psu Need help to identify PSU sounds and if I have any signs of a dying PSU

[NCSGeek]

Hello. I semi-recently upgraded my PC with all brand-new parts except for my PSU which I reused from my old build. I've read the FAQ pinned in this forum but I didnt answer my questions.

 

Link to PC part list --- Link to just my PSU

 

Firstly, my PSU makes some noise occasionally when under load during games. It's just audible enough to hear it admist the fan noises from my case. I can pretty much comfirm that it's from the PSU since I put my ear close to it and it seems to come from there. It also occasionally makes a "wind whooshing" noise rarely when mostly the PC is not busy after I was gaming. (I dont know a better way to describe the sound. It just sounds like air flowing but differently than anything else my PC makes). I've never had any issues with my PSU or PC for that matter, so I have no complaints other than the sounds.

Here's a video that has some of the audio I recorded by holding my phone near the back of my case where my PSU is. Obviously it isnt as loud as the video may suggest since my phone is very near the PSU, but it is loud enough that I can notice it over the fan noises in my GPU and case.

 

Second, I'm wondering if I need to worry about any PSU issues in general. Since this is a broad question, I dont expect people to be able to simply answer Yes or No to that. However, I hope I can get some kind of answer to if I need to worry at all about my PSU since it is somewhat old compared to my new parts. I'd say it's around 7+ years old now or so. (I dont have the receipt of purchase anymore, so I cant be too accurate)

 

The PC has been running great for a year and a half with no issues. Performance and thermals are all good. Even during high loads like Cyberpunk 2077 at max settings. (So it isnt like I'm not working the PC hard)

 

Thank you for reading and to anyone that replies.

[bmx6454]

could be wrong, but kind of sounds like either something is hitting the blades, or fan bearing could be going bad. is it dirty?

[NCSGeek]

5 minutes ago, bmx6454 said:

could be wrong, but kind of sounds like either something is hitting the blades, or fan bearing could be going bad. is it dirty?

Hm, it's pretty secluded so I doubt anything is hitting the blades. As for being dirty, I did give it a quick cleaning with compressed air when I installed it about a year and a half ago.

[Crunchy Dragon]

You might be hearing some form of coil whine. It's not exactly uncommon or, to my knowledge, inherently harmful.

 

Just annoying to listen to. My old PSU did that from time to time when I put a solid load on it.

[NCSGeek]

6 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

You might be hearing some form of coil whine. It's not exactly uncommon or, to my knowledge, inherently harmful.

 

Just annoying to listen to. My old PSU did that from time to time when I put a solid load on it.

Hm, okay. If that's the case then it would be a massive load off of my mind to not worry about it so much. Will see what others say also of course though

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, NCSGeek said:

Hm, okay. If that's the case then it would be a massive load off of my mind to not worry about it so much. Will see what others say also of course though

There are definitely people here who know power supplies far better than I do, even to the point of remedying coil whine.

 

But if the system is behaving just fine apart from making that noise, my money's on coil whine all day.

[NCSGeek]

6 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

There are definitely people here who know power supplies far better than I do, even to the point of remedying coil whine.

 

But if the system is behaving just fine apart from making that noise, my money's on coil whine all day.

Indeed, I'd think so. But I dont know a ton about power supplies so I want to rule out (as much as I can) some kind of imminent failure that'd take out my new PC. By the way, what do you think of the sounds after the 33 second mark? Those just happened today for a little while and are unprecedented.

[heimdali]

Maybe take a good look at it and clean it again.  You don't want it to go up in smoke and fire from beeing full of dust or something.  It's cheap insurance and gives some peace of mind.

 

The sounds in the video sound to me like a fan or fans running either quiet or more quiet.

[NCSGeek]

7 minutes ago, heimdali said:

Maybe take a good look at it and clean it again.  You don't want it to go up in smoke and fire from beeing full of dust or something.  It's cheap insurance and gives some peace of mind.

Alright.

 

8 minutes ago, heimdali said:

The sounds in the video sound to me like a fan or fans running either quiet or more quiet.

To me it sounds a bit different since it's kind of like a grinding noise or something. I'm not sure how to describe it though

[Crunchy Dragon]

3 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

Indeed, I'd think so. But I dont know a ton about power supplies so I want to rule out (as much as I can) some kind of imminent failure that'd take out my new PC. By the way, what do you think of the sounds after the 33 second mark? Those just happened today for a little while and are unprecedented.

Considering they happen randomly, I have honestly no clue.

 

If it was consistent, I'd probably consider a dying fan, but they seem to be random and intermittent.

[NCSGeek]

5 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Considering they happen randomly, I have honestly no clue.

 

If it was consistent, I'd probably consider a dying fan, but they seem to be random and intermittent.

The "whooshing" noise I mentioned but have no recording of is rare, but always after a high-load during an low-load period.

 

The main type of noise is always during high-load games and pretty common. But yeah it isnt a 100% guarantee.

[heimdali]

8 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

Alright.

 

To me it sounds a bit different since it's kind of like a grinding noise or something. I'm not sure how to describe it though

Hm, ok, when I turn up the volume, I would say that clip D sounds like a wire got into a fan because that's what that sounds like, though that's usually louder.  Then the question is how a wire hits a fan only when the fan is quiet.  Maybe it's a different fan that doesn't run or is too quiet to hear when another, louder one runs?

