[SOLVED] High-Pitch Noise (Coil Whine?)

[Clocktown]

Hey all,

 

I finished my build a few days ago and while I was waiting for my Windows-Key, I played around in UEFI and booted up a Live Linux and didn't notice any issues (aside from my case fans, but that is a separate issue - they make other noises but I am working on that one).

 

However, as soon as I started the Windows Install past the Product Key, I started hearing high pitched noises (around 1300mhz maybe according to an app on my phone). I recorded the sound, see the attachment. The sound persists during normal windows usage, too. It isn't constant, it instead fluctuates (like you hear in the recording).

 

I am unsure how to track down which part is causing these sounds. At first I thought it's the NVMe M.2 SSD because I did not hear these sounds in UEFI and live linux, but somehow this seems unlikely as a source for the sound. I hear things like these are common from PSU and GPU, but some people have also said their Motherboard or even SSD produced high-pitched noises. I was hoping that maybe the sounds in my recording can narrow down which component it could be. Based on the phone app I used to check the frequency, I can get the high-pitch peaks to show up most reliably in the vicinity of the PSU, but it's not like the GPU, SSD or Motherboard aren't close to that (mATX case and Board).

 

Any ideas how I could track down the problem more reliably? Or maybe it is obvious based on the sound.

 

The PSU would probably be the most painless fix, so I am kind of hoping it's that.

 

 

You can see my parts here: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v7WHrr

 

 

Edit: I remember checking my SSD for errors from inside UEFI while troubleshooting something and I did not hear these sounds during that error check.

 

Edit2: Went back into UEFI because I didn't have XMP enabled - this time I heard the noises in UEFI too.

 

Edit3: It was the PSU. I first swapped in a very old graphics card, and at first I thought it was solved but then it reappeared. Then I just unmounted the PSU and set it outside the case which allowed me to clearly determine the cause.