Corsair 650TX and ATITool...

[Wallach]

So, earlier today I installed a 650TX in the following kit:

i5-750 @ stock
Gigabyte P55M-UD2 (microATX)
eVGA 9800GTX+ @ stock
4GB Corsair XMS3

One HDD (think a 640GB WD), one optical drive, three case fans. Not much out of the ordinary.

So, as I'm browsing I can barely hear this off/on whine depending on what I'm doing in the browser, sounded like a coil whining.

When I fired up ATITool, though... holy cow. The little furry 3D cube artifact test? The PSU sounds like it's screaming for mercy when this is running.

I've never heard anything like that come out of a PSU before. Quick run through YouTube and I see that someone else has a video of this exact thing caused by ATITool (link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4d23F2jehQ&feature=related)).

You guys ever seen anything like this? I've known PSUs to make some noise for various reasons, but this really surprised me.

I'm switching it out for one of the TruePower New PSUs as even outside of the ghastly wailing from ATITool the high-pitched whine elsewhere is a little too annoying to put up with.

[Tator Tot]

Have you isolated the noise to be sure it's coming from your PSU and not your GPU?

That squeel comes from Cap's (capacitors) and many of your components have caps. Motherboards, PSU's, GPU's, Sound Cards, NIC's, ect.

The high pitched whine of a capacitor is usually a sign of it either going bad or having a high load put on it that is stressing it to hard.

[Zero82z]

Have you isolated the noise to be sure it's coming from your PSU and not your GPU?

That squeel comes from Cap's (capacitors) and many of your components have caps. Motherboards, PSU's, GPU's, Sound Cards, NIC's, ect.

The high pitched whine of a capacitor is usually a sign of it either going bad or having a high load put on it that is stressing it to hard.
That is coil whine. It has nothing to do with capacitors.

[Tator Tot]

That is coil whine. It has nothing to do with capacitors.
In the video or in the OP's case?

Many different things can make a high pitched whine. I had a GTX 260 produce a similar noise before it went bad (when the cap burst.)

Unless that sound is the EXACT sound that the OP's hearing, you shouldn't rule out other possibilities.

That's why I asked if he was sure if it was the PSU or not.

[burebista]

It should be GPU. The only software that make my former GTX260 to whine was that hairy cube from ATITools. :D

[Wallach]

It should be GPU. The only software that make my former GTX260 to whine was that hairy cube from ATITools. :D

Well, I swapped my backup Enermax in (my older 485w NoiseTaker II) and no such noise occurs running the same test in ATITools. Damn trusty thing this Enermax has been, I have to say.

Mind you, this noise when running the "hairy cube" is not mysterious at all - it is BLARING out of the PSU (the 650TX that is) like a banshee. Click the link in the first post if you want to hear what I'm talking about.

The coil whine was present outside of that test, which is annoying enough for me to not use it, as I'm just sensitive to the frequency and I could tell it's something that would drive me nuts. But I've heard coil whine before... this other noise is an entirely different beast. No PSU I've ever owned or seen has spit out a hell's choir like that before.

[burebista]

I'm somehow missed the link, sorry. I understand. For me that noise comes from my GTX260. It looks like yours is from PSU.
But I can tell you a hint: uninstall that useless ATITool and you'll have no problems. :)

[Zero82z]

In the video or in the OP's case?
Both. Capacitors almost never whine, and when they do, they are about to fail. Coil whine is a very common issue, and when a whine is heard coming from a PC, 99.9% of the time it's either coil whine or fan noise.

[Redbeard]

We'll gladly RMA it for you if you want a new one. You're still under warranty.

[Tator Tot]

Well, I swapped my backup Enermax in (my older 485w NoiseTaker II) and no such noise occurs running the same test in ATITools

Then for sure it's the PSU and not the GPU. And yes, most likely a coil whine.

Both. Capacitors almost never whine, and when they do, they are about to fail. Coil whine is a very common issue, and when a whine is heard coming from a PC, 99.9% of the time it's either coil whine or fan noise.

Look into the GTX 200 series, they are notorious for having a whine present (http://theovalich.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/nvidias-deadly-flaw-and-how-to-fix-it-no-more-gtx280-squealing/)while under load that stems from their caps and power phases. Which that specific issue isn't all that uncommmon either. As it happened with the 8800GTX & 8800 ULTRA cards as well.

[Zero82z]

Look into the GTX 200 series, they are notorious for having a whine present (http://theovalich.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/nvidias-deadly-flaw-and-how-to-fix-it-no-more-gtx280-squealing/)while under load that stems from their caps and power phases. Which that specific issue isn't all that uncommmon either. As it happened with the 8800GTX & 8800 ULTRA cards as well.
I have two GTX260s, and I am quite familiar with the whine. It is not the capacitors, it is the coils. That's it.

[370forlife]

Look into the GTX 200 series, they are notorious for having a whine present (http://theovalich.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/nvidias-deadly-flaw-and-how-to-fix-it-no-more-gtx280-squealing/)while under load that stems from their caps and power phases. Which that specific issue isn't all that uncommmon either. As it happened with the 8800GTX & 8800 ULTRA cards as well.

Squealing is caused by coils. A lot of older dell desktops had this problem where they would growl for a few seconds suddenly when the cpu was put under even a small load. It can also be caused by capacitors going bad (but almost all GTX series nvidia cards use Sanyo or UCC solid capacitors)

[blivit4]

In the Corsair PS forum there is a sticky dealing with PS noise:

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=85166

I'm not so thrilled with the content of the sticky.

Also, in that forum the 650TX seems to be the most common PS to have noise issues.

[Makalu]

well I haven't had the displeasure of this problem but get a lot of questions about it and what I've come up with is I think in a PSU it can be either coils or a transformer making the noise and the cause of the noise could be due to loose windings there but it can also be electromagnetic induction coming from somewhere else. Trying to locate the exact source of the noise can be hard to do...sometimes just pushing down on coils and transformers with a pencil or wood dowel or something non-conductive the noise will change and tell you that's the source or a toy stethoscope that can be found in toy stores or costume shops works pretty good too.

To try and alleviate the noise or eliminate it slather the offending component in a conformal coating like this stuff works for some people.

http://www.crazypc.com/products/conformal-coating-934900.html

[Redbeard]

The reason the 650TX shows up so much with the issue is because it's one of our two top-selling units and has been since its release.

[Zero82z]

The reason the 650TX shows up so much with the issue is because it's one of our two top-selling units and has been since its release.
What's the other one? The TX750?

[Phaedrus2129]

I've heard of this occurring more than usual with PC Power Silencers as well. Maybe it's an artifact of the S12 platform?

[blivit4]

The reason the 650TX shows up so much with the issue is because it's one of our two top-selling units and has been since its release.

Thanks. That's the info that isn't generally available, and indicates that the PS platform doesn't necessarily have any inherent noise problem.