What triggers the consistent sound on your PC that changes pitch based on your mouse position in the game?
What triggers the consistent sound on your PC that changes pitch based on your mouse position in the game?
Today I observed a persistent high-pitched sound when launching a game that requires significant GPU power. The noise fluctuates in pitch depending on my mouse position within the game. When I move the mouse left or right, the tone shifts between lower and higher frequencies, while holding still keeps it constant. This behavior doesn’t match typical sounds like coil whine or SSD buzzing, as it directly relates to where I’m moving the mouse. The noise is loud enough that I would have detected it if it weren’t for other factors. Prior to today, this issue hadn’t been present on my PC, and I haven’t noticed it before. I’m considering it could be related to either my SSD or GPU, but I’m not certain. I’ve already tried changing the SSD ports, removing the old drive, and reinstalling the GPU, yet the problem persists. Please let me know if anyone has insights into this matter.
Did you verify your present Power Supply unit for any problems? Could you share its make, brand, and specific model number? It’s possible this isn’t connected to the SSD issue. Also, what were the GPU usage and temperature readings during gaming? And how are the CPU metrics?
Mouse-related coil whine is something I experience. It appears on both my laptop and custom desktop. In Windows or through a browser when I focus on moving the mouse, I can clearly hear it each time. It seems connected to the polling rate and DPI of the mouse, likely tied to the GPU on my PC and possibly the CPU VRM on my laptop (though the laptop does have a small Nvidia GPU). If you have a budget-friendly plug-in mouse, try using it—if the whine disappears, you’ll have identified the cause.
Reviewed the GPU usage during play and it exceeded 95%. After adjusting the video settings, I found that setting the FPS cap to 60fps in Valorant significantly reduced the strain on my GPU. The usage dropped to around 40% and the noise vanished. I didn’t notice the issue before, as other games don’t cause it on my PC either. Even The Witcher at full settings didn’t produce the same problem. I’m still puzzled but the problem is resolved, which makes me very satisfied.
You were correct, it was the GPU that played a role too, and the mouse-related coil whine wasn’t something I’d encountered before on other machines. I resolved it by limiting the frame rate to 60 and allowing the GPU more flexibility. Appreciate your assistance!