[SOLVED] Is coil whine a major concern?

[dg27]

I'm planning an i7-9700k build for a desktop to be used in an environment where I will be recording music live. For that reason I'm trying to select quiet(er) components whenever possible. I was planning on the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master until I read that it's susceptible to coil whine, which is something I had never heard of. I was told it's less likely with the Gigabyter Z390 Designaire.

Should the potential for coil whine be a deal breaker for the Master?

 

[AllanGH]

Coil whine is dealt-with on a case-by case basis.

For me, if there's whine, I send it back to exchange for a new unit--no exceptions.

 

[jsmithepa]

Recording? definitely deal breaker.

 

[AllanGH]

The thing about coil whine is this:
Coils are windings of insulated wire, often wrapped in layers, so that the insulated wire is in contact with itself at multiple points, and the (very thin) insulation keeps the winding(s) from shorting-out.

Because of electromagnetic effects, the wire(s) in coil(s) physically vibrate, unless the coil in question is tightly wound, and there is some sort of material put in place to keep the wire(s) from vibrating.

If vibrating wires (with insulation that is as thin as a layer of clear paint) are in contact with something else, the insulation on that wire will be worn-away. If vibrating wires are in contact with each other, the insulation is worn away on both wires, and they can short together. [1]

This shorting-out often doesn't happen all at once so, over the life of a whining coil, its inductance will decrease, bit by bit, until it no longer performs the function that it was placed in the circuit to perform. That could be a filter, a resonant tank, or any of a number of other functions; but, suffice it to say that the function of the circuit that the coil is in is pretty-much destroyed.

That's when you get mysterious failures in a device that was "working fine yesterday"; and that's why I return anything that exhibits coil whine--it's going to fail at some future date and, very likely, at an inconvenient time for you.

So, yeah.....if something presents coil whine, send it back to have it replaced. It's a manufacturer's defect.

[1] Single-layer coils that have windings that are spaced-out from each other won't present a real issue for you, since there are no windings touching each other to short-out.....but it's still damned irritating. In those situations, gooping-up the coil with epoxy will take care of it, and I will do that much to get rid of whine.

 

[dg27]

Thanks for the informative replies. I think I'll play it safe with the Designaire. It's tricky because I'm having this machine built; returning the motherboard could be a major PITA.