cyclic (electric) buzzing noise

[AndrewJ336]

Hey everyone - I just completed a build and am hearing a cyclic buzzing noise. Over the course of 6 seconds the sound goes from silence to a noticeable buzz and back to silence. It's very strange. I've unseated and reseated everything. Unplugged & reconnected everything and I'm at a loss so I thought I'd reach out to this community.  The machine runs excellently, literally no other complaints. I'm able to play Shadows of Mordor on 4K Ultra at 60Hz and I'm loving it.  Thank you so much for any help you can provide!

 

Specs below & in my profile & on PCPP. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2GTYfv

 

 

• CPU
  i5-11600K @ 3.90GHZ
• Motherboard
  Gigabyte Z590 UD AC - Bios American Megatrends International, LLC. Version F5, 23-AUG-21
• RAM
  Patriot 16x2 @ 3600MT/s
• GPU
  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060Ti
• Case
  Corsair iCUE 220T RGB
• Storage
  Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB [Boot Drive], MSI M390 1TB [Game Storage], ST100DM003-1CH162 [Photos], ST3100052AS [Work]
• PSU
  Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPSÂ 80 PLUS (CX600)
• Display(s)
  Dell S2721QS
• Cooling
  Deepcool GAMMAXX GT A-RGB 120mm Hydro Bearing
• Operating System
  Windows 10

 

 

 

[RONOTHAN##]

It sounds like you're hearing coil whine, but a video/audio recording would help in determining exactly what that is. 

[Vishera]

It's coil whine:

 

[AndrewJ336]

13 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

It sounds like you're hearing coil whine, but a video/audio recording would help in determining exactly what that is. 

Ronothan - Wow that was a quick response.  I started googling coil whine and came across an ancient LTT video. In the time it took me to watch the video and get my phone to film a video per your suggestion the noise stopped. I will definitely film it if and when it comes back.

 

 

I need to start paying attention to what the computer is doing when the noise comes and goes. I'll report back.

 

[AndrewJ336]

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

It sounds like you're hearing coil whine, but a video/audio recording would help in determining exactly what that is. 

Ronothan - I let the computer sit idle for 30 minutes and heard the buzzing when I came back to it. Here's a quick video I took of one of the cycles. At first there's just fan noise but then the buzzing noise builds up in volume and just as quickly lowers in volume and repeats.

 

https://imgur.com/a/B5Bx6y1 

[RONOTHAN##]

10 minutes ago, AndrewJ336 said:

Ronothan - I let the computer sit idle for 30 minutes and heard the buzzing when I came back to it. Here's a quick video I took of one of the cycles. At first there's just fan noise but then the buzzing noise builds up in volume and just as quickly lowers in volume and repeats.

 

https://imgur.com/a/B5Bx6y1 

OK, I kinda heard that, and that does not sound like the coil whine I'm used to. It might be the HDD, but I don't know for certain. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, AndrewJ336 said:

• PSU
  Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPSÂ 80 PLUS (CX600)

Wait... How old is this power supply?  "CX600"? Says "PCI-E" on the PCIe power connector?  I'm guessing 10 years?  And you're using it with this build?

 

[AndrewJ336]

Hey Everyone - I solved my problem and thought I'd share in case anyone comes looking.  I discovered that touching the tempered glass panel dampened the noise and then I realized I could crank down the screws securing the panel further (than I thought they needed to go). This silenced the weird noise. 

 

tldr - tighten your tempered panel screws and that should fix it.  As to why it was a cyclic humming and not constant, I have no clue.