Sokak Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 I have recently installed a new VX450 and noticed the 'cricket chirp', also called 'coil whine', coming from the PSU at certain levels of load power. Many users describe similar noise occurring during mouse movement, page scrolling, or while playing a 3d game. However, the only consistent correlation I have found within my own system has been with power draw. All numbers below are AC input power and should not be taken out of context (only compare with other numbers presented here). Input power is measured by a Kill-A-Watt unit. CPU loading is accomplished with Intel's Thermal Analysis Tool. The CPU was run at a variety of settings ranging from 1.2GHz @1.2V to 3.0GHz @1.4V. GPU power state is monitored with GPU-Z. The GPU idles at 157MHz @.95V but ramps to 700MHz @1.1V during load (including 2d tasks such as window resizing). 80-95W In this power range there is no noise unless an action is taken that increases power draw of either the CPU or GPU, such as page scrolling, window resizing, or other UI refreshes 105-125W Here there is constant electrical noise, regardless of software state or combination of hardware activity 135-180W+ No electrical noise, again regardless of the scenario There is no specific action, such as CPU usage or video card activity, that will trigger the whine. Some examples: I can adjust from constant noise to none while in the BIOS by overclocking the CPU, pushing power draw up above 130W. I can adjust from no noise at idle at the windows desktop to constant noise by swapping in a video card that pulls an extra 25W idle power. I can put a workload on 1 CPU core to cause the whine to start and simultaneously load a second core to cause it to stop with each core pulling about 25W. My purpose here is not to condemn the VX450 but to offer insight into further troubleshooting methods for fellow users. The motherboard was kept constant throughout testing and could very well be the cause of conflict. An RMA through Corsair can be arranged if desirable, though working through the vendor would likely be more convenient for me. A downgrade to a 300W range power supply may be in order to keep the PSU above ~20% DC load at idle and preempt any further issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted July 16, 2010 Corsair Employee Share Posted July 16, 2010 The thread here may be of some help: http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=85166 If it looks like the PSU could be the cause of the buzzing, then we could definitely replace it for you (Request an RMA), but the noise itself would not indicate that the unit is faulty or that it may fail prematurely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sokak Posted July 20, 2010 Author Share Posted July 20, 2010 I've replaced the VX450 with an identical unit through my vendor and am pleased to report that the electrical noise is completely gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted July 21, 2010 Corsair Employee Share Posted July 21, 2010 Thanks for the update, glad to hear the replacement worked out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.