alienware
Banned
Earlier I mentioned that my PSU was squealing. This bummed me out even more, especially considering I could not get Quadfire to fire on it.
Tonight I decided to investigate so I got out my torch and started sticking my head in the rig. Then I disconnected the ATX 24 pin and fired the PSU alone. My PSU has a small clicky type of button on the back (sounds like a mouse button) and if you hold it down (no matter whether any load is on it) it comes on until you let go. Good idea IMO, also has a safety indicator (small LED) that comes on green to let you know everything is OK. Well, when I did that without the board plugged in no squeal. I didn't know whether to be happy and laugh, or cry because another motherboard was about to bite the dust.
I did some digging and read that it could be the caps (so check them for swelling or leaked glue) or the VRMS.
So I broke out my snazzy torch and stuffed my head back in the rig. None of the caps are leaking, none are bulged and none are burnt. So what the bugger is this noise then? Well, I decided to thrash the pants off the board. The stock voltage on the 9950 is apparently 2.6-3v. I upped the voltage to 3.25 (shows 3.4 in HWMON) and put it to 3ghz on the multi. And here, Tom, you'll bloody love this part
For some reason that Noctua NH92 thing manages to keep it at 32 idle (after two hours) and 52 after 30 mins in prime. No matter how long I waited it would not get any hotter. Temps everywhere else were fine, and I put my finger on all of the caps to make sure none were really hot. I mean, they were warm, but I could hold onto them. And then I realised that whilst prime was running away the noise was gone
After about an hour of research it seems that VRMs are the culprit. Apparently on some boards (indescriminate, but Gigabyte get a lot of mentions !) the VRMs are noisy when idling. Apparently they have some sort of coil that vibrates and that's what's making the noise.
I thought it was odd, because I beat the absolute sh*t out of that rig today. OCed to 3.2 with 3.4v and then benched EVERYTHING. Crysis, Batman, Mafia 2 demo, Furmark (three times) ETC. Yet it still came out fighting. The only reason I dropped the MP back to 3ghz and lowered the voltage was I was hitting 63c.
So yeah, my PSU is fine and it seems everything else is too. Yipee !
Tonight I decided to investigate so I got out my torch and started sticking my head in the rig. Then I disconnected the ATX 24 pin and fired the PSU alone. My PSU has a small clicky type of button on the back (sounds like a mouse button) and if you hold it down (no matter whether any load is on it) it comes on until you let go. Good idea IMO, also has a safety indicator (small LED) that comes on green to let you know everything is OK. Well, when I did that without the board plugged in no squeal. I didn't know whether to be happy and laugh, or cry because another motherboard was about to bite the dust.
I did some digging and read that it could be the caps (so check them for swelling or leaked glue) or the VRMS.
So I broke out my snazzy torch and stuffed my head back in the rig. None of the caps are leaking, none are bulged and none are burnt. So what the bugger is this noise then? Well, I decided to thrash the pants off the board. The stock voltage on the 9950 is apparently 2.6-3v. I upped the voltage to 3.25 (shows 3.4 in HWMON) and put it to 3ghz on the multi. And here, Tom, you'll bloody love this part
For some reason that Noctua NH92 thing manages to keep it at 32 idle (after two hours) and 52 after 30 mins in prime. No matter how long I waited it would not get any hotter. Temps everywhere else were fine, and I put my finger on all of the caps to make sure none were really hot. I mean, they were warm, but I could hold onto them. And then I realised that whilst prime was running away the noise was gone
After about an hour of research it seems that VRMs are the culprit. Apparently on some boards (indescriminate, but Gigabyte get a lot of mentions !) the VRMs are noisy when idling. Apparently they have some sort of coil that vibrates and that's what's making the noise.
I thought it was odd, because I beat the absolute sh*t out of that rig today. OCed to 3.2 with 3.4v and then benched EVERYTHING. Crysis, Batman, Mafia 2 demo, Furmark (three times) ETC. Yet it still came out fighting. The only reason I dropped the MP back to 3ghz and lowered the voltage was I was hitting 63c.
So yeah, my PSU is fine and it seems everything else is too. Yipee !
