PSU rm850e loud fan noise with barely any load

[Alberts E.]

Hi everyone!

I just bought new rm850e PSU and almost right away started noticing weird noise.

First, I read that the fan shouldn't even start spinning unless there's some serious load - in this case, even if everything is closed down and it's just the windows desktop, the fan periodically turns on. All other fans on the build are going on low rpm's or just idling. 

Second, once the PSU's fan starts spinning, it makes quite a loud sound, which to me makes it seem that there's something wrong there mechanically. 

I searched online and couldn't find the exact loudness issue with the same sound so I would be happy if someone could tell me if this is the expected noise for normally working PSU fan, or if I should rather take it back to the seller.

Below is the video with the sound in question, captured on phone:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/g3dBanBtUCjhqCqY7

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Alberts E.

[LeDoyen]

the slight buzzing i hear sounds like the PFC circuit buzzing a little.

That could be also caused by something electrically noisy in the same circuit, like neon tubes, a bad phone charger etc.. but it seems very very quiet.. i had to really crank up the volume to hear it slightly.

Otherwise for the PSU fan turning on periodically, you'd have to flip the PSU around and install it with the fan pointing up, provided the PSU shround is somewhat vented.

Installing it fan down makes the components heat rise towards the PCB and make it run hot even at idle. that triggers the fan a lot more than if the heat was rising out of the PSU.

[Alberts E.]

11 hours ago, LeDoyen said:

the slight buzzing i hear sounds like the PFC circuit buzzing a little.

 

I'm fairly certain it's the fan, it may be hard to distinguish it in the video, but it can clearly be heard each time the fan starts spinning. For other fans I can hear only the wind noise, but this one sounds more like friction which is what got me worried. 

11 hours ago, LeDoyen said:

Otherwise for the PSU fan turning on periodically, you'd have to flip the PSU around and install it with the fan pointing up, provided the PSU shround is somewhat vented.

Installing it fan down makes the components heat rise towards the PCB and make it run hot even at idle. that triggers the fan a lot more than if the heat was rising out of the PSU.

Thanks for this advice, will try it out once I have time. I'm not sure about how good the airflow is down there though and if it would be better than the fan intaking cooler air from the bottom of the case. 

[LeDoyen]

on the video i can barely hear anything tbh ^^'

for the PSU facing up, it is not intaking any air when running passively. it just sits in its own heat when the fan points down. That's why it triggers the fan a lot more often in that position then when the fan is up, allowing the heat to rise in the case and be evacuated. Often, the case airflow also causes some air circulation in the PSU and further reduces the number of times the fan kicks in.

It's the old discrepancy between case designers that put fan grids on the bottom, and PSU designers that always advise to put the fan up. At least now, most PSU shrouds are ventilated on the top to allow installation of the PSU in the correct orientation.

[Alberts E.]

2 hours ago, LeDoyen said:

It's the old discrepancy between case designers that put fan grids on the bottom, and PSU designers that always advise to put the fan up. At least now, most PSU shrouds are ventilated on the top to allow installation of the PSU in the correct orientation.

Just tested this out, flipped my PSU with the fan upwards, made sure there's nothing in front of it (the panel separating PSU room from the rest actually has metal grill so the air can leave), and it's the same thing, the fan fan still starts up periodically in about the same time and makes the "ttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" sound. 
I know it's not that evident in the video, but I managed to get the moment it starts up in a voice recording (0:03) : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AX08uPUrxnzy9zlbAVo8QEyvGD82gGdI?usp=sharing

It's also not hot inside, CPU and MB temps are about 30 to 40 C, GPU temp is about 40 C, I have 2 140mm Noctua fans on front taking in fresh air and I'm not running anything on the PC while testing this. 

In any case, thanks for giving your advice, I really appreciate it. 

[LeDoyen]

eww sounds like a messed up bearing...

the fan shouldn't be noticeable like that, maybe a little wind sound but not much more.. I'd open a support ticket with corsair to have that looked into.

