Question Extreme whining noise comes and goes on a high-end PSU and its counterpart ?

[The Electro Machine]

I am having problems with my PSU the Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 (SSR-700TL) 700W: not as long as a month ago it started to makes coil whine noises. Before that it used to be quieter than my old GPU, but now it is the other way around. Usually the PSU in question starts pretty much inaudible to my very sensitive ears but after dozens of minutes it starts producing unbearable high frequency sound. And this PSU has no more than half a year of usage and is it so high-end that Seasonic gives whole 12 years of warranty for it

I know that this is an issue to be taken most likely with manufacturer of that PSU i.e. Seasonic and I am making an inquiry with them about this right now - however there is a real plot twist

I also have a previous version of this PSU, the Seasonic Platinum-520FL Fanless (SS0P-520FL2 F3) 520W. When I bought that new one 700W, the old 520W was working A-OK. But now when I switch from using one to another it is all the same: they seem OK at first but after a while an extreme coil whine starts [always sounding exactly the same from what I can tell]. I even changed later on the cables form those new [700W] ones to old [520W] ones, although the all look the same to me. So this would point out to other components as culprits, right- assuming that they can affect the inner-workings of PSU, right? Well- can they? Because: how else could that old not connected to anything PSU laying on a shelf in other room get damaged in the same way as the new one being used constantly? Or maybe it did got damaged the minute I connected it to my machine after half a year of inactivity- by such hypothetical culprit?

But on the other hand after a period of the PC being turned off for few minutes that noise is absent also for a few minutes when I turn on my machine back



And so, the question here is: is it possible that somehow my motherboard [Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra rev. 1.2 with BIOS v. F30] is affecting my PSU? And if yes would it this problem [with mobo] be detected with some other unit / model of PSU if I send it to Gigabyte for a check to up - or would I have to send it along with one of my PSUs?

Or what else could cause this? The power grid itself? Neighbors upstairs running some hardware 24/7 that is affecting my hardware only after some time it stars working? CPU? GPU? Cables after all?

 

[Juular]

Does the PSU whine when PC is off ?

 

[The Electro Machine]

Does the PSU whine when PC is off ?

It does not. Never

It always is the same for both of them: starts pretty much inaudible [laying on a desk in front of me as I do not have a PC case] - but half an hour or full hour later it suddenly starts that noise [even if the PC is idle]. And it will not go away until I turn the PSU off - or to be precise turn the system off, leaving the PSU still connected to both the power grid and connected to motherboard and other components

But what I have noticed recently is that even as little as 1 minute cool off will give me few minutes of silence. And if I only reset the system then I will also get some short time without that noise but - and [this is very revealing] if I start then some heavy CPU workload the coil-whine comes back right away and does not end unless I reset / turn off

So this would point out to what? A damaged CPU somehow overcharging PSU; activating some hiper mode in it? Is that even possible?



I also changed the cables, using now the old ones from [520W unit]- but it is all the same [for both 520 and 700]

 

[Juular]

Well i expect just old, cracked putty on the inductors or caps somewhere and maybe some of the caps are going bad already since it shouldn't have 'unbearable' amounts of whine even without putty at all. These are old units, they ain't getting any newer even just laying on the shelf, the sole damage factor is just the age. If you still have a warranty on them i'd suggest to contact Seasonic, see what they say.

 

[jonnyguru]

Did I miss where you said what GPU you were using?

And I'm a little confused about the PSUs in play here... you're saying you used both the 700W AND the 520W and they BOTH make noise at around the same time and frequency?

 

[The Electro Machine]

Two days ago I did what I should have done at the very beginning: extended as much as possible the power cables between the totally uncovered PSU and motherboard thus spaced them apart on the desk plus put something solid between them. As it turn out, even as little as a makeshift wall from a large piece of cardboard did the trick of good enough separation of sources of noises. Although at that point I was still hearing some extra noises mixing with other ones and thus was not totally convinced of my idiotic mistake

As so as I have had it with all those noises I went and bought a brand new GPU. And after installing, thus replacing the old GPU [as it really did produce some coil whine since a long time ago], I also stopped the chipset fan by the means of inserting something between its fins [as it was the only way]. And that was it

All together the culprits were: minor old noises from GPU, major new ones from GPU that apparently is coming to the end of its life and a chipset fan that in terms of noise level have apparently degraded itself greatly in a time period of just half a year. Plus the fact that at first they were put too close together and the room has a very bad acoustics [as it is in state of renovation]

Now I have silence- to hear my PC parts [including your PSUs] I have to put my ears near them


I am sorry for wasting your time