[SOLVED] Motherboard Coil whine? Is there any way to limit it?

[AdamBein]

I have a problem in where there is a high pitch buzzing sound coming from the top left, I believe the vrms of my motherboard. I believe that my motherboard has coil whine. Is there any way to get rid of it? I have disabled c-status in my bios, which seemed to have slightly limited it.

Full parts list:

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
GPU: evga rtx 3060ti xc
PSU: Powerspec 650w semi-modular
Mobo: gigabyte b550 aorus pro ac
RAM: gskill ripjaws 3600mh cl18

 

[Aeacus]

Is there any way to get rid of it?

Fix: replace a MoBo. Preferably from different brand since chances are that another MoBo of same make and model also has this issue.

Lessen: Increase the white noise in your room, so that the coil whine noise is mixed into other noise and isn't that annoying.

 

[AdamBein]

Fix: replace a MoBo. Preferably from different brand since chances are that another MoBo of same make and model also has this issue.

Lessen: Increase the white noise in your room, so that the coil whine noise is mixed into other noise and isn't that annoying.

Thanks for your input. I was thinking about the same thing. Unfortunately, I don't really have money to buy a whole new motherboard, and I don't really feel like messing around with a Gigabyte RMA. Fortunately it only really seems to be loud when it's idling, so I can't even really hear it (especially with headphones on).

I have heard that it's possible to dampen it with glue, like is possible on a graphics card, but that would definitely void the warranty. I suppose I will just have to get used to it for now.

 

[Schlachtwolf]

What you could try is applying a thermal pad to the exposed VRM, removing the heatsink and if needed doing the same and and putting the the heatsink back on. It could be that 1 controller is not behaving as it should and running hot casuing the buzz. It could also be a soldering issue in which case I would RMA the board stright away. But anyway thermal strips cost very little and it is worth a try.

 

[drea.drechsler]

...
I have heard that it's possible to dampen it with glue, like is possible on a graphics card, but that would definitely void the warranty. I suppose I will just have to get used to it for now.

In video cards coil whine is often an effect of very high FPS or screen refresh rates with a light rendering load. It's very common especially when browsing web sites in browsers that use GPU rendering so make sure it's not your GPU.

GPU drivers usually allow you to change the display adapter refresh rate: right click on desktop/display settings/advanced display settings/display adapter properties for Display 1/Monitor tab/select Screen refresh rate from the pick list. If lowering it to something like 60hz then it's more likely your GPU.

But if it is the CPU VRM: putting a thermal pad on the VRM...and pay particular attention to the the coils, those large square black compononents...might help. But first press a pencil eraser on the coils to see if you can affect the sound when you hear the whining before going to the trouble and expense. If it changes, you've found the culprit. Also touch (but a not as firmly) the electrolytic cap's too. If nothing changes it then neither thermal pads nor glueing them will be likely to help.

You might also try making minor changes to VCore or LLC settings. Something like increasing/decreasing VCore by one notch using offset adjustment or using one notch higher or lower of LLC. The idea is to change the how the VRM is delivering voltage to the CPU in the useage scenario where it whines.

Some motherboards have more extensive settings like VRM duty cycle and PRF (pulse recurring frequency) in BIOS, which would be best. Those things have very wide margins for adjustment so very slight changes shouldn't affect performance or stability adversely. Except when overclocked and/or undervolted to the point it's on a razor's edge for stability, of course.