Hello All,
I recently assembled a new computer with the goal of building a silent system. The system is built around an Intel i9-9900K in a Gigabyte Z390 Designare mobo. The system is very speedy and meets all of my performance expectations.
Unfortunately, there is a sound that emanates from near the processor / VRM area that can become very audile and harsh, depending on processor activity. I would describe the sound as varying from that of a CD drive laser moving back and forth, sometimes like hard drive activity, and sometimes like a tea kettle (captured in the video below). From what I understand from various internet sources, this is probably “coil whine”.
I first noticed the noise while scrolling through my Adobe Lightroom Classic library. Upon further investigation, I discovered that some minor amount of cyclical noise is always present in the VRM area, regardless of workload, but certain workloads produce much louder and harsher noises from the area. The loudest and most harsh sound that I've heard from the area reproducibly occurs when I run the benchmark in the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (I’ve named this noise the tea kettle).
I've already eliminated the possibility that it's my GPU because it persists without it installed, and I only have solid state drives. The only physical moving components in my system are the fans, but those can’t be responsible because the noise is independent of fan speed.
I already exchanged the mobo for another identical one, but the brand-new replacement has the exact same issue.
I’ve concluded that the noise must be the result of one of the following:
View: https://youtu.be/VsoNUI15Dm8
Please offer me suggestions for fixing this annoying issue, or if it’s simply a design issue, a replacement Z390 motherboard that doesn’t make any noise.
Thank you in advance.
I recently assembled a new computer with the goal of building a silent system. The system is built around an Intel i9-9900K in a Gigabyte Z390 Designare mobo. The system is very speedy and meets all of my performance expectations.
Unfortunately, there is a sound that emanates from near the processor / VRM area that can become very audile and harsh, depending on processor activity. I would describe the sound as varying from that of a CD drive laser moving back and forth, sometimes like hard drive activity, and sometimes like a tea kettle (captured in the video below). From what I understand from various internet sources, this is probably “coil whine”.
I first noticed the noise while scrolling through my Adobe Lightroom Classic library. Upon further investigation, I discovered that some minor amount of cyclical noise is always present in the VRM area, regardless of workload, but certain workloads produce much louder and harsher noises from the area. The loudest and most harsh sound that I've heard from the area reproducibly occurs when I run the benchmark in the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (I’ve named this noise the tea kettle).
I've already eliminated the possibility that it's my GPU because it persists without it installed, and I only have solid state drives. The only physical moving components in my system are the fans, but those can’t be responsible because the noise is independent of fan speed.
I already exchanged the mobo for another identical one, but the brand-new replacement has the exact same issue.
I’ve concluded that the noise must be the result of one of the following:
- A poor design of the Gigabyte Z390 Designare
- Really bad luck with two separate motherboards.
- A noisy 9900K CPU (I don’t think this is even possible, is it?)
Please offer me suggestions for fixing this annoying issue, or if it’s simply a design issue, a replacement Z390 motherboard that doesn’t make any noise.
Thank you in advance.
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