[SOLVED] Static noise from PSU and GPU under load

[Prad_Bitt]

I am new at this and I just built my first tower, r5 3600, 16gb 3000mhz, 2070s windforce, cx650m and I was playing GTA 5 and I noticed a weird static noise coming from the GPU as well as PSU area on the outside of the case, it went away when I unplugged the Hdmi cable while it was running but the noise comes back on once I plug it back in. What is causing this and should I get anything replaced?

 

[jonnyguru]

I am new at this and I just built my first tower, r5 3600, 16gb 3000mhz, 2070s windforce, cx650m and I was playing GTA 5 and I noticed a weird static noise coming from the GPU as well as PSU area on the outside of the case, it went away when I unplugged the Hdmi cable while it was running but the noise comes back on once I plug it back in. What is causing this and should I get anything replaced?

Then that's probably the GPU, not the PSU.

Seems to be common in GTA V! LOL! Here's from five years ago: View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/38idui/troubleshooting_cracklingbuzzingstatic_noise_when/


One thing that I've done and succeeded with is to put ferrite beads on the PCIe power cables:
https://www.overclock.net/forum/180...39-cable-sleeving-gallery-discussion-700.html

 

[Prad_Bitt]

Then that's probably the GPU, not the PSU.

Seems to be common in GTA V! LOL! Here's from five years ago: View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/38idui/troubleshooting_cracklingbuzzingstatic_noise_when/


One thing that I've done and succeeded with is to put ferrite beads on the PCIe power cables:
https://www.overclock.net/forum/180...39-cable-sleeving-gallery-discussion-700.html

Should I try another game?

And I'm 100% sure it's both of them making the noise, I even recorded it and tried listening just to make sure. It's both of them, the PSU as well as GPU

 

[Prad_Bitt]

Then that's probably the GPU, not the PSU.

Seems to be common in GTA V! LOL! Here's from five years ago: View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/38idui/troubleshooting_cracklingbuzzingstatic_noise_when/


One thing that I've done and succeeded with is to put ferrite beads on the PCIe power cables:
https://www.overclock.net/forum/180...39-cable-sleeving-gallery-discussion-700.html

Also, it doesn't show up on audio channels, I can only hear the noise with my ear near the gpu and psu

 

[jonnyguru]

Also, it doesn't show up on audio channels, I can only hear the noise with my ear near the gpu and psu

Why would it show up in your audio?

Do you know what "coil whine" is? You have magnetics on the graphics card. These are (typically) iron cores wrapped with copper wire. As electricity passes through them, they vibrate. At different electrical frequencies, because of different loads, the frequencies of the vibrations change. Some times, that vibrantion is at an audible level and you hear it coming out of your PC.

So are you wanting to FIX the problem or do you just want to be assured that there's nothing wrong with your computer? Because there's nothing wrong with your computer. If you want to try to fix the noise, try the ferrite beads I suggested.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

Why would it show up in your audio?

Do you know what "coil whine" is? You have magnetics on the graphics card. These are (typically) iron cores wrapped with copper wire. As electricity passes through them, they vibrate. At different electrical frequencies, because of different loads, the frequencies of the vibrations change. Some times, that vibrantion is at an audible level and you hear it coming out of your PC.

So are you wanting to FIX the problem or do you just want to be assured that there's nothing wrong with your computer? Because there's nothing wrong with your computer. If you want to try to fix the noise, try the ferrite beads I suggested.

Could this be due to a bad power outlet? Or some current leakage around the case or something? Because I understand the coil whine but what i dont understand is why it goes away when I plug the hdmi out and why the psu and gpu both have it

 

[jonnyguru]

Could this be due to a bad power outlet? Or some current leakage around the case or something? Because I understand the coil whine but what i dont understand is why it goes away when I plug the hdmi out and why the psu and gpu both have it

If the GPU can't push video out to the monitor, it doesn't have to work as hard so the frequency changes.

Could it be bad input power? Probably, but most likely not. You might hear it in the PSU, but not also the GPU. The PSU converts AC to DC, so noisy AC would manifest itself as noise in the PSU, but it would be filtered out before it left the DC side of the PSU. And it's not leakage current. That's not what leakage current is.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axCG1_IhY3Q


Plug the PC in somewhere else to see if the noise goes away if you have any reason to believe you have bad mains power.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

If the GPU can't push video out to the monitor, it doesn't have to work as hard so the frequency changes.

Could it be bad input power? Probably, but most likely not. You might hear it in the PSU, but not also the GPU. The PSU converts AC to DC, so noisy AC would manifest itself as noise in the PSU, but it would be filtered out before it left the DC side of the PSU. And it's not leakage current. That's not what leakage current is.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axCG1_IhY3Q


Plug the PC in somewhere else to see if the noise goes away if you have any reason to believe you have bad mains power.

OK so I plugged it in elsewhere and ran GTA and it's still making that weird noise, which my mum also thinks is not static instead a fan of some sort. I also did notice that the sound from the PSU is much louder than the one from the GPU.

I saw in a forum somewhere that CXM PSUs have this issue, and certain PSUs can also cause the GPU to whine, should I return this and get an RM650/TX650M instead? It's still in the Amazon return window for another 28h.

 

[jonnyguru]

OK so I plugged it in elsewhere and ran GTA and it's still making that weird noise, which my mum also thinks is not static instead a fan of some sort. I also did notice that the sound from the PSU is much louder than the one from the GPU.

