Corsair HX620 whine/screech/whistle when 3d applications are run

[Mformajik]

Only the PSU is needed for an RMA. Unless the manual / cables are defective, there's no reason to RMA them :)

 

but isn't it better to rma everything because what if there was a problem with the cables and such causing the noise, how would i ever know?

[Mformajik]

okay guys i just got the rma hx620 and i have an update. There is some good news and some bad news though.

 

I'll get to the bad news first. The bad news is that the screeching noise is still there in the new hx620 i just received. Now you seem to be wondering what the good news can be.

 

The good news is that the screeching in the new hx620 is considerably quieter than the screeching from my previous unit.

 

This leads to an ambiguous conclusion. Using the exact same system specs and just changing the power supply with another same unit has lead to a decrease in the screeching noise although has not diminished it altogether. Therefore there must be a problem inside the power supply that is causing this change in screech volume. I am pretty sure (90%) that there must be a hx620 power supply out there that has very little to no screech noise with my current specs.

 

Now I know that i have a lower screech noise but the point of the rma was to eliminate this noise altogether as it is still not suppose to occur according to the corsair engineers. I am requesting further opinions from corsair's tech support on what I should do next and if there are any other options I have.

 

A quick note also to corsair's tech support. When you guys say that it has not been reproduced in the lab, what kind of lab are we talking about and how do we know it has not been reproduced. Is there any data on the configurations tested in the corsair labs that we can look at to see if there is a good configuration of psu, mobo, and vid card so in the future I will know what is compatible with the power supply. I don't want to buy all the parts and then realize they have some type of interference noise (the screech) that is related to the power supply and the specific hardware configuration.

 

Also I have read around the forums and this problem first appeared almost 2 years ago and I still don't understand how it still cannot be reproduced in the lab.

 

By all means I am not giving corsair bad rep. My power supply arrived very fast, there was great communication with customer support, and I am very happy with this company. It is just that there are bound to be problems with any company on the very smallest of matters and we cannot create conclusions for the company as a whole based on these small little problems we have.

 

I look forward to hearing from other users and especially corsair's tech support.

 

Thanks and have a great day.

[kiredeid]

Hi,

 

I've just build a new pc including the tx650 and I'm having the exact same noise as heard on Mformajik's movie.

 

I only hear it when the framerate produced by the videocard is really high, like when running atitool or in menus of crysis or when loading a test in 3dmark. I can also hear it briefly when booting up and rebooting, just before the post (when all the fans are still running at full speed)

 

It's definitely not comming from the videocard. I tested it with the psu outside the case, and I could clearly hear it was comming from the psu.

 

Disabling speedstep and C1E didn't fix the issue. However, when I enable Vsync (ie no more extreme framerates) the squeeling stops. Also, the pitch seems to be directly related to the fps. In the youtube movie for example, the rotating cube in atitool is used, and the fps fluctuates, just like the pitch of the sound. When running the artifacts test, the framerate is constant, and so is the pitch

 

I do not think it is caused by to high load on the psu, because when I run prime95 in conjuction with ati tool, the load on psu increases (right ?), and the sound goes away. This is consitent with the fact that the framerate at which atitool runs drops heavily.

 

This seems to be a quite widespread issue, and corsair should at least try to reproduce it:!:

 

It's not that I find the squeeling annoying, I'm just worried it might be bad for my parts, or the psu might be dying. Should I RMA it ? That didn't help for Mformajik unfortenately. :(:

[RAM GUY]

Mformajik and kiredeid,

 

The noise would not indicate any functionality problem with the PSU, or any risk of damaging any components. If replacing the PSU does not resolve the problem, replacing the video card most likely will, especially if enabling vsync fixes the problem. If the power supply could not power the system, then you would certainly have stability problems, and you would have the issues regardless of whether you are stressing the video card or not.

 

The power supply is a relatively "dumb" component, the motherboard tells it to turn on and off, and it converts the power from your wall outlet into usable power for your system via 3 main rails, the 12v, 3.3v, and 5v. The PSU does not know if you are playing games, or surfing the internet, it just knows whether the motherboard is telling it to be on/off. Its the job of the motherboard and graphics card to convert these 3 voltages (just the 12v voltage in the case of the graphics card) into usable voltages for your system and its devices. Our power supply would power both of your systems even if you were to add a second graphics card, without breaking a sweat, I've seen it with my own eyes, and in most cases the PSU will be able to provide even more power than what its rated at.

 

A much more likely possibility is that the voltage regulation is not as good as it should be on your own graphics cards, and there is "feedback" trailing back up the PCIE cable causing a capacitor in the PSU to cause this buzzing/squealing sound. If you were able to duplicate the same buzzing/squealing in safe mode, or by running non-3D apps, or on multiple video cards then I would say its much more likely the PSU would be the problem.

 

For both of you, I would recommend trying the latest driver both from the manufacturers website of your video card, and also the driver available directly from Nvidias website to see if there is any change. Also, I would encourage you to contact the manufacturers of your cards to see if they can help you isolate the problem, and get their opinion on the issue.

 

At any point within 5 years of the purchase date of your PSU, we would be happy to replace it if you think it might resolve the issues, and you can use the On Line RMA Request Form to start the RMA process.

[Computer Dave]

Hello all I have the same problem :roll:

 

Just last week I assembled an AMD Phenom II based system - all new. Sadly from the start my HX620 has been making a high pitched whine/squel. Even hooked up outside case with just GFX and motherboard. Mine has however behaved slightly differently from others posted here.

 

• the whine always starts on first boot and continues no matter what task I'm doing either in either 2D, 3D etc.
  
• if the computer has been on for a certain duration and I then reboot it the whine diminshes or disappears
  
• the scroll wheel of my mouse changes the tone and pitch of the whine...also during times of load there is slight change in sound. When XP loads there is the occasional click or again a change in tone
  
• the system has been stable - I've had it overclocked to 3.4GHz and played countless games without crashes but the whine still persists
  
• I've tried enabling VSnyc in Catalyst 9.1, turning off CPU features and even tried stock settings but no change
  
• I listen to a lot of music and its becoming a real annoyance
  

 

I really wish I could get to the bottom of this...an RMA is my only possible solution. If the replacement does the same then I'd probably have to change PSU brand :( which is something I don't want to do. If this is a GFX card issue then surely all HD48XX would be the same? Cheers for suggestions.

[equlizer34]

I had that problem with the HX1000 and my old 8800GTX:(: Tried the card in a different system and nothing happened. Then i upgraded to the ATI 4850x2 and no screeching noises or whining. Ive read that corsair psu's dont like certain nvidia cards (88XX series i think)

 

With mine though, the screeching sound came from my video card:sigh!:

[Computer Dave]

I think I'm the only one here in this thread with a AMD CPU and ATI card so it doesn't seem system specific (i.e. all Intel systems with nVidia cards)...I'm going to try and borrow another GFX card and see what happens over the weekend. The whine is coming from the rear of the PSU.