s-12 500 making noise

queasydog · Post by **queasydog** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:24 am

i recently bought and built a new machine going for powerful but as cool n quiet as possible. specs below:

antec slk3000b
s12 500
a8n sli premium
amd x2 4200
zalman 7000b
seagate sata
seagate ide
7800gtx
lg dvd rw

eventually got everything in the case and booting up fine. very few issues, an occasional reboot playing HL2 after 1hr+ whihc i put down to overheating.

about a week ago i enabled power-on from ps2 keyboard in the bios. it worked fine.

i then left the pc without booting for maybe 2 days. when i tried to boot it using the keyboard it wouldnt turn on, but the power button on the case still worked. i noticed the system was louder then before so i checked fan noise rpm temps etc.

the extra noise seems to be coming from inside the seasonic. i would desrcibe it as an "EM whine" a sort of high pitched buzzing. it is only present when the machine is booted.

after unplugging the s12 from the mains the keyboard boot works again, but for such a high quality PSU im not happy about it making noticeable noise

any ideas what is going on or how to fix it?

thanks

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:25 am

RMA it, either call the people you bought it from, or seasonic.

queasydog · Post by **queasydog** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:06 pm

to try and isolate the problem i unplugged the psu from everything inside the case, plugged into the mains and shorted the green wire on the atx with the black next to it.

started up no problem, hardly any noise from the fan, s12's are deffo quiet.

its still making some kinda EM buzz like a coil whine

an RMA is a bit of a pain and since its only noticeable in a quiet room at idle i might try putting up with it, unless its indicative the PSU is going to fail.

did i jsut get unlucky with a bad unit or could it be a bad build / mains supply. i dont use any UPS backup etc.

i take it there is nothing i can do without opening the unit?

patord · Post by **patord** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:54 pm

Are you plugging your seasonic directly into a power outlet or some kind of filtered power strip/surge suppressor? Try using something that filters line noise (eg, a decent surge strip) or a middle level UPS unit. This is just a thought as we don't know the power environment at your house/site.

If none of that works, I assume you probably have a spare ps unit from your last PC. Swap them and RMA the Seasonic. They have a quick turnaround on replacing units - based on personal experiences.