Replaced Motherboard Now have Chirping sound

**DaKillerFox** · 03-30-10, 03:55 PM

So my old ECS PT800CE motherboard died on me a week ago. It's an ancient P4 Socket 478 800 MHz FSB board and so I needed to find a replacement that would accept a P4 Socket 478 and my PC3200 RAM.

I ended up ordering an Intel D865GLCK motherboard off of Ebay, it was the best option at the time.

I've installed everything, but now I have a slight problem. My PC is chirping at me. Here are the rest of the specs:

2 GB PC3200 RAM in Dual Channel (1 Kingston 1 GB ValueRam, 1 PNY 1GB stick)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 512 MB Video Card
550 W Antec Performance PSU
Creative Labs Soundblaster PCI Sound Card
Windows Vista 32-bit Business

The thing is, I took out all the components one by one to try and determine what could be causing it, and when I removed the Video Card and used the On-board GPU, the chirping went away. So I think it's my Video Card. I also tested my PSU with a PSU tester and everything checked out, all the levels are decent. I'm also able to start up my PC and log into Windows ok, it's just annoying to hear this chirping.

Any ideas? PM if you think it'll help.

P.S. I have fairly decent PC knowledge, this is my 4th PC I've built in the last decade and this is the first time I've ever encountered this problem. It is driving me nuts!

**Viktor_Olin** · 03-30-10, 04:02 PM

Probably the GPU fan. Does it get louder or faster when you put a load on the GPU (e.g., while gaming)? You might have damaged the fan while swapping out components.

I had the fan go bad on my GPU several months ago and it was driving me nuts, so I RMA'ed it.

**DaKillerFox** · 03-30-10, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by Viktor_Olin

Probably the GPU fan. Does it get louder or faster when you put a load on the GPU (e.g., while gaming)? You might have damaged the fan while swapping out components.

I had the fan go bad on my GPU several months ago and it was driving me nuts, so I RMA'ed it.

No, it stays a constant pitch. But Under load, when I am opening a new web page or something, it is more frequent. If I just let the computer sit there, it doesn't make a sound. When I move my mouse, I get a quick chirp. When I load a page or open a program, it starts to chirp a lot. The sound though, seems to come from my PSU or near the CPU itself, but isn't the CPU fan. Also, I have stupidly stopped the fan on my GPU with my finger and it didn't stop the chirping either.

**Bunni** · 03-30-10, 04:13 PM

check your mobo manual for the correlating cause to the notification sound.

now press down as many kees on your key board as you can, (your computer should retort with a beep) is this the same pitch of sound youve been referring to?

**DaKillerFox** · 03-30-10, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Bunni

check your mobo manual for the correlating cause to the notification sound.

now press down as many kees on your key board as you can, (your computer should retort with a beep) is this the same pitch of sound youve been referring to?

I'm actually at work, so I'll have to try this when I get home. I have a funny feeling that this isn't going to be the same thing, because I've heard MOBO's beep error codes in the past and this is a sound I've never heard before, but I'll get back to you about that.

**DaKillerFox** · 03-31-10, 12:41 PM

The chirping and beep sounds don't sound the same. The chirping is more of like a metal grinding. Imagine taking a chunk of metal and grinding it down with a dremel or something. Plus it is constant whenever there is load on the PC.

So I decided to use the rolled tube method to see if I could pinpoint the source of the sound since it just sounds like it's coming from the inside of my PC. Turns out the chirping is coming out the back of my PSU and up close it sounds like there is a lot of static being discharged inside the PSU itself, followed by the grinding, chirping sound.

The reason I initially thought it was my Video Card was because it didn't make this sound when I took out the card and used the on-board graphics. However, that was misleading, because leaving the graphics card in, but unplugging the HD also stops the sounds. So I've come to the conclusion that my system is taxing the PSU and the PSU has a bad capacitor or something (the Video Card requires a 6-pin power source). It just so happens that with my setup, the PSU is being overworked on the Video Card, HD and everything else.

Is this a bad thing? I've been reading a lot about Coil Noise and Loud Capacitors on the internet and that Coil Noise doesn't indicate a bad or malfunctioning PC. However, I think I'm going to be on the safe side and order a new PSU as my Motherboard died two weeks ago and I now wonder if it was a spike in power from the PSU in the first place?!?!

I'll update this thread after I get a new PSU to let you guys know how things went.

**WileECyte** · 03-31-10, 01:15 PM

If you have a failing component in your power supply, it was the likely cause of your motherboard failure and could fry the one you just installed. I wouldn't recommend running with that power supply for very long.

**DaKillerFox** · 03-31-10, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by WileECyte

If you have a failing component in your power supply, it was the likely cause of your motherboard failure and could fry the one you just installed. I wouldn't recommend running with that power supply for very long.

Here's the thing though, I tested out the PSU with an Antec PSU tester I bought from Bestbuy and it checks out, or so it says. There's no warning lights or sounds from the tester... But I digress, I should be safe, a new PSU is cheaper than a new MOBO.

**DaKillerFox** · 04-06-10, 11:46 AM

So I ordered a new PSU from Newegg, and no, I had already ordered it before anyone bothered to mention the Shopping Links, sorry TTP. Anyways, I went with a Rosewill PSU, it was affordable and it had decent reviews. Apparently a small percentage of them are lemons, but hopefully I got lucky. Here is the one I ordered:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182200

Got this yesterday and installed it last night. It's super quiet! The grinding and electrical static noise is now gone. It was my old PSU that was making the grinding noise, which makes me wonder, because it was an Antec 500W gaming PSU.

**HeavyG** · 04-07-10, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by DaKillerFox

So I ordered a new PSU from Newegg, and no, I had already ordered it before anyone bothered to mention the Shopping Links, sorry TTP. Anyways, I went with a Rosewill PSU, it was affordable and it had decent reviews. Apparently a small percentage of them are lemons, but hopefully I got lucky. Here is the one I ordered:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182200

Got this yesterday and installed it last night. It's super quiet! The grinding and electrical static noise is now gone. It was my old PSU that was making the grinding noise, which makes me wonder, because it was an Antec 500W gaming PSU.

I had issues with an Antec 500w PSU in my HTPC. It died after about 6 months of use and was making a terrible noise. I switched over to an Antec Earthwatts 430w PSU and haven't had any problems since. I guess we just had a couple bad apples.