PSU coil whining hard

[Tech Wizard]

 

 

My PSU is making high pitched noises (whining??) when moving my mouse. If I keep the mouse still, the sound is not present. Corsair CX750M Semi-Modular. Googled it, and found several other reporting the same problem (mostly Corsair units). I have tried this unit in two different rigs, and both have the same issue with the unit whining when mouse is moving, so I've narrowed it down to the PSU unit itself. For example in BIOS it's not making this high pitch, but as soon as window is loading / some activity for the CPU, it starts doing this.

 

I have another exact copy of this PSU in another system, and that one does not whine. Why is this happening? Is there a logical explination?

 

 

EDIT: Only whines under idle. When moving mouse under full CPU load, it doesn't make the sound.

[LukeSavenije]

just a random question, is this the gray label or the green label version?

[DailyProcrastinator]

Is this the CXM with a green label or grey label on it? The CXM PSU's are a more 'budget' option from Corsair and are typically a noisier PSU, I had a green label CXM long ago and it was a very noisy PSU, the green label units are quite poorly made as well.

[fabafaba]

Does your PC make the same noise when you put just the CPU or just the GPU under load? And if not, do you still get the noise from mouse movement while under load?

[LukeSavenije]

btw, I'll add @jonnyGURU here. He knows more about psu's than most people combined

[Tech Wizard]

2 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

just a random question, is this the gray label or the green label version?

2 minutes ago, JM21 said:

Is this the CXM with a green label or grey label on it? The CXM PSU's are a more 'budget' option from Corsair and are typically a noisier PSU, I had a green label CXM long ago and it was a very noisy PSU, the green label units are quite poorly made as well.

 

Green unit. Tier 3.

 

1 minute ago, fabafaba said:

Does your PC make the same noise when you put just the CPU or just the GPU under load? And if not, do you still get the noise from mouse movement while under load?

Under full CPU load the PSU is not whining (when moving mouse). It only makes the sound under idle (when moving mouse).

[LukeSavenije]

2 minutes ago, Tech Wizard said:

 

Green unit. Tier 3.

 

Under full CPU load the PSU is not whining (when moving mouse). It only makes the sound under idle (when moving mouse).

that's really weird tbh. the 750's were at least better built then the lower wattage green units. I would wait for jon here. He designs these things.

[Tech Wizard]

Just now, LukeSavenije said:

that's really weird tbh. the 750's were at least better built then the lower wattage green units. I would wait for jon here. He designs these things.

Thanks. The thing is, as mentioned in my post, I have a 2nd unit (exactly same), and that one doesn't whine. It's this spesific that I have plugged into my system right now. 

I'll patiently wait. Thanks again.

[LukeSavenije]

1 minute ago, Tech Wizard said:

Thanks. The thing is, as mentioned in my post, I have a 2nd unit (exactly same), and that one doesn't whine. It's this spesific that I have plugged into my system right now. 

I'll patiently wait. Thanks again.

well, failure rates still exists. do those come with 5 years warrenty?

Edited December 13, 2018 by LukeSavenije

[fabafaba]

3 minutes ago, Tech Wizard said:

Under full CPU load the PSU is not whining (when moving mouse). It only makes the sound under idle (when moving mouse).

SPLH before Jon comes: When you're moving windows around, the GPU is used. If you don't get the coil whine while you're maxing out your GPU, just do some mining to get rid of it

[Tech Wizard]

1 minute ago, LukeSavenije said:

well, failure rates still exists. do those come with 5 years warrenty?

Got this unit from pre-built I got from my job. I didn't buy this PSU.

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

just a random question, is this the gray label or the green label version?

 

52 minutes ago, JM21 said:

Is this the CXM with a green label or grey label on it? The CXM PSU's are a more 'budget' option from Corsair and are typically a noisier PSU, I had a green label CXM long ago and it was a very noisy PSU, the green label units are quite poorly made as well.

CX750M and CX850M doesn't matter.  No change between green label and gray label.

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, Tech Wizard said:

 

I have another exact copy of this PSU in another system, and that one does not whine. Why is this happening? Is there a logical explination?

 

Switch the PSUs and see if the problem follows the PSU.

 

[Tech Wizard]

7 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Switch the PSUs and see if the problem follows the PSU.

 

I have, and it does. The problem follows one of the units. The second one doesn't make the sound. Tested both on 3 different systems.

