GTX 980 causing my PSU to "buzz"?

iratemonkey

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Sep 15, 2014
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This is not coil whine and it is confirmed not coming from the graphics card. I'm curious, anyone else have a GTX980 that encountered a very faint "buzzing" noise that is sounding like an electronic buzzing noise (not a fan issue or something getting stuck) coming from the actual PSU itself!?

Bought a GTX980 last year around October or November, along with a COMPLETELY new build, new parts everything all at the same time. All quality parts. And a Gigabyte Z97 FORCE motherboard. No issues whatsoever except for the GTX980 that will sometimes black out my entire monitor by not sending a signal to the displayport when getting to the Windows 7 login screen. (this is well documented GTX980 issue), other than that it worked perfectly I get good benchmarks and everything. Not overclocking and all temps are well below normal. Use cpu-z, coretemp, gputemp, 3dmark, etc

Then early this year, about 3 or four months after my initial build, I notice this very low level "buzzing" sound coming out of the PSU. I am sure it is the PSU. It took me a long time to isolate the exact source of the low level buzzing and it was driving me insane. Sometimes the buzzing would be louder, other times more quiet,. other times it would completely go away on its own. It was intermittent, and with no solid pattern other than the fact that I noticed more often than not, it would usually typically be completely silent when I first boot up the computer, then after the computer was used for an hour or so, it will gradually start the buzzing noise getting louder until it reached a peak. This happens even when I just idle the machine or surf the web, nothing with me loading the CPU too hard or playing games etc. After a few more hours, sometimes the sound goes away, then only to come back later. This is not 'coil whine' and it is not the fan hitting anything or the bearings wearing out. This is distinctively an electronic sort of buzz.

As this progressed I noticed that it would happen sooner. Eventually it got to the point that it would only be silent for the first five minutes, then after that shortly after bootup it will start manifesting that noise again. .

I thought about everything from the PSU fan needing to get more lube, to some capacitor going bad, etc... Eventually I just got feed up and went out and purchased another brand new PSU (AX860) to replace the Corsair 850 and immediately after swapping the PSU the noise was gone for good and never came bad. So I attributed it to the PSU and never gave it another thought.

Now, less than a few months after that, I recently started to notice the same buzzing noise coming back, this time on my new PSU! This can't be a coincidence. I don't operate in a dusty environment it is very cool, clean, this can't be something to do with a broken fan or needing more lube. I don't have any performance issues with the computer, specs and benchmarks are as they always were. I am not infected with a virus, to be sure I even low level reformatted my computer, got a new SSD to make sure there wasn't a firmware infection, and switched to a new BIOS (my motherboard has a switch that flips to a backup/dual bios) to make sure my motherboard wasn't somehow compromised.

I can't imagine why. I'm using a quality Monster surge protector and also running an APC Line-R rated at 1200+; I am feeding it the best quality power possible.

My speculation is that like the Displayport /dark monitor /lost of signal at login screen issue that is the result of GTX980; I think my graphics card is actually the culprit that causes for whatever reason(s) my PSUs (two of them now) to develop a buzzing over time.

I'm not sure what affects this has long term on physical use and performance, if any, but the sound is annoying and buzzing is bothering me. I built an otherwise very quiet system and this is irritating.

Anyone else encounter this?
 

MutherFOO

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Jun 7, 2015
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I am encountering the same problem. I recently upgraded my GPU to a Gigabyte 980 GTX G1 Gaming and now my PSU is experiencing Buzzing while gaming. The majority of the buzzing is coming from the PSU but the same buzzing sound (just quieter) maybe coming from the GPU. I've been running this PSU (Corsair tx650w) for the past year now with now problems until I installed the 980.
I find it hard to believe that the PSU is being overloaded.

Theory:
Could it be possible that the frequencies of the GPU's mem. and core clocks are not being filtered out by GPU's filter capacitors properly? This could possibly lead to noise in the +12v DC power source leading resinating through the coils of the PSU.
I measured for noise in the 12v DC power feeding the GPU. When the GPU is idle, the meter read 8 mV AC. When I put the GPU under a load, the meter read 124 mV AC. I have no way of narrowing down wether the noise in the voltage readings is being created by the GPU or PSU.

I ordered a new PSU in hopes of resolving the problem. I hope the GPU isn't the cause of the problem.

Not an answer to your problem OP but your not alone.