HX620 coil whine?

[DJSigma]

Hi,

I've had a HX620 since 2008. It was originally used in a Dell PC as a replacement for the original PSU that died and I had no problems at all.

I have recently built a new machine and this is the first time I'm using a high end GPU and I believe the PSU is suffering from coil whine. So far, I have had 3 different GPUs: -

1. Asus 670 DirectCU II TOP = Crashed within seconds of running the Heaven benchmark, so I returned it for a replacement as it was unstable at stock and I found many similar reports on other forums.

2. Asus 670 DirectCU II TOP = Suffered from coil whine (or so I thought). Returned for a refund.

3. Gigabyte 670 Windforce OC = This just arrived today and I am also getting loud coil whine.

Originally, I put this noise down to the GPUs and thought I was just unlucky in getting 2 in a row that suffer with bad coil whine, but when I listen again, I think it's the PSU and not the GPU. I'm using a Silverstone TJ08-E case and so the PSU is mounted at the top and there is an air intake on the top of the case. If I place my ear there, the coil whine is clearly considerably louder than when I place my ear next to the GPU with the side of the case off, which implies that the PSU is the cause.

It doesn't seem to be related to whether a game is stressing the system or not. For instance, if I fire up Painkiller Black Edition, I can hear a loud whine as soon as the title screen appears. When the main menu comes up, the whine is still there, but changes in pitch. If I choose to exit the game, a confirmation screen comes up and the whine changes in pitch again, but also gets noticeably louder. As soon as I exit the game, the whine disappears. Yet if I play Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, I hear no whine at all even though it's a full 3D game and is clearly a lot more taxing than the basic 2D menus of Painkiller.

I bought the PSU from a UK retailer (eBuyer) in April 2008, so I believe it's still covered by the warranty. I am fairly certain that the noise is coming from the PSU itself and not the GPU, so what can I do next? I really cannot afford to have any down time with this PC, aside from swapping the PSU out.

Thanks for any advice.