
4,525
Hello all,

I recently got a new gaming PC and everything is working great on it. Thermals are fine, performance is great, basically no major issues whatsoever. There is one thing that bugs me, though. Whenever I turn on my computer and you hear all the components waking up a very high pitched noise appears and doesn't go away no matter what I do. You can barely hear it but because my room is really quiet the noise is still audible. It basically sounds like my ears are ringing. The noise remains present while my PC is idle and doesn't go away or become any louder under load. Occasionally, it goes away for a couple of minutes, and when it does that it sounds like something is turning off. This happens without me doing anything special on my PC. I read about coil whine and tried to investigate as much as I could and I came to the conclusion that is definitely not the GPU since the fans aren't even on most of the time when idle. I guess the only logical culprit would be the PSU but I find it weird that the sound doesn't change at all even when I put a lot of load on the computer. I even tried the OCCT PSU burn test which definitely made the fans spin faster but the noise just remained unchanged. I tried turning off C-states in the BIOS to help with power management but that didn't change anything. The noise is present in the BIOS as well. It's just a strange situation, especially with it going away for a couple of minutes and then coming back. Do you have any idea what it could be? Here is a list of my PC's components:

CPU - Intel Core i7 10700k
Cooler - Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
Mobo - MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI
RAM - Crucial Ballistix RGB 32 GB (4X8) 3200 CL16
GPU - ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 3080 OC
SSD - Corsair MP600 1TB
HDD - Toshiba X300 4TB
PSU - EVGA Supernova G1+ 850W Gold
Case - Be Quiet! Silent Base 801
 
Solution
Okay, plot twist - it turned out to be my HDD. I noticed my computer was lagging when I would download something on the HDD and after unplugging it the noise disappeared. Don't really know what's wrong with it, though. Oh, and thanks Djoza for the suggestion :)

Joybuzzer

Reputable
Feb 21, 2016
11
2
4,525
Okay, plot twist - it turned out to be my HDD. I noticed my computer was lagging when I would download something on the HDD and after unplugging it the noise disappeared. Don't really know what's wrong with it, though. Oh, and thanks Djoza for the suggestion :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dj0gany
Solution

uzujzh

Reputable
Feb 3, 2021
13
1
4,515
Okay, plot twist - it turned out to be my HDD. I noticed my computer was lagging when I would download something on the HDD and after unplugging it the noise disappeared. Don't really know what's wrong with it, though. Oh, and thanks Djoza for the suggestion :)
is that a seagate hard drive? seagates are known to fail very fast according to my friends, also seagates are also called seagays
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Cheaper model Seagate hdds use head parking, supposedly to preserve the life of the armature motor and drive mechanisms. It's gotten mixed results. In many, that extra step to engage/disengage the drive is the first thing to fail.

WD and others got away from all that, so while the drive is constantly active, you don't get the engage/disengage motions, and have less parts internally that can fail. The drive might not last as long as a good Seagate, but using a good Seagate model isn't much different than using WD Black.

I'd personally rather have a drive I know will last 5 years consistently, than put faith in a drive that's supposed to last longer, but has a higher early failure rate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dj0gany