 

Take a look at it and find out.  If its a wire, stuff is gona wear over time.

 

[NCSGeek]

6 minutes ago, heimdali said:

Hm, ok, when I turn up the volume, I would say that clip D sounds like a wire got into a fan because that's what that sounds like, though that's usually louder.  Then the question is how a wire hits a fan only when the fan is quiet.  Maybe it's a different fan that doesn't run or is too quiet to hear when another, louder one runs?

Hard to say. It was happening during a low power load. Clip D's sound has only happened once and not since, and that was today. So unless it happens again I suppose I am less concerned about that one.

[Poinkachu]

8 minutes ago, heimdali said:

Hm, ok, when I turn up the volume, I would say that clip D sounds like a wire got into a fan because that's what that sounds like, though that's usually louder.  Then the question is how a wire hits a fan only when the fan is quiet.  Maybe it's a different fan that doesn't run or is too quiet to hear when another, louder one runs?

 

Take a look at it and find out.  If its a wire, stuff is gona wear over time.

 

 

5 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

Hard to say. It was happening during a low power load. Clip D's sound has only happened once and not since, and that was today. So unless it happens again I suppose I am less concerned about that one.

I'm bored so, I did a little recording with a fan.

Or you know, wobbly fan maybe.

[NCSGeek]

2 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

 

I'm bored so, I did a little recording with a fan.

 

Thanks, I appreciate the recording! To me, it doesn't seem to quite sound like the type of wire-in-fan that you show there.

[heimdali]

6 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

Hard to say. It was happening during a low power load. Clip D's sound has only happened once and not since, and that was today. So unless it happens again I suppose I am less concerned about that one.

When you're cleaning it, doesn't it make sense to check for stuff hitting fans when you're at it anyway?

 

PS: If the fan in the video was running slow enough, the wire getting into it would sound just like the clip, especially when it's a thinner wire.  Maybe @Poinkachu is still bored and can make a slow, thin video?

 

[Poinkachu]

Just now, NCSGeek said:

Thanks, I appreciate the recording! To me, it doesn't seem to quite sound like the type of wire-in-fan that you show there.

Well, the sound might be a bit different depending on how close the object it to the fan. Also being enclosed inside a metal case might change the sound a bit.
And like I said, might also because the fan is wobbly, or even weird ass coil whine like @Crunchy Dragon said.

 

The only way to make sure is to gut the PSU open, but I'm not gonna advise doing it unless you are an experienced one (safety thing etc)

[Poinkachu]

23 minutes ago, heimdali said:

When you're cleaning it, doesn't it make sense to check for stuff hitting fans when you're at it anyway?

 

PS: If the fan in the video was running slow enough, the wire getting into it would sound just like the clip, especially when it's a thinner wire.  Maybe @Poinkachu is still bored and can make a slow, thin video?

 

 

With 9v & 5v (slower fan)
Don't have any power brick lower than 5v

I wanted to test with a thin plastic that they often use in PSU, but couldn't find anything that are close to it laying around.
Found one, not as thick as the one they used in PSU, but meh.

 

[NCSGeek]

27 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Well, the sound might be a bit different depending on how close the object it to the fan. Also being enclosed inside a metal case might change the sound a bit.
And like I said, might also because the fan is wobbly, or even weird ass coil whine like @Crunchy Dragon said.

 

The only way to make sure is to gut the PSU open, but I'm not gonna advise doing it unless you are an experienced one (safety thing etc)

Makes sense. And yeah, No plans at all to open it up. lol

[NCSGeek]

31 minutes ago, heimdali said:

When you're cleaning it, doesn't it make sense to check for stuff hitting fans when you're at it anyway?

I believe I did. It's been over a year so I cant remember clearly though.

[NCSGeek]

22 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

 

With 9v & 5v (slower fan)
Don't have any power brick lower than 5v

I wanted to test with a thin plastic that they often use in PSU, but couldn't find anything that are close to it laying around.
Found one, not as thick as the one they used in PSU, but meh.

 

Thanks again- These videos are nice to have.

 

For the thin plastic video, at the end it sounded like *maybe* a higher pitch version of the sound I get. So perhaps something is rubbing the fan just barely such that it produces a lower pitch sound (and less frequenty than in the videos)

[Poinkachu]

3 minutes ago, NCSGeek said:

Thanks again- These videos are nice to have.

 

For the thin plastic video, at the end it sounded like *maybe* a higher pitch version of the sound I get. So perhaps something is rubbing the fan just barely such that it produces a lower pitch sound (and less frequenty than in the videos)

Well, feel free to download them if you want to keep 'em for your own personal database. Since it might get accidentally deleted by me one day. 

Since your PSU is rather an old timer, maybe it's a good time to start thinking or saving for a new one. Especially because your system is a high end one.
I have a 12y old no name PSU that is still working yeah, but it only used to power a 12y old mid end system.

[NCSGeek]

53 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Well, feel free to download them if you want to keep 'em for your own personal database. Since it might get accidentally deleted by me one day. 

Since your PSU is rather an old timer, maybe it's a good time to start thinking or saving for a new one. Especially because your system is a high end one.
I have a 12y old no name PSU that is still working yeah, but it only used to power a 12y old mid end system.

I agree that I should eventually replace it for sure. I'd have to rebuild my entire system though and honestly it is a huge stress for me to build my PC so I'd like to postpone that as long as there is no risk to my investment/hardware.