As I was browsing through the PSU's section I noticed that some people have reported that they get a loug squealing noise from the motherboard if they are using an nforce2 chipset and the 12V connecter.
I am also suffering from a load intermitant squealing noise that is either coming from the motherboard or my ATI graphics card.
The 12V connecter that they are referring to - what is it?
I have only made one connection from my PSU to my mobo that has many wires. I have also noticed a "funny shaped" connector, its sqaure and has 4 wires that I have NOT connected to anything.
If this square connector is the 12V connector that ppl are referring to, then I need to look elsewhere for my solution....
System info:
AMD Athlon 2500+ barton
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe Rev 2
ATI Sapphire 9600 Pro
Squealing AMD motherboard or graphics card and 12V connector
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
What happened to me with my mobo, this is not to say that it's the same issue you're having but it may help:
Got the mobo, set it up and everything went fine. I plugged all of the connectors in (yes the 12v one is white, square, with four plugs). After about a week the I had some high pitched electronic squeal. I thought it was the PS, so I replaced the PS. It was still there, but not constant anymore, only when the HD was accessed. I switched to an older HD. No dice. I was sure it wasn't the PS anymore so I opened the case, turned off all unecessary fans and listened for the sounds.
It was coming from 2 coils right by the mobo ATX connector. I e-mailed MSI (mobo is an MSI K2N2 Delta-L) and looked on their technical forums. They wrote back to RMA the board as some of the coils are bad. The technical forums said that this issue came from plugging the 12v connector in and that the board would function fine without the connector. Once the squeal startes, it is impossible to get rid of even with removing the connector. I RMAed the board to Newegg (got the new one in less than a week) and I haven't had problems since. I know that that was an issue with that specific board, but I don't know about other N-force 2 boards.
When does it whine? Constantly, when HDs are accessed, when using 3d graphics?
For troubleshooting your problem, I'd suggest:
1. Open your case and listen in a very quiet environment. See if you can locate the specific location of the noise. (I had a very hard time pinning it down as it sounded like it was coming from the PS at first).
2. Upgrade the bios to the most recent version (some old versions of Nforce bioses have problems with ATI 9XXX cards or at least the MSI bios did). I have an ATI 9500 and haven't had problems, but that may just be my board/card.
3. If you have an old vid card, put it in the system to see if it is an issue with the card or mobo.
4. Browse the technical forums for your motherboard manufacturer and see if it is a common complaint for that board.
Got the mobo, set it up and everything went fine. I plugged all of the connectors in (yes the 12v one is white, square, with four plugs). After about a week the I had some high pitched electronic squeal. I thought it was the PS, so I replaced the PS. It was still there, but not constant anymore, only when the HD was accessed. I switched to an older HD. No dice. I was sure it wasn't the PS anymore so I opened the case, turned off all unecessary fans and listened for the sounds.
It was coming from 2 coils right by the mobo ATX connector. I e-mailed MSI (mobo is an MSI K2N2 Delta-L) and looked on their technical forums. They wrote back to RMA the board as some of the coils are bad. The technical forums said that this issue came from plugging the 12v connector in and that the board would function fine without the connector. Once the squeal startes, it is impossible to get rid of even with removing the connector. I RMAed the board to Newegg (got the new one in less than a week) and I haven't had problems since. I know that that was an issue with that specific board, but I don't know about other N-force 2 boards.
When does it whine? Constantly, when HDs are accessed, when using 3d graphics?
For troubleshooting your problem, I'd suggest:
1. Open your case and listen in a very quiet environment. See if you can locate the specific location of the noise. (I had a very hard time pinning it down as it sounded like it was coming from the PS at first).
2. Upgrade the bios to the most recent version (some old versions of Nforce bioses have problems with ATI 9XXX cards or at least the MSI bios did). I have an ATI 9500 and haven't had problems, but that may just be my board/card.
3. If you have an old vid card, put it in the system to see if it is an issue with the card or mobo.
4. Browse the technical forums for your motherboard manufacturer and see if it is a common complaint for that board.
My A7N8X Deluxe rev.2 mobo is silent. No fans and no coil whines.
The fan on my ATI A-I-W 9800 Pro is a little screecher, though. That'll get fixed when I water cool it. I'm just waiting for someone to get the Swiftech MCP-600 pump in stock.
Try stopping the fan on your ATI card for a second or so to see if it's the source of the noise. If it isn't, try the heat sink fan. Only for a second or so, or you'll start cooking expensive things you don't want to cook.
Scott
The fan on my ATI A-I-W 9800 Pro is a little screecher, though. That'll get fixed when I water cool it. I'm just waiting for someone to get the Swiftech MCP-600 pump in stock.
Try stopping the fan on your ATI card for a second or so to see if it's the source of the noise. If it isn't, try the heat sink fan. Only for a second or so, or you'll start cooking expensive things you don't want to cook.
Scott
Thanks for those tips ppl.
I've stuck my head inside the machine when it was running and moved my ear over the loudest squeal area. My head was definately above the AGP slot, but there are also mobo components around the slot.
There is no graphics card fan (modded with Zalman heatpipe), and I have stopped the CPU fan briefly. The squeal remained
The noise is not constant, and does not seem to be dependant on anything that I am doing. Sometimes it happens in games, sometimes as soon as the machine is turned on. Other times the machine works for hours and then it just starts playing up.
Now that I am certain what the 12V connector looks like, I am sure that I have never plugged it in (I dont think that there is a socket for it on my mobo.
I never thought of upgrading my BIOS to solve this. I will give that a whirl and post again in a couple of days time with the result.
I've stuck my head inside the machine when it was running and moved my ear over the loudest squeal area. My head was definately above the AGP slot, but there are also mobo components around the slot.
There is no graphics card fan (modded with Zalman heatpipe), and I have stopped the CPU fan briefly. The squeal remained
The noise is not constant, and does not seem to be dependant on anything that I am doing. Sometimes it happens in games, sometimes as soon as the machine is turned on. Other times the machine works for hours and then it just starts playing up.
Now that I am certain what the 12V connector looks like, I am sure that I have never plugged it in (I dont think that there is a socket for it on my mobo.
I never thought of upgrading my BIOS to solve this. I will give that a whirl and post again in a couple of days time with the result.