Curse

Alexandra-Sweet · Dec 22, 2008, 11:43 AM // 11:43

Whenever I run Guild Wars my new computer turns from lots-of-casefan sound to bumble-bee sound.

My guess it's the videocard or the CPU but it can't be heating issues because it always hangs around nicely at 60°C (videocard) and 40°C (CPU) and nor can it be a real bumble bee inside my computer because I have so many casefans it would have been shredded in hundred pieces by now.

Videocard: Asus GTX280 OC edition.
CPU: Intel Core I7 965.
Motherbord: Half working MSI Eclipse.

snaek · Dec 22, 2008, 04:16 PM // 16:16

cant u jus open up the cover and pinpoint which device is makin the sound?
dun be afraid to get in close
im sure if its a bee it wont sting u lol

at this point we can only guess wut is makin the sound
the only thing that i can think of that would make a sound is the fans

i actually used to have a case fan problem where sometimes it would go to annoyingly excess noise levels
i dunno exactly wut was causing it
but i think it was jus a cheap fan and didnt align properly or sumptin was loose i dunno and so it kept slightly hittin sumptin makin a buzzin sound
anyways...jus took it out and got a new one

lilraceangel3 · Dec 22, 2008, 06:24 PM // 18:24

my fan does the same buzz noise cuz i got a cheap fan and threw it in. get a new fan.

Antares Ascending · Dec 22, 2008, 06:59 PM // 18:59

Most likely a case fan. Are any temp controlled? There is also an outside chance the power supply is on the edge or just def. There was a name for that in PSs..can't remember it tho.

If no obvious fix shows, you might try going through case components applying light pressure to them to see if this is a simple mechanical issue.
Hard drives/cases are a good place to start.
Good luck

Alexandra-Sweet · Dec 22, 2008, 07:28 PM // 19:28

I only get the sound while playing Guild Wars and the sound goes away when I minimize or close Guild Wars so I highly doubt it's a fan.

I was thinking more of EMI or something along that line, all I want to know is how to fix it and why it only affects Guild Wars.

snaek · Dec 22, 2008, 08:16 PM // 20:16

well open up ur case and find out exactly wuts doin it then if u dun think its a case fan
we can only guess so much

Lady Lozza · Dec 22, 2008, 10:31 PM // 22:31

Firstly most GPUs and CPUs increase fan speed when under load, to keep the chip at the same steady temperature.

Secondly most fans don't sound THAT unbalanced until you kick the speