Short sound and flash from the GPU cooling fan
Short sound and flash from the GPU cooling fan
Hello fellow PC enthusiasts, I'd like to begin with a brief greeting and express my happiness at being here with you today. I have a peculiar case to share. I recently built a new rig featuring a 7900x3d CPU and an ASUS TUF RX 7900 XTX GPU. Strangely, when the PSU is turned off but still connected to the power outlet via a cable, I notice a faint "zap" sound occurring approximately every 4-5 minutes. It's not very loud, but it's still audible. Upon closer inspection, I observed that this sound coincides with a small spark-like light emanating from the GPU's heatsink, right where the LED logo is located. Oddly, when the PSU is turned on, this phenomenon ceases, and the GPU's LED remains constantly illuminated, even when the machine is powered off (with the PSU still on). I've even tried reinstalling the GPU, but the issue persists. There is no physical contact between the GPU and the motherboard, and the cables appear to be in good condition without any breaks. Furthermore, the GPU is connected using three separate PCIe power cables. Could this be related to the LED malfunctioning? I wasn't aware that with the PSU turned off, there would still be enough residual power to cause these intermittent "zaps" every 4-5 minutes. I appreciate any suggestions you might have to help me diagnose and resolve this issue. Thank you for your assistance.
I found something interesting today. I use both my work laptop and gaming rig on a huge ultra-wide screen, connected to the PC via the BASEUS Matrix HDMI switch. When I took the work laptop off, the issues on my gaming machine vanished right away. Could it be that the PC was still drawing power through the HDMI link to the switch, even when the laptop wasn’t turned on? The laptop stayed in sleep mode and always had power, but never actually shut down. All problems disappeared completely. I learned that the HDMI cable supplies 5V, which shouldn’t harm the GPU, and tests show everything is working well. This is definitely a curious situation! Thanks for your first reply, @Lordmage. What do you think this means?
if the switch is an active powered type and lacks proper grounding and shielding, your theory seems likely. you might attempt turning off the laptop while keeping it connected to power to observe if the same issue persists. if so, it could indicate the HDMI device is handling the action rather than the laptop being on. another test would involve switching the laptop’s output to display only when connected through the switch. Personally, I think the problem lies with the switch itself or its intended use for HDMI connections between devices. For such setups, an active capture card would be necessary. Typically, HDMI switches provide a single output that can be shared with multiple devices. option 1: PC then option 2: laptop, each displaying to the monitor at different times.