Grinding noise coming from PC at specific times.

[MCMXCIX]

**FIXED** Refer to last post.


I think it's the GPU. I say this because the grinding noise has occurred in two different instances so far: when testing my computer using the Windows Experience Index or whatever it's called, and when I load the game The Last Remnant. During the credit videos at the beginning, it's fine, but once I get to the menu (which, I assume, is when it starts rendering). This grinding/whirring noise can kinda be compared to a dentists' drill with The Last Remnant, and kinda sounds like when you let air escape from a balloon while pulling the mouth apart. There is also a sound when I play other games like Borderlands 2, but that sound is a lot less loud and annoying, and sounds more normal (or not, I don't really know).

I built my computer two days ago, with everything being new. Specs are:
Windows 8 32-bit
Sapphire 7850 OC 2GB
1TB 7200rpm 64MB cache Seagate Barricuda
4GBx2 G.Skill (forgot the classification, like Raptor or Sniper) 2133 MHz underclocked to 1600 MHz
i3 3225 3.30 GHz
Asrock B75M-DGS motherboard

There are no cables hitting/touching the GPU or its fan. I installed the latest Catalyst. I tried taking out the card then reseating it, with no changes. I tried ramping up the fan speed from 20-75 then to 100, and while it sounded like a jet engine at 100 since the fan is so strong, I noticed no grinding noise, so it doesn't seem to be tied to the RPM. Any help would greatly be appreciated. For all I know, those sounds are normal, but I have tinnitus, so quiet sounds to other people can be pretty loud to me.

Update: I had my parents listen to it, and neither of them could hear the sound. Then again, they're older, so that might be why.

[obake1]

Grinding noise usually isn't good. From what you describe it's likely a fan issue for sure. It could be your CPU fan as well...unless you have a liquid cooler on it. My older PC also produces a grindy noise, but it's not as high pitched as you seem to describe. I know the issue on that PC is because there is a fan on the north bridge which I can't remove without really knowing whether it's going to do more harm than good...and I can't replace the board as it's LGA1366 and they've discontinued selling those.

[Deleted]

did you remove the plastic film from the top of the GFX card ? sounds like it could be a small piece of film catching on the fan, wont be really audible till you start making the GFX card increase the speed of the fan, and then it will become noticeable.

[MCMXCIX]

Grinding noise usually isn't good. From what you describe it's likely a fan issue for sure. It could be your CPU fan as well...unless you have a liquid cooler on it. My older PC also produces a grindy noise, but it's not as high pitched as you seem to describe. I know the issue on that PC is because there is a fan on the north bridge which I can't remove without really knowing whether it's going to do more harm than good...and I can't replace the board as it's LGA1366 and they've discontinued selling those.

I have the stock fan since I'm not overclocking. Since it only occurs when the GPU is rendering things, and only some things, I don't really know what to do. Maybe I'll try different drivers and hope they work, or try running the game that made the grinding noise in compatibility mode.

---------- Post added 2012-12-21 at 06:38 PM ----------

did you remove the plastic film from the top of the GFX card ? sounds like it could be a small piece of film catching on the fan, wont be really audible till you start making the GFX card increase the speed of the fan, and then it will become noticeable.

No, I didn't take the film off, because I was worried it might be needed and if it was removed it might void the warranty for RMA. Right now I'm gonna try Kingdoms of Amalur, Dark Souls, Scribblenauts Unlimited, and Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse to see if the same sound occurs there too. I'll do so afterwards and see what happens, though.

Update: Kingdoms of Amalur makes the sound, but the other 3 games don't. Which is surprising, because I was expecting Dark Souls to make it since the games that make the sounds seem to have fairly realistic graphics. So now I'm gonna turn my computer off, let it cool down, then take off the film and hope that helps.

---------- Post added 2012-12-21 at 07:08 PM ----------

After taking off the film, the noise persists. Once I position it so that the opening of the case is facing away from me, the noise won't be a problem, I just don't want to let it make that noise in case it makes it wear down or break quicker.

[FlawlessSoul]

Download and run FurMark and Intel Burn Test. It's possibly a fault with your PSU when it is getting stressed, and you can run each of those programs separately and then together.

[MCMXCIX]

Download and run FurMark and Intel Burn Test. It's possibly a fault with your PSU when it is getting stressed, and you can run each of those programs separately and then together.

I tested Furmark three times. First was background plus burn-in at 8x MSAA, second was background plus burn-in and post-fx at 0 AA, and third background plus burn-in, Xtreme burn-in, and post-fx at 0 AA. None of these tests made the sound that I'm experiencing. I'll leave my computer on tonight while running the intel burn test, and I'll update once that is finished.

