I can hear my CPU

[killerclick]

Ok, I can hear a soft buzzing noise when CPU utilization is high and the noise appears and disappears at the same time CPU utilization changes (like not even a half second delay). I've disconnected my HDD, video card, unplugged all fans and moved the PSU a few feet away and I can still hear the noise from the CPU area when CPU utilization is high. What could it be?

The CPU is AMD X6 1055T, works great otherwise (and it's not overheating, runs quite cool), motherboard is Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H.

 

[Herr_Koos]

CPU fan? It's supposed to go faster to cool the chip down when it works hard.

 

[killerclick]

CPU fan? It's supposed to go faster to cool the chip down when it works hard.

Should I hear it when it's plugged out? Because I plugged out all the fans except the PSU which I put a few feet away. There is nothing moving inside the case except electrons.

 

[TheScorpion]

Should I hear it when it's plugged out? Because I plugged out all the fans except the PSU which I put a few feet away. There is nothing moving inside the case except electrons.

plugged out ?? DON'T start your computer without a CPU fan working or you will kill your CPU

and the noise you hear is normal , electronic equipment always have a little buzzing noise IMO

 

[ctbaars]

Bad/marginal/cheap regulator on the motherboard having a secondary oscillation of the pulse width?

 

[pinaklonkar]

"Should I hear it when it's plugged out?"

this cracked me up!

On a more serious notes, there are manuals created to be read, and videos made to be watched on how to assemble your computer. Give them a try if you think you need some knowledge. I frequent such books and videos a lot when I see something new.

If you started your CPU without its FAN and HEATSINK on top (the huge big block of metal with a fan spinning on top), you basically fried your CPU right there.

If you thought THAT assembly itself is CPU (with fan and heatsink), then you are at least safe.

 

[killerclick]

plugged out ?? DON'T start your computer without a CPU fan working or you will kill your CPU

😀 No it won't, don't worry. It still has a big heatsink and it was for only a couple of minutes, it just ran a few degrees hotter (still around 40 C under load).

and the noise you hear is normal , electronic equipment always have a little buzzing noise IMO

Well it's the first time I heard it (and I have a super quiet machine so I hear everything) and it started when I upgraded the CPU.

Bad/marginal/cheap regulator on the motherboard having a secondary oscillation of the pulse width?

It started when I upgraded the CPU. Also every core contributes a little, I start prime95 then stop workers one by one and it gets a bit quieter once each worker is stopped.

Who knows, I guess it's nothing catastrophic.

On a more serious notes, there are manuals created to be read, and videos made to be watched on how to assemble your computer. Give them a try if you think you need some knowledge. I frequent such books and videos a lot when I see something new.

While I'm sure I have a lot to learn, I built my first PC in 1992 (386DX 33MHz!) and back then there weren't any heatsinks on the CPUs so I thought what could go wrong?



Anyways thanks guys

 

[killerclick]

DO you have any speakers connected to your pc?

Nope, unplugged them of course. I also pulled out the video card, switched to IGP so I tried to eliminate as many factors as possible.

And the problem doesn't seem to be related with power draw because when the video card is in and I run Furmark, the CPU is almost idle (and there is no buzzing noise) but the power draw is still high. It has something to do with the CPU but what exactly is making the noise I can't say.

 

[TheScorpion]

i think its the HDD

my HDD on my laptop has a crazy sound

 

[killerclick]

And the pc speaker? Is it still connected?
Is it a buzzing noise?

I unplugged both the speakers and the HDD (booted via Flash drive) and there is still the buzzing sound.

 

[surda]

yea i agree with dadiggle i dont think (or never had) any cpu noise it gotta be coming from something that is around it.

 

[ctbaars]

Bad/marginal/cheap regulator on the motherboard having a secondary oscillation of the pulse width?

It started when I upgraded the CPU. Also every core contributes a little, I start prime95 then stop workers one by one and it gets a bit quieter once each worker is stopped.


Who knows, I guess it's nothing catastrophic.

What you wrote only supports my theory. As load on the voltage regulator (monolithic pulse width modulator) changes; with every change in CPU load; The volume changes and sometimes even the tone/frequency. I work with these types of regulators and I can tell you that it can get quite anoying. It's the inductor that the sound comes from, the laminations of the coil vibrate (probably at a subharmonic) of the operating frequency. May last a long time, may die tommorrow.

OR any output ceramic cap will generate some noise too but that's a different story. Don't piezo me about it.

 

[killerclick]

It's the inductor that the sound comes from, the laminations of the coil vibrate (probably at a subharmonic) of the operating frequency. May last a long time, may die tommorrow.

So I guess nothing can be done about it and it's not in the immediate danger of failing? Cool.

 

[ctbaars]

Well. "may die tommorrow" isn't immediate danger of failing? But it may not be anything too. If it was something I was concerned about, there are things I would do, but would never write about in this forum. I take risks that blow things up 😉

 

[EricMyers]

Need help.. I want to listen to my computer working. Is there a program that can turn memory usage, I/O usage, etc. into audio sounds so that I can monitor the computer with audio sounds. It's basically white noise that will represents power or cpu usage.

 

[tech2014]

killerclick

i have the same thing but i have a water cooling.. i have been testing my pc and it does the same as what u have going on but i turn off every thing and its my cpu how do i know i over clocked my cpu from stock "that is 3.60 it had a stock over clock to 3.80" to a 4.60 never had that funny buzzing sound any more so im going to try to replace my cpu and see if that fixes it.