PC making high pitched noise
PC making high pitched noise
Hey everyone, I recently assembled my PC and it’s been producing this intense, high-pitched noise—almost like a persistent ringing. It’s louder and more consistent than any coil whine I’ve experienced before. This has happened four times today, with the fourth being the most persistent. Earlier, it would vanish after a restart, but this one lasted around ten minutes. My initial checks suggested the source was near the CPU or GPU area. It occurred right after waking from sleep, during idle time, and even when the PC was running at normal load with games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Stellaris. I haven’t done any overclocking, and it wasn’t present during heavy tasks. The recording is from a few days ago: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10lc4eKv...sp=sharing. The build specs are: Windows 10 Education, AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, be quiet! cooler, Dark Rock Pro 4, 50.5 CFM, Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX (BIOS updated), RTX 4070, Corsair Vengeance RAM, 2x 16GB DDR5-5600, Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB, Corsair RM750x PSU, and a be quiet! dark case. Thanks for your support ahead of time.
If this occurred around the same period as your BIOS update, I suggest rolling it back, particularly if it wasn't a prior occurrence. It's generally not advisable to hear this unless you're noticing it from fans—it tends to sound higher than coil whine and might indicate a faulty UEFI/BIOS for the MOBO VRM. If that isn't the root cause, I'd examine disabling specific Windows features, as even during idle you're technically achieving very high frame rates. High frame rates can generate coil whine, which may also originate from the power supply.
Other factors could be influencing the onboard sound, such as a higher pitch than coil whine. It might relate to the driver, front audio header, or loose components nearby. Since you built it yourself and the UEFI update was the required day one fix, the motherboard likely lacks small fans typical of a mITX design. It seems unlikely there are sub 80mm fans running at high speeds like 3000 RPM, possibly near the M.2 slot area between the GPU and CPU.
Currently reviewing the video, I suggest removing the device and/or flipping it to avoid any power source behind it, such as the splitter. If this was a less powerful setup, keep in mind that interference or resonance could occur.
I shifted the PC away from the splitter earlier today while searching for the noise source. I’ve kept the splitter on a solid surface for several days since recording the video.
A simple test for variable elimination is turning off the onboard audio in Device Manager. This should create separation for the audio, helping identify if a noise occurs there.
It might be a resonance issue, but the noises I detect are generally soft. The volume seems intense and direct from the PC, which makes me worried about drawing a lot of power. My current setup uses an i5-6600k and a GTX 1070, so the power consumption is higher than before. I plan to modify some cables to connect the PC directly to a wall outlet, and if it happens again I’ll turn off the built-in audio. It’s frustrating to figure this out since the sound isn’t steady, so I can’t simply replace the GPU or swap the power supply. I’ll keep an eye out and update if it occurs again. Thanks for your assistance. Edit: I’m also considering placing the PC on solid hardwood instead of two books, perhaps that could help.