- Nov 24, 2018
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I apologize in advance for the long read. I am writing this post from a place of deep frustration and sadness as I feel like my new self-built PC - on which I've spent quite a bit of time and money constructing and troubleshooting - is harmful to me in its current state.
Around November 2018, I purchased and assembled the components from the following list (ignore the prices; I'm from Denmark, and there is no Danish version of pcpartpicker): https://se.pcpartpicker.com/list/DDGhNQ
The building process went relatively straightforward, and the system was completed late November (there was some delay due to the case being sent later than the rest of the components). Benchmarks showed that the performance of the system was in line with what you would expect from a system like this. So I'm happy and I begin using my new PC for gaming and everyday use.
Early December, I begin to notice that my Tinnitus - which I've suffered since I was a teenager (I'm 28 now) - was starting to get noticeably worse.
It took me some time before I realized that there was a correlation between the severity of the ringing in my ears and my exposure to the PC when it is turned on. Initially, I thought that it was the PC (or some other electronic device in my home) that was making the ringing noise that I was experiencing. After a lot of experimenting with unplugging various electronic devices in my home and listening for buzzing sounds, I realized that whenever I was exposed to the new PC for more than say 10-15 minutes when it was turned on, the ringing in my ears would spike like crazy (persisting even after turning off the PC). So far, the ringing has more or less gone back to normal levels (maybe a tad higher than my old "normal") after not exposing myself to the PC for a few days, but I'm very nervous about it becoming permanent, which is why I'm not too keen on using the PC.
I turned to my brother for help; he is an audio engineer. He wanted to analyze the sound spectrum that the PC produces, so he brought home some recording equipment from work. Interestingly, the results of his analysis showed that the PC - when turned on - produces a relatively loud noise around a frequency of 20 kHz (unfortunately, the FFT analyzer that we used did not go higher than 20 kHz, so there is a possibility that the audio spectrum goes well beyond this frequency). See the following graph which was taken while the microphone was held near the GPU while the PC was running Witcher 3 at ultra settings: https://imgur.com/a/m4Wslf0
My brother believes that this high-frequency noise is what is bothering my ears. Some additional findings that we made during this process:
Based on the findings above, our hypothesis was that the unwanted noise was stemming from the GPU. I opened an RMA ticket with the retailer from which I bought the GPU, they accepted the ticket and took the GPU in for "repair" (I believe they sent it to an MSI workshop for "repair"). After a month or so of waiting (with a useless PC in the meanwhile), I finally received word that they would send me a brand new GPU of the same make and model (but with a different serial number so it's not the same GPU). There was no explanation as to what findings they had made at the workshop.
I received the brand new GPU yesterday, plugged it into my PC, and to my horror, my ears started ringing like crazy once again after a short while (and they are still on fire today - I'm hoping that it'll die down sooner or later).
So maybe the GPU wasn't the culprit afterall, or the new GPU suffers from the same "defect" as the old one (if there even was a defect - maybe MSI just didn't want anymore to do with me so they just sent me a new GPU to shut me up?). Or it's the GPU in combination with some of the other component(s) (e.g. motherboard/CPU/PSU). Or it's in fact the motherboard or PSU that's the culprit. Or a combination of the above.
List of ideas that I have for moving forward (to measure the effect of these initiatives, I feel like I would need the recording equipment from my brother's workplace in order to analyze the changes to the audio spectrum - and we haven't set a date for this yet):
Have you guys ever experienced or heard of anything similar to what I have described here, and do you have any good/concrete advice for me on how I should proceed to resolve my issue?
Edit: Minor change to a sentence for more clarity.
Around November 2018, I purchased and assembled the components from the following list (ignore the prices; I'm from Denmark, and there is no Danish version of pcpartpicker): https://se.pcpartpicker.com/list/DDGhNQ
The building process went relatively straightforward, and the system was completed late November (there was some delay due to the case being sent later than the rest of the components). Benchmarks showed that the performance of the system was in line with what you would expect from a system like this. So I'm happy and I begin using my new PC for gaming and everyday use.