---------- Post added 2012-12-21 at 08:16 PM ----------

I thought it was similar to memtest where you were best to run it for 8+ hours, but looking at the forums people were using around 10 or so run throughs, so I did that and here's my data:

----------------------------
IntelBurnTest v2.54
Created by AgentGOD
----------------------------

Processor:         Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3225 CPU @ 3.30GHz
Clock Speed: 3.03 GHz
Active Physical Cores: 4
Total System Memory: 2048 MB

Stress Level: Standard (1024 MB)
Testing started on 12/21/2012 8:08:04 PM
Time (s)		Speed (GFlops)		Result
[20:08:39] 25.582	34.9424			3.001393e-002
[20:09:11] 24.635	36.2855			3.001393e-002
[20:09:44] 24.621	36.3051			3.001393e-002
[20:10:16] 24.645	36.2708			3.001393e-002
[20:10:49] 24.463	36.5406			3.001393e-002
[20:11:21] 24.711	36.1729			3.001393e-002
[20:11:54] 24.443	36.5699			3.001393e-002
[20:12:27] 24.638	36.2813			3.001393e-002
[20:13:00] 24.626	36.2984			3.001393e-002
[20:13:32] 24.646	36.2692			3.001393e-002
Testing ended on 12/21/2012 8:13:32 PM
Test Result: Success.
----------------------------

[Demoness]

It is coil whine.

[n0cturnal]

The sounds you are experiencing is coil whine/noise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coil_noise
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=233094
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...-15-coil-whine

[MCMXCIX]

The sounds you are experiencing is coil whine/noise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coil_noise
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=233094
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...-15-coil-whine

So I did the toilet paper tube suggestion and it's the PSU. When I change my display from my video card to the onboard, the sounds don't exist, so that points to the GPU, but what I'm thinking is that my PSU might not be putting out enough watts so it struggles in certain situation, or something similar. I don't really know, I'm pretty much a noob at computer hardware. From those links, people are saying that there's nothing wrong with it. I was recommended to get a 430W so I did, even though I felt I would do better with higher wattage. I kinda feel like that was a bad move on my part, though. Is there anything I can do about it besides soldering? I'm nowhere near comfortable with doing that. And I doubt I can get a full refund for a PSU because it sometimes makes an annoying sound.

[obake1]

Yeah, if it's coil whine, you can probably get a refund. I've had a few PSUs that produced coil whine and I pretty much just called up newegg and said I need to exchange it because it is defective =p

[MCMXCIX]

Yeah, if it's coil whine, you can probably get a refund. I've had a few PSUs that produced coil whine and I pretty much just called up newegg and said I need to exchange it because it is defective =p

I'm gonna try and get an advanced RMA. If it were something like my video card, it wouldn't be as bad since I could still use my computer (just not do anything graphically intensive), but a PC without power is a paper weight. The sound is physically painful (thanks, tinnitus) so I really need to replace it.

[TaintedOne]

Is there anything I can do about it besides soldering? I'm nowhere near comfortable with doing that.

NEVER open your PSU

1. It voids your warranty

2. If you dont know 110% what you are doing BAD things can happen like burn your house down

If something is wrong with it send it back to the manufacture for repair

[MCMXCIX]

NEVER open your PSU

1. It voids your warranty

2. If you dont know 110% what you are doing BAD things can happen like burn your house down

If something is wrong with it send it back to the manufacture for repair

First of all, I'd never do that. Like Frankenstein('s monster) says, FIRE BAD.

Second, I actually found it to be my video card instead, thanks to MSI Kombustor's Triangle of Death test (that hurt my ears like hell). Unfortunately Newegg doesn't cross ship, so I'm gonna try and do a fix I found while looking up video card coil whine: leaving the computer on while it's making the whine noise overnight for a few days. Multiple people claimed that fixed their whine. I would really love to play Kingdoms of Amalur and The Last Remnant without going deaf...

---------- Post added 2012-12-22 at 03:42 AM ----------

I found the fix to my problem. Turns out the FPS in certain games was way too high. By using in-game fps limiters (for The Last Remnant) and the all-around FPS limiter in MSI Afterburner (for Kingdoms of Amalur) I have completely eliminated the whirring noise. I read somewhere that limiting the FPS might fix it, so I forced V-sync on, but that didn't work, so I threw away that idea at first. I guess innovations like this happen at 3:30AM.

[Deleted]

why should you limit your FPS though. (vsync debate aside)
if the PSU is the cause of the issue, and it is producing coil whine when you are using it for what it was designed for then it is faulty and needs to be replaced.

Replace it.

[MCMXCIX]

why should you limit your FPS though. (vsync debate aside)
if the PSU is the cause of the issue, and it is producing coil whine when you are using it for what it was designed for then it is faulty and needs to be replaced.

Replace it.

I only thought it was the PSU. But by doing some graphical stress tests and by taking the PSU out of the case while I ran so I could better differentiate the noise, I determined it was the GPU. And I'm completely fine with limiting my FPS. If I limit it to 60 FPS, the sound is reduced to the point where I'd need to be right next to the case to hear it. I don't need more than 60 FPS. As long as the game is smooth I'm not one of those people who gets anal about getting the highest numbers possible.