PSU (presumably) crackling-fire-like sound under Gaming load

[bokac91]

Hello everyone!

My (humble) setup (relevant parts):
MB: H81M-K (6 months old)
GPU: GeForce 750 Ti (~15 months old)
CPU: Intel i3-4170 (6 months old)
PSU: some Blueberry with 550W or 560W (PSB550 or PSB560) (10 years old)

Few weeks ago, I noticed that my PC is making crackling fire-like sounds only when I play some games, Dauntless or Guild Wars 2 for example (but only under HEAVY load while I'm playing, not all the time). My components's temperatures under heavy load are fine (60C GPU, 55-60C CPU). Couple hours ago, I witnessed the loudest (even though it wasn't really THAT loud) cracklings and I got a bit worried. I opened my case as fast as possible, got my ear close to the PSU and I could clearly hear that the "noise" is coming from there.

I assume that my PSU is dying? since it's old and bad quality, but, I just wanted to check what caused the problem and what are my options right now. In case someone wants to share some good, new PSU option(s), PLEASE, do not link something with 600W++ since I really don't need anything super good - I'm a semi-casual gamer with a tight budget. Thanks!

 

[why_wolf]

yeah it should never be making an electrical sound, probably an indication that its close to being overloaded. If you ever hear a loud pop sound then definitely stop using that PSU immediately.

This list shows the PSU tiers. 1 and 2 are preferable and 3 is okay, probably where you are looking price wise. 4 and below are garbage. https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

 

[bokac91]

yeah it should never be making an electrical sound, probably an indication that its close to being overloaded. If you ever hear a loud pop sound then definitely stop using that PSU immediately.

This list shows the PSU tiers. 1 and 2 are preferable and 3 is okay, probably where you are looking price wise. 4 and below are garbage. https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

Thank you, kind sir.