[DailyProcrastinator]

2 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

 

CX750M and CX850M doesn't matter.  No change between green label and gray label.

So it was only the 450W-650W Green label CXM units that were bad?

[vjizzle2384]

4 hours ago, Tech Wizard said:

I have, and it does. The problem follows one of the units. The second one doesn't make the sound. Tested both on 3 different systems.

So u have tested them so replace the bad one not expensive I just bought a EVGA 750 G3 for $65.00 but I got it on sale 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Tech Wizard said:

I have, and it does. The problem follows one of the units. The second one doesn't make the sound. Tested both on 3 different systems.

Can you RMA the PSU still? 

5 hours ago, JM21 said:

So it was only the 450W-650W Green label CXM units that were bad?

None of them were bad.  Just they gray label ones are better. 

[DailyProcrastinator]

2 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Can you RMA the PSU still? 

None of them were bad.  Just they gray label ones are better. 

Fair enough, that's what I meant by the green label ones being 'bad', the new grey label ones were better.

 

But were the 750W and 850W green label CXM units better than the lower wattage ones? I had a CX550M way back.

[Tech Wizard]

6 hours ago, vjizzle2384 said:

So u have tested them so replace the bad one not expensive I just bought a EVGA 750 G3 for $65.00 but I got it on sale 

I already know that I have to replace it. I'm looking for an explanation to why this sound is happening.

4 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

Can you RMA the PSU still? 

None of them were bad.  Just they gray label ones are better. 

No I can't. It's from a pre-built that I got from my work (I didn't buy the unit). I'm going to replace it with another unit, but I'm interested in why this is happening. Clearly it's the PSU unit making the noise, having moved it around on 3 different systems, and checking for noise from that area. It's anytime almost (99 %), except when the CPU is under full load. Happens when I play games, browse web, open software, move mouse, downloading/uploading files, reading/writing to drives etc. It feels like it happens whenever there is light/no load on the CPU. Why is this happening is my question.

 

Read something about USB and 5V rail on another forums when googling the issue. There are several forum posts on google with PSU units making this high pitched noise (mostly Corsair units as I noticed). Thanks in advance for your help Jonny.

[OrionFOTL]

13 hours ago, JM21 said:

So it was only the 450W-650W Green label CXM units that were bad?

There never were green label 450-650W CXM units. The green label generation were CX430M, CX500M, and CX600M and their nonmodular counterparts. All three (six) were group regulated, and were worse than CX750/CX750M/CX850M, which use DC-DC converters.

[Tech Wizard]

@LukeSavenije @JM21 @fabafaba @jonnyGURU

Here's another example of my unit screaming. Happens when I'm rewinding/fast forwarding in a YouTube video. At the end, I'm just holding the right button (fast forward) constant.

 

 

 

[LukeSavenije]

well, knowing that the cx450m is only 25 bucks, the supernova g2 60 and many more, you might as well replace it if we can't find the problem

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, Tech Wizard said:

@LukeSavenije @JM21 @fabafaba @jonnyGURU

Here's another example of my unit screaming. Happens when I'm rewinding/fast forwarding in a YouTube video. At the end, I'm just holding the right button (fast forward) constant.

 

 

 

Since you only want to know what it is out of morbid curiousity....

 

The input filtering has a Y capacitor that uses a mylar dielectric that's wrapped tight, taped, then covered with epoxy.  This is one looks like "unrolled":

 

 

Typically, the power going through these caps aren't operating at audible frequencies, but the vibrations they create can make the mylar "jitter" at an audible frequency.  This is a frequency you can hear.  The sound goes away because the frequency of the vibration changes.

 

[Tech Wizard]

2 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

Since you only want to know what it is out of morbid curiousity....

 

The input filtering has a Y capacitor that uses a mylar dielectric that's wrapped tight, taped, then covered with epoxy.  This is one looks like "unrolled":

 

 

 

Typically, the power going through these caps aren't operating at audible frequencies, but the vibrations they create can make the mylar "jitter" at an audible frequency.  This is a frequency you can hear.  The sound goes away because the frequency of the vibration changes.

 

But other than the vibrations, the unit itself is delivering clean power? Is this signs of a unit dying?

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, Tech Wizard said:

But other than the vibrations, the unit itself is delivering clean power? Is this signs of a unit dying?

It's not a sign of the PSU dying.  It's just annoying.