Early December, I begin to notice that my Tinnitus - which I've suffered since I was a teenager (I'm 28 now) - was starting to get noticeably worse.
It took me some time before I realized that there was a correlation between the severity of the ringing in my ears and my exposure to the PC when it is turned on. Initially, I thought that it was the PC (or some other electronic device in my home) that was making the ringing noise that I was experiencing. After a lot of experimenting with unplugging various electronic devices in my home and listening for buzzing sounds, I realized that whenever I was exposed to the new PC for more than say 10-15 minutes when it was turned on, the ringing in my ears would spike like crazy (persisting even after turning off the PC). So far, the ringing has more or less gone back to normal levels (maybe a tad higher than my old "normal") after not exposing myself to the PC for a few days, but I'm very nervous about it becoming permanent, which is why I'm not too keen on using the PC.
I turned to my brother for help; he is an audio engineer. He wanted to analyze the sound spectrum that the PC produces, so he brought home some recording equipment from work. Interestingly, the results of his analysis showed that the PC - when turned on - produces a relatively loud noise around a frequency of 20 kHz (unfortunately, the FFT analyzer that we used did not go higher than 20 kHz, so there is a possibility that the audio spectrum goes well beyond this frequency). See the following graph which was taken while the microphone was held near the GPU while the PC was running Witcher 3 at ultra settings: https://imgur.com/a/m4Wslf0
My brother believes that this high-frequency noise is what is bothering my ears. Some additional findings that we made during this process:
The 20 kHz noise becomes present as soon as the fully-assembled PC is turned on (even when it's idling in Windows).
The 20 kHz noise becomes louder when the GPU is stressed (e.g. running a demanding game or a benchmark).
The 20 kHz noise does not become louder when the CPU is stressed exclusively (running e.g. Prime95).
The signal from the 20 kHz noise becomes stronger when the microphone is moved closer to the GPU, and weaker when the microphone is moved away from the GPU.
If the GPU is removed from the PC, the 20 kHz noise completely disappears.
Based on the findings above, our hypothesis was that the unwanted noise was stemming from the GPU. I opened an RMA ticket with the retailer from which I bought the GPU, they accepted the ticket and took the GPU in for "repair" (I believe they sent it to an MSI workshop for "repair"). After a month or so of waiting (with a useless PC in the meanwhile), I finally received word that they would send me a brand new GPU of the same make and model (but with a different serial number so it's not the same GPU). There was no explanation as to what findings they had made at the workshop.
I received the brand new GPU yesterday, plugged it into my PC, and to my horror, my ears started ringing like crazy once again after a short while (and they are still on fire today - I'm hoping that it'll die down sooner or later).
So maybe the GPU wasn't the culprit afterall, or the new GPU suffers from the same "defect" as the old one (if there even was a defect - maybe MSI just didn't want anymore to do with me so they just sent me a new GPU to shut me up?). Or it's the GPU in combination with some of the other component(s) (e.g. motherboard/CPU/PSU). Or it's in fact the motherboard or PSU that's the culprit. Or a combination of the above.
List of ideas that I have for moving forward (to measure the effect of these initiatives, I feel like I would need the recording equipment from my brother's workplace in order to analyze the changes to the audio spectrum - and we haven't set a date for this yet):
Try putting the GPU in another PC to see if it also makes the dreaded high-frequency noise there (issue: I don't have access to another PC).
Try using another PSU in my current PC to see if that changes the noise output (issue: I don't have access to another PSU).
Try undervolting the GPU (I've never done this before but I suppose there are guides that can be followed).
Try to "burn in" the GPU (I've read that coil whine - which I'm not exactly sure this is - can be alleviated by "burning in" a GPU by stressing it for a prolonged period of time e.g. overnight while you sleep (never tried this before and not sure if it would help / is safe)).
Have you guys ever experienced or heard of anything similar to what I have described here, and do you have any good/concrete advice for me on how I should proceed to resolve my issue?
Edit: Minor change to a sentence for more clarity.
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