Looking for the origin of coil whine?
Looking for the origin of coil whine?
Hey there! So I recently purchased my first gaming PC and checked its specifications: CPU - Ryzen 5 2600 MHz, GPU - GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming OC 11G, RAM - 2x8GB @3000MHz, PSU - Chieftec GPS-700A8. While playing more demanding games I started noticing some unusual sounds. After looking into it, I learned these noises are known as coil whine. I tried various tasks and believe the GPU is likely causing them. I also saw a white LED flashing during intense GPU usage, which suggests the power supply isn’t delivering consistent power. Since few people have reported issues with this GPU for coil whine, my thought is the PSU might be the culprit—though it’s on the lower end of its tier. What do you think? Is it probably the PSU? P.S. I didn’t assemble the PC myself, just bought it at a good deal.
No one can provide absolute certainty about this. However, it is understood that PSU quality influences coil whine, as you mentioned. Switching your PSU might not resolve the problem. It's possible that some defective GPU components are responsible for the noise or that the parts have worn down. The most reliable approach would be to test the GPU on a friend's system with a better PSU. If that's not feasible, further investigation is needed.
It seems the issue lies with your power supply unit. I think it’s probably the PSU that’s the problem. You should have avoided it entirely. I’d just discard it and install a better one, but if you’re certain it’s the PSU, move it away from the rest of the chassis, connect your components, and then you can inspect it more closely.
Gpu coil whine is typical for some cards. I’m not sure your power supply unit will alter it—maybe if you get a better voltage setup, the vibration frequency could shift. Still, you should swap out the psu since it’s a potential risk to the whole system. For context, my 4-year-old used GTX 1080 (bought secondhand) has had coil whine all along. It runs perfectly most of the time but always makes noise under heavy use.
Coil whine comes from tiny vibrations in the inductor coils on the graphics card's circuit board. The current passes through multiple phases before reaching the power supply, so it’s unlikely related to the PSU. If you're unsure, you can test the PSU's voltage with a multimeter.
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