Unusual noises coming from the new PC are strange.
Unusual noises coming from the new PC are strange.
I've been using my new PC for roughly three to four weeks now. Occasionally I've picked up unusual noises. The first time was during a game, and it sounded like a fan was making a strange noise. When I stopped one of the front fans, it seemed to stop working. But after a few days it returned, and it sounds like this: Weird case fan sound 1.m4a Weird case fan sound 2.m4a It tends to stop on its own over time. I'm running a Fractal Design North case with the standard Aspect 140mm fans, and they keep making that same noise but at a much quieter level (you can hear it when you place your ear close). I don't have any other cases or Aspect 140mm units to compare, so I'm not sure if this is typical. The second one was from my GPU (MSI Suprim X 4080) during a game session. When I opened the side panel, it sounded like this (a microphone under the GPU fans at start and end): Coil whine open panel.m4a It disappears once I load a level or exit the game. I think that's coil whine—something familiar but not something I've encountered before. The third one was a buzzing sound from the back of the PC (Buzzing from back of PC.m4a). This one seems to vanish when the fans are off, but it still produces a strange buzzing that doesn't match the coil whine from Hitman 3?
Coil whine appears in both games. Its tone shifts based on the power flow through the coils of your graphics card, which fluctuates with frame rate and quality settings. What bothers is how the load changes during different scenes, causing the noise to vary. Higher-end GPUs usually draw more power, so coil whine from lower-end cards remains present but less obvious. As you move up to more powerful GPUs, dealing with it becomes more likely, especially when FPS spikes (like above 300). It's wise to adjust your framerate in NVIDIA Control Panel, using tools like Ryzen Master or similar, to reduce it. Undervolting can also help, though results differ even between similar models. The environment matters too—headphones or earphones can lessen the impact. Coil whine depends on manufacturer choices and card specifications, with no universal solution. There are no cards proven completely silent. It mainly affects you personally. This sound is normal and shouldn't cause concern.
Sure, I can adjust that if it doesn’t affect your GPU. It’s odd the high-pitched sound shows up only in the main menu of Hitman 3 so far. In War Thunder I keep getting steady 300-400 FPS, even reaching 750 without any issues. Maybe there’s more going on than just frame rate?
Indeed, the intricacy of the setting influences the current moving through those coils, which in turn affects the sound they generate.
They’re reporting coil whine in the main menu of Hitman 3, which might strain the system more than the game itself. It’s unclear what to do with the case fans at the moment.