Usually for the PSU fan, it starts up if the load is high, and/or if the temperature sensor inside reads high.

Even if the CPU or GPU aren't doing much (powered by 12V) , it's possible to have a high load on another rail, like if you have a lot of USB devices or a lot of RGB (powered by 5v). that can cause the fan to spin up to cool off that part of the PSU.

It's not easy to say what makes it spin, but regardless, it shouldn't make that noise.

[Selridion]

Hello,

I bought the same rm850e PSU 2 days ago and it makes exactly the same noise. Is there anything that can be done about it? Because i find it quite irritating. It reminds me of a broken fan of a GPU.

The PSU is sold as being quiet yet it makes more noise then any PSU iv ever owned before...
 

[triplea4]

This appears to be a common issue mine started like this before failed.

[jots79]

I have the exact same issue. Bought a pre-built PC about a month ago with the rm850e PSU included. Opened a ticket with the company that built the PC because of "ringing" noise when fan was spinning. I received a new PSU and it's the same problem with this one...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jIXUbc3H44mRv1q1HwWyGBQ1Ut3IM3zK/view

 

[doobo]

i bought my new pc with rm850x becuse i was reading all the good review about it but it not good at all i was feeling for 3 weeks scratchy in trot becuse the bad smell that the power supply make and i was hoping it will fade away was playing all day every day but when i was plyaing and the fans on my pc case start spin faster all the smell go out into my room and i was feeling bad like i sniff some toxic smell becuse it like this for 3 weeks i replace this power supply waiting for the antec 850w power supply i order to arrive i hope it will not be with bad smell like the corsair  and the bad smell in the box of the power supply as well from day one and yes the moment i start playing games the power supply fan start make annyoing sounds stronger then all my fans noise combine 

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by doobo

[skmr]

Same issue here.

here's my noise: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aG9ZGO0p70MGGcDCIbosWvOYBXCjpfip/view?usp=share_link occurs every 5 minutes for about a minute. It's very annoying because it's a loud grinding noise on an otherwise quiet PC (when idling).

I feel duped for buying a more expensive PSU at the moment, even cheap 80+ bronze PSUs aren't that noisy.

[skmr]

Update. RMAd my old one, got a new one from the store and it's the same issue. Maybe it's some defective batch or they are just like that (low noise XD). Anyway, apart from the rattling fan it seems to work well, I'll keep it for now and later buy a different new PSU that hopefully won't have the issue.

[biansanity]

Mine also got the same issue, when under full load, the fan sound is normal, but when idle, sometimes the psu fan is turning and make a weird rattling sound, other than that I don't have any problem. But the annoying part is the fan sound when idle is really noticeable.

[Slasto]

Same here

Got the Corsair rm850e and it does that sound whenever the fan turns on every 2-5 mins or so.

And reading all the replies it seems like it makes no sense to ask for a replacement from where I bought my pc.

What a bummer.

[skmr]

5 hours ago, Slasto said:

Same here

Got the Corsair rm850e and it does that sound whenever the fan turns on every 2-5 mins or so.

And reading all the replies it seems like it makes no sense to ask for a replacement from where I bought my pc.

What a bummer.

Yeah, I had it RMAd twice and each time the same thing.

What I found confusing is that if I am seeing it right, the same fan is used in most PSUs, from various companies. And when I read reviews of PSUs there's always most comments saying it's quiet but there's always that one or two comments complaining about this issue. Maybe most people just buy 1000W PSUs and the fan doesn't need to turn on so often and they don't have the issue. Or they mount the PSU fan up so the warm air leaves the PSU with fan off so the fan doesn't need to turn on when idling, unfortunately my case doesn't permit upside down mounting.

[Korenchkin]

so,i came here to say i have the same...

i think the problem is in fan coil(and that sound transfers to fan wings and is louder thanks to it),what i'm not sure is if it is bad fan design(its electronics),or fan controller in psu

'silent' psu should not be louder than 13600k fully loaded on 1 core cooled by 4 noctuas (3 in 1 out and one silent tower cooler fan),i call it design fault,prove me wrong...

