Mar 26, 2021
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-System Specs-
MotherBoard: MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) 3200MHz DDR4
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken M22 120mm AIO
GPU: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB
SSD: sabrent 512gb rocket nvme pcie m.2 2280
PSU: PowerSpec 650 Watt 80 Plus Gold ATX
Case: Cooler Master H500

-PROBLEM-
I just bought the new Ryzen 5 5600x and the new RX 6700 XT a couple days ago from the Micro Center in Mayfield Heights, Ohio . I only have a 15 day return policy so I'm a bit stressed to figure this out as soon as possible. I don't have the money to pay them to find the problem. The GPU makes a buzzing sound when I open games (Mainly games that run high FPS) and I can't tell if its a power supply problem or a GPU hardware problem. Along with the buzzing the game stutters horribly. It stutters constantly and its worse the lower the graphics settings are. When the game stutters the buzzing goes quiet for split second then when the micro stutter stops and the game is running smooth it buzzes again. Along with that the red CPU LED is lit up on my motherboard and I don't know why. The CPU seems to be working fine. I've tried everything. I've made sure my BIOS is up to date, I've uninstalled the AMD GPU and Chipset drivers and motherboard drivers and redownloaded them, I've used a fresh install of Windows 10, I've made sure the games and windows version are up to date, I've even switched monitors and turned V-Sync on and off and nothing seems to work. All my temps are ok too. If you could help soon I would very much appreciate it.
 

tecmo34

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Phaaze88

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The noise is probably coil whine.
It happens, there's nothing inherently wrong. It's more a nuisance to users than anything else.
The electrical wiring in some gpus happens to be more sensitive to power delivery from the psu, which, I don't know how good the Powerspec unit is...
If you can return it, then return it...
Or simply cap the fps to the monitor's refresh rate, because excessive frames over the monitor's max can also trigger whine.

Definitely return that cpu cooler. High failure rate. Too expensive for all its shortcomings.
It's going to give you a headache before too long.

The red cpu LED could mean a number of things. I don't know what all the possibilities are, unfortunately.
 
Mar 26, 2021
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I'm concerned it is your powersupply! PowerSpec 650W is right at the minimum power requirement for the card and they are "basic" brands, not top tier. I would suggest upgrading the power supply to a Seasonic Focus 650W for just a little more (assuming it is new) or go with 750 watt version to have a little extra head room.

https://www.microcenter.com/product...10-year-warranty,-perfect-power-supply-for-ga

I was thinking of going with an Enermax Revolution DF 750W or 850W because I've heard they are reliable and I also have boost on my CPU and GPU and wanna be safe.
 

punkncat

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I back up the opinions that you need a better PSU. Personally would consider a 750W+ of a good and reputable make. It will be overkill but will leave room for a small incremental change in GPU, according to what's wrong.

If you have ever used a high powered bit of equipment, say a circular saw, on a cord that supplied insufficient power and particularly amperage, it makes a whine like that, and suspect the PSU first. I would absolutely TRY the PSU before attempting to return or RMA the card. You may not find another, and unless you happen to have a backup laying around your system is then unusable.
 

Phaaze88

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Red cpu LED: I tried looking it up, and...
-Thermal(everyone should know this one)
-Bent/broken pins(some pins don't automatically lead to dead cpu)
-Cpu not recognized/dead(clearly not the case here)
-Ram not seated properly, or defective(even though some boards have the yellow ram LED for it)
-EPS/CPU power cable not properly seated(may as well recheck all psu connections in that case)
-Bios corrupted
-Motherboard fault
-Cpu fan not detected
...
"Pretty much anything and everything not covered by the specific uses of the Ram and VGA Leds". [Thanks Karadjgne]

Stuttering:
-Using multi monitor setups with different refresh rates
-Achieving frame rates out of the range of the monitor's adaptive refresh technology
-100% disk usage
-Storage thermal throttling
-Ram running in single channel instead of dual channel
-Software/drivers(this one can be a headache to pin down)
...
 
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Karadjgne

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Phaaze, Your cpu Red LED list is incomplete. 🤣
The last line should read "pretty much anything and everything not covered by the specific uses of the Ram and VGA Leds".

First thing I'd do is check the back of the cpu, look for bent pin/s. With that, it'll cover the cpu block mounting, the cpu_fan etc getting checked.

