Hey guys, I'm getting persistent coil whine from what sounds like 2 places in my PC. (lord knows it's hard to pin down) One of them is definitely from my PSU, though, as I can put my ear next to the intake that's exposed at the top of my case. Here's the full specs of my PC before I continue:

Case: Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E (PSU is mounted upside-down to draw air in from the outside)
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67-M Pro (MicroATX P67, no digital VRM, has ASUS' EPU is activated to "medium power savings")
CPU: i5-2500k (3.3GHz, overclocked to 3.7GHz) cooled by a Scythe Mugen 2
RAM: Corsair XMS3
GPU: ASUS 2GB Radeon 6970 with Accelero Twin Turbo II cooler
Soundcard: ASUS Xonar D2X
PSU: Seasonic X 560W

I can put my ear up to the PSU and distinctly hear coil whine that almost clicks. There's also another coil whine that I'm having immense difficulty in tracking down somewhere inside the main PC shell, not the PSU, as it's a consistent whine. I used to have a Corsair HX650 and have tried a HX850, and both had insufferable coil whine, so the Seasonic X was a huge upgrade for me.. but there's still coil whine and I'd like to eliminate it if I can.

I've tried an APC voltage regulator/line-error corrector in front of the PSU and it does nothing. A UPS does nothing (except add its own whining). It doesn't seem to matter where this box is plugged in, I get coil whine.

The only PSU I've ever bought that had no coil whine at all was an Enermax. Should I go back to them, live with the Seasonic, or send the Seasonic back? I'm out of ideas. I already sent my Corsair back and got a new one, to no avail.

Is the power in your house/apt of decent quality and is the outlet grounded? Just mentioning two factors that are worth considering.

I have no idea how to measure either factor, actually. I'll pop open the outlet today to see if it's grounded, but I have no way I know of to check the line quality. (and I'd be loathe to buy some $200 home theatre line filter )

After following several threads on coil whine over here, I`ve come to the following conclusion: it`s a hit and miss affair. Having said that, it seems that some models are more likely to display it than others. For example, Idon`t remember many users complaining about Enermax units though this could be partly because most of their models back then had a higher minimum fan speed which could be masking any electrical noises.

I've had a similar problem. My previous system was a C2D@3GHz on a Gigabyte board. The PSU was a Corsair HX520. When I upgraded the mobo, CPU and RAM, the PSU started emitting a very high frequency tone. It sounded like an old CRT TV being on in another room. To make matters worse, I was the only one hearing it and it was driving me mad. I've tried toying around with C1 states and over voltage but nothing helped. I even opened the PSU, voiding the remaining two years warranty, and put some hot glue on the coils...

...minor improvement, not worth it really.

Then I began swapping PSUs around. I tried connecting a Corsair VX430 from another machine but it had exactly the same piercing tone. Then I tried my brother's CoolerMaster SilentPro 500W and voila, that was it! There's still some sizzle of electricity from up close, but the tone is gone and the PC is as good as silent from where I sit

Interestingly, the old HX520 works now in my brother's computer... and it's inaudible! So I'd say it boils down to particular setups and the way specific components task the PSU's circuitry. Also, we both have an i5 2500K and overclocked, and it's now known to make 3 different models of PSUs whine - there might be a rule here.

Any update on this?

I have an eerily similar system to the OP's and also am getting coil whine whose source is hard to track down. I never noticed it till I put in the current video card, so I'm assuming it's that, but it could be something else too: I have been doing a lot to silence my system lately, which makes the lower-level noises easier to pick out.

2500K + Asus P8P67M-Pro
Gigabyte 6950 unlocked to 6970 with AC Twin Turbo II
Seasonic X-660

Hi, all three of the last video cards I've had have whined, but only under load.
The GTX260 was pretty bad but much better after I "glued" it up
The GTX285 was fairly bad, I didn't have it long so didn't do anything about it.
Curent GTX560 Ti whines faintly under folding@home, which is live-able.

My experiance is also that it's a bit luck of the draw on coil whine, although some combinations more prone than others. I've found it to be the video card(s) that itself whines also causes the PSU to whine, but changing the PSU can fix the problem.
Seb