 

[Gummygnom]

Just created an account to report the same issue.

I installed the RM850e two days ago and immediately noticed an annoying sound comming from the PSU similar to the videos in this thread.

I think I will refund the PSU and switch to another one.

[Versetti]

Just registred account to say that I have the same issue.

At first I did not believe that a "quiet" power supply could make such a sound. For several days I listened to the cooling pump and the video card.

I specifically took only corsair parts (case, SSD, AIO cooling, power supply, additional fans) into my assembly, as I hoped that the quality would be impeccable. Now I don't know what to do as this sound is disgusting, my new PC is annoying me.

Is there any solution? Maybe there is possibility to change PSU fan to another?

[LeDoyen]

Most PSU fans are specifically designed for use in a PSU, because they have to last the whole warranty period (~10 years) . PC fans aren't built to the same specs so they would probably not make it. That's why you may get noisier fans on PSUs. They prioritize sturdiness to noise.

Technically you could still change the fan if it fits, but you'd lose the PSU warranty, besides it's dodgey.. better consider the PSU a "black box" that you don't open.

The best thing for silence is to over spec your PSU. If you need 800W, take a 1000 or 1200W. The fan will rarely turn on, if ever. but it costs a bit more obviously.

Or if your PSU shroud is vented, install the PSU with the fan up (yes.. as it should be :p) and there will always be some airflow from the case positive, or negative pressure, from the case fans. Sometimes it can be enough, sometimes not..

 

[Versetti]

I don't need 850w PSU for RTX 3060 and  i5 13600. Problem is with specific noise like in audio record from topic author. It is not okay, when you hear those ""trtrtrtrrrrrr" from new CORSAIR device!!!

Edited April 15, 2023 by Versetti

[HiThereImBob]

I have the exact same problem but with the rm750e. Has anyone confirmed that this is actually not harmful for the PSU and just an annoying sound?

[Españoling]

The same thing happens to me, I have a Corsair RM750e power supply and every 5 minutes it turns on at rest, the fan making an unbearable noise, the sound is not very loud, but enough to make me lose my nerves. I'm going to get rid of this PSU and find a quieter one.

[CivilizedAge]

Adding to the list, RM750E here and every 3-5 min (without any load!) the fan kicks in and it’s super annoying. I used this in a family member’s build, but it sits in the same room with my build. I’m guessing Corsair didn’t QA this fan or didn’t care because it’s the lower end model. In any case, I am extremely disappointed and wish I could exchange it for the RMX model now. 

[alti5]

Same issue here, i bought an rm850e although it was much more expensive than comparable competitor PSUs. But it is my first fully new build in a long time and i wanted to stick with corsair components when it comes to case, cooling and PSU.

Unfortunately I noticed the same discribed fan noise of the PSU at the first day of operation.

Exchanged the PSU thinking the first was a faulty unit. Unfortunately also the exchanged PSU made the same fan noise so i assumed that there may be an issue across the whole series. This was when i searched the internet und found this thread.

Now i just completed the return procedure for the second rm850e a few minutes ago. Thank god the shop offers free return within 30 days.

Sorry Corsair i do not try a third unit, now i will go for the competitor and  accept not having a full corsair build.

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by alti5

[Chicken bone broth]

I had a total disaster with that 850 RMe PSU.

Really disappointed! 

I have an old-school Z97 system on a CIT 500-watt power supply.No PCEi GPU.  I decided to upgrade to an 850Rme PSU and get a GTX GPU.

Shock horror upon just the PSU installation........buzzing/coil whine sound from the PSU and it reverberated back into my mini jack socket connection 5.1 speaker system. 

SHIPPED THE LOT BACK AND REFUNDED! Clearly a fault in the design.

Decided to go look at HW buster reviews to decide on the replacement. 

I am not saying no other makes of PSU have coil whine and buzzing sounds. 

However, that will be the first and last time I am buying a Corsair PSU. Sorry.  😔 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Edited June 12, 2023 by Chicken bone broth