Stuttering like that can also be caused by ram irregularities, specifically concerning the memory controller (bypasses the Ram led that way), which can often be nothing more than the result of incorrect mounting procedure on the block, (ie: tightened one corner down at a time) resulting in pressure on the cpu like touching a non-touch screen too hard distorts the picture.

As far as the noise goes, cap whine is a higher pitched squeel, like nails on a chalkboard, but a wire in a fan makes a buzzing/thrapping sound that'll change volume/intensity as fans spin faster or slower. Which happens with added/subtracted loads. I'd check all wiring, pump, fans, gpu fans etc just to make sure.

I'd also look in Windows Event viewer, something triggered the red led, it may be logged in there. Anything flagged as Critical Error should be looked at. Often a Critical Error can be recovered from by the cpu without resulting in a bluescreen.

You assume one issue with multiple facets, I'm more inclined to view it as multiple issues simultaneously. Which isn't uncommon on fresh builds. It's entirely possible the psu is a single root cause with multiple affects, but that 12v rail would have to be seriously funky to affect the gpu and cpu both as you aren't at max capacity of the psu at all times and that voltage must first travel through the motherboard VRM's before hitting the cpu.

Run HWInfo and check the 12v rail. It should be 11.8v-12.2v. Anything really different would be an issue.
 
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Phaaze88

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Phaaze, Your cpu Red LED list is incomplete. 🤣
The last line should read "pretty much anything and everything not covered by the specific uses of the Ram and VGA Leds".
Fixed.
No kidding. I went through like 5 different forums looking for possibilities, got more than I bargained for, typed down a few, stopped, and went lazy mode.

I was not aware of just how vague those LEDs were, as well as how fortunate I am that I've had so few issues in the 9 years I've been with DIY PC.
Such opacity just gives more people reason to go back/stick with prebuilts.
 
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Karadjgne

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Well the VGA and RAM are pretty specific, they respond to actual physical issues of some sort, like no gpu present or error in the first 64kb etc. But memory controller issues with not reading the ram are generally lumped under CPU, along with pretty much everything else, since everything else ties back to the cpu anyway.
 
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Mar 26, 2021
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Well the VGA and RAM are pretty specific, they respond to actual physical issues of some sort, like no gpu present or error in the first 64kb etc. But memory controller issues with not reading the ram are generally lumped under CPU, along with pretty much everything else, since everything else ties back to the cpu anyway.

I took the CPU and GPU to MicroCenter and turns out the CPU, GPU and PSU all had problems so I replaced them all and they have no GPUs so I had to refund and find a GPU all over again.
 
Mar 29, 2021
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The GPU had a manufacturing issue and the B450 Motherboard just doesn't like the 5th gen R5. I also got a Corsair RM850x PSU
And I just wanted to ask why don't stick with a B550 motherboard cost probably 5-10$(€) more and better compatibility with Zen3 and RDNA2 and with PCIe 4.0 feature
 

johnsoner13

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the B450 Motherboard just doesn't like the 5th gen R5.
I have that motherboard and it works fine with my 5600x. No stutters, using a 2070 super. The red cpu led isnt actually a major issue, it’s just a minor occurrence with the latest bios revisions of the board. Mine is lit too, started when they released bios to support zen 3. It’s present for everyone else using this board and a zen 3 cpu.
Buzzing is just coil whine from gpu.
 
Yeah idk if i'll be able to get my hands on another GPU for a while. I guess I'm stuck with my RX 580
I personally would have kept the graphics card and RMA'ed it to whomever. At least in that case you have a guaranteed chance of getting a GPU back with high probability of it working.

I also have suffered the consequences of getting a terrible PSU that took some parts with it. (RIP MSI z77 gaming motherboard and 16gb of Gskill RAM) I will never buy a PSU that isn't top tier again. I now have a Seasonic prime titanium 850 watt PSU. I look at it as a cheap insurance on my 3000 dollar PC...
 

Karadjgne

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The GPU had a manufacturing issue and the B450 Motherboard just doesn't like the 5th gen R5. I also got a Corsair RM850x PSU
Ahh. Multiple issues simultaneously. That's a ah heck to diagnose because you cannot eliminate enough possibilities without nailing it down to one issue.

Car won't go down the street (it's out of gas, so won't start, battery is dead so it won't start, ignition fuse is blown so it won't start). Doesn't matter which you fix, same issue, so did you actually fix anything at any time by replacing the battery. Go around in circles, get nowhere unless you solve everything at one time. Meaning youd actually have to know all that was wrong in the first place.
 
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