I saw in a forum somewhere that CXM PSUs have this issue, and certain PSUs can also cause the GPU to whine, should I return this and get an RM650/TX650M instead? It's still in the Amazon return window for another 28h.

You can Google any combination of hardware and find some other people with similar problem.

You can try a TX or RM if you can get one, but there's no guarantee the noise will go away.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

You can Google any combination of hardware and find some other people with similar problem.

You can try a TX or RM if you can get one, but there's no guarantee the noise will go away.

Yes, but I also read that the TX series had those Japanese caps which were better apparently, and that they can take up much more load and surges (electrical issues basically) than the CXM which I found out is not very great according to this link http://www.jongerow.com/Corsair_PSU_hierarchy/index.html

I think I'll take my chances, spend a few more bucks, I won't be losing anything really

 

[jonnyguru]

Yes, but I also read that the TX series had those Japanese caps which were better apparently, and that they can take up much more load and surges (electrical issues basically) than the CXM which I found out is not very great according to this link http://www.jongerow.com/Corsair_PSU_hierarchy/index.html

I think I'll take my chances, spend a few more bucks, I won't be losing anything really

So... That "jongerow" guy. That's me. And while Japanese brand caps may be marginally better, they don't have an impact on coil whine.

But you're right that if you upgrade you get a better PSU overall, so there's nothing to lose. But if you do continue to get the noise, do try the ferrite bead solution I suggested earlier.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

So... That "jongerow" guy. That's me. And while Japanese brand caps may be marginally better, they don't have an impact on coil whine.

But you're right that if you upgrade you get a better PSU overall, so there's nothing to lose. But if you do continue to get the noise, do try the ferrite bead solution I suggested earlier.

OH WAIT I KNEW I HAD SEEN THAT NAME SOMEWHERE BEFORE OMG

I saw it in a Gamers Nexus video where there was a question about a UPS lol then discovered that you're a PSU master on the internet. Thanks a ton, I think I'll try the beads if the TXM disappoints 😛 and another question since you talked about it before, is the APC BX1100C-IN good enough to power the PC (just the PC, not the monitor)? Because pure sinewave UPS where I live are ridiculously expensive, I can't get anything under 250 USD (1KVA), and an inverter + external battery is just not viable due to space limitations, this one is like 80 USD for some reason, and seems like good quality, but the super cheap price makes me skeptic, here's a link https://www.apc.com/shop/in/en/prod...out-auto-shutdown-software-India/P-Bx1100c-in

Thanks!

 

[jonnyguru]

OH WAIT I KNEW I HAD SEEN THAT NAME SOMEWHERE BEFORE OMG

I saw it in a Gamers Nexus video where there was a question about a UPS lol then discovered that you're a PSU master on the internet. Thanks a ton, I think I'll try the beads if the TXM disappoints 😛 and another question since you talked about it before, is the APC BX1100C-IN good enough to power the PC (just the PC, not the monitor)? Because pure sinewave UPS where I live are ridiculously expensive, I can't get anything under 250 USD (1KVA), and an inverter + external battery is just not viable due to space limitations, this one is like 80 USD for some reason, and seems like good quality, but the super cheap price makes me skeptic, here's a link https://www.apc.com/shop/in/en/prod...out-auto-shutdown-software-India/P-Bx1100c-in

Thanks!

You don't need pure sine wave for a home PC with a decent PSU. That UPS is more than enough.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

You don't need pure sine wave for a home PC with a decent PSU. That UPS is more than enough.

Thanks a lot again!

 

[Prad_Bitt]

You don't need pure sine wave for a home PC with a decent PSU. That UPS is more than enough.

So I got the RM650 2019 version, and the PSU's coil whine is gone, it's running silent even under load. I've learnt not to cheap out on a PSU now. The GPU still is noisy, but I guess that's just my poor luck 🙁

 

[jonnyguru]

So I got the RM650 2019 version, and the PSU's coil whine is gone, it's running silent even under load. I've learnt not to cheap out on a PSU now. The GPU still is noisy, but I guess that's just my poor luck 🙁

You can still try that ferrite bead trick that I mention only a couple times so far.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

You can still try that ferrite bead trick that I mention only a couple times so far.

So I basically slap this on my PCIe connectors, right? And displayport cable too?

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B06XF7ZYC5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ujEfFb9Y49NV7

 

[jonnyguru]

So I basically slap this on my PCIe connectors, right? And displayport cable too?

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B06XF7ZYC5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ujEfFb9Y49NV7

Just on the PCIe power cables.

 

[Prad_Bitt]

Just on the PCIe power cables.

Okay will try, thanks

 

[Prad_Bitt]

You can still try that ferrite bead trick that I mention only a couple times so far.

Just on the PCIe power cables.

While I'm waiting for the bead to arrive, I tried using separate PCIe cables for the 8pin and 6pin connector on a 2070S, that seemed to very slightly reduce the whine coming from the pcie cables. Also using a displayport cable with freesync enabled G sync (can't do that with HDMI on my monitor I guess, there was no option in Nvidia control panel) seems to also reduce the coil whine coming from near the output ports on the gpu. Thought I might share this

 

[Prad_Bitt]

Just on the PCIe power cables.

Another thing is using a different displayport on the gpu results in even less coil whine! Interesting

 

[jonnyguru]

Another thing is using a different displayport on the gpu results in even less coil whine! Interesting

Yeah. You're definitely looking at an EMI issue.

https://www.doeeet.com/content/eee-components/rf-mw/how-to-use-a-ferrite-bead-to-reduce-emi/

Hard to say where it's coming from, but even your display port cable is delivering +3.3V.