Weird PSU noise.

[Loam12]

I have a EVGA 500B power supply. My build is a year old and I recently noticed this sound from it.

 

Phone mic Underneath psu

Voice 001.m4a

 

About 5cm away

Voice 005.m4a

 

It sounds less now, using Chrome than it sounded when I was playing Rainbow 6 Siege.

 

Im really worried, Im hoping I dont have to replace it?

[Deuxez]

That either sounds like a fan bearing dying or just a normal and safe coil whine. Maybe you should try stopping the fan with something and see if its still there, if yes, then its mostly just some coil whine. Coil whine is basically a little buzzing sound when it got some good amount of power, same  thing can happen to gpus as they use so much electricity, so nothing to worry about. If it disappears tho, then it IS the fan, and you can either replace the PSU or live with it.

[Loam12]

The sound isnt a problem for me, I just hope its not dangerous in any way keeping the PSU on.

[Boomwebsearch]

5 minutes ago, DankDeuxez said:

Maybe you should try stopping the fan with something and see if its still there

Please do not try this, you could damage the power supply and/or your system, and there is an electrical shock hazard. And on the subject of this, also do not try to make any repairs to the PSU or even open it since there are high-voltage capacitors contained that can hold their dangerous charge for some time when unplugged.

 

6 minutes ago, Loam12 said:

The sound isnt a problem for me, I just hope its not dangerous in any way keeping the PSU on.

If the sound is not an issue for you, then I would recommend not replacing the PSU (unless it is under warranty), modern power supplies will protect your components when the PSU fails so in the worst case, you may need to change the PSU out for a different one.

[Loam12]

35 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

Please do not try this, you could damage the power supply and/or your system, and there is an electrical shock hazard. And on the subject of this, also do not try to make any repairs to the PSU or even open it since there are high-voltage capacitors contained that can hold their dangerous charge for some time when unplugged.

 

If the sound is not an issue for you, then I would recommend not replacing the PSU (unless it is under warranty), modern power supplies will protect your components when the PSU fails so in the worst case, you may need to change the PSU out for a different one.

Thank you, I havent cleaned my pc since building it so I may buy some compressed air to clean it out, maybe use it on the PSU to see if that helps out?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Boomwebsearch said:

Please do not try this, you could damage the power supply and/or your system, and there is an electrical shock hazard.

If a q-tip or pencil eraser is applied to the hub of the fan to slow it to a stop, there's no hazard.  

 

I don't think anyone is asking him to open the PSU to remove or stop the fan.

[Boomwebsearch]

15 hours ago, Loam12 said:

Thank you, I havent cleaned my pc since building it so I may buy some compressed air to clean it out, maybe use it on the PSU to see if that helps out?

Yes, compressed air will help to clear out any dust build-up which potentially could help to reduce or eliminate the sounds you are getting with higher loads on the PSU. If you are still getting the noise after using compressed air then I would contact the manufacturer if it is still under warranty, otherwise I wouldn't bother replacing it until it fails (your components should be safe when a modern PSU fails).