starlit_mandala Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Hi All, I've just bought a Corsair HX620W PSU to replace the no-name timebomb that came free with my case. I opted for the Corsair one as many reviewers and forum members have said that it was quiet, efficient and reliable, three factors that I rate highly. Having installed it this weekend, I can hear a reasonably faint clicking / ticking sound from the PSU. Having looked through the Corsair forums and having done some general Googling I've come accross several potential explanations for the ticking : 1) The ticking happens because the PSU is under a very low load and is actually a design feature prevalent in several branded PSUs. A very plausible explanation, and some people have eliminated the noise by adding more devices like hard disks or optical drives. My Corsair 620HX current powers an AMD Athlon 64 3200+, a Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI mobo, a Gigabyte 7900GT gfx card with a Zalman cooler, a Western Digital Caviar HDD, a Soundblaster Xfi , 2 optical DVD drives , an Akasa EVO33 HSF and 4 case fans (3 80mm ones and 1 120mm one - all of them quiet Sharkoons and Acoustifans). I would have thought that would be enough to create a reasonable strain on the PSU to eliminate the noise. Can someone from Corsair please officially confirm that the ticking is a design feature ? I would have thought all those devices would give it a decent load. 2) The ticking is down to the sticker on top of the fan coming loose and if removed, the problem is sorted. Again a plausible solution. From what I could see, my one was OK, but I will check with a maglite tonight just in case. 3) The unit is faulty and needs to be RMA'd. This one contradicts the above two and causes some confusion , hence my request for a concrete confirmation as to whether the ticking IS a design feature or a defect. To the best of my knowledge none of the case fans are obstructed with anything like a loose wire and the Corsair 620HX is mounted at the top of my case (an Enermax Black Knight) with the PSU fan facing downwards. Any help is greatly appreciated as this ticking is doing my head in ! Many many thanks in advance. Igor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlit_mandala Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 ok I've tested all the fans in the case by stopping them with a pencil , including the fan on the 620hx and the fan on my gfx zalman cooler - the ticking noise still persists ! i even unplugged the optical drives one by one - no result. the sticker on the 620hx is stuck on solidly in the right place. i am really speechless as to what it could be.... please help ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garvin Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Usually you can use the paper or cardboard tube as stethescope trick to pinpoint where an oddball sound is coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlit_mandala Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 i'm fairly certain its the PSU. all other components were in my PC for a while now and i've never heard the ticking sound before. the fact that i bought the 620HX a few daya ago and its start leads me to believe it is the culprit - but i am unsure as to whether this is normal behaviour or a fault. corsair reps - care to weigh in with an opinion ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees Power Guy Posted April 24, 2007 Corsair Employees Share Posted April 24, 2007 i'm fairly certain its the PSU. all other components were in my PC for a while now and i've never heard the ticking sound before. the fact that i bought the 620HX a few daya ago and its start leads me to believe it is the culprit - but i am unsure as to whether this is normal behaviour or a fault. corsair reps - care to weigh in with an opinion ? It's likely a component internal the PSU, but just to check, do you have it plugged into a UPS at all or is it directly into the wall? Also, try running a game or graphics-intensive benchmark like 3DMark06, and let me know if the ticking sound changes at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlit_mandala Posted April 25, 2007 Author Share Posted April 25, 2007 Hi PowerGuy - thanks for answering ! its currently plugged into a multi-plug with a surge protector in it. i will definitely run 3dmark 06 tonight to see if that makes a difference, but really its odd that one has to have a system running at heavy load to make the PSU function silently. kind of doesnt tie in with the whole quiet , efficient PSU marketing angle of the product. granted its a fair bit quieter than my previous no-name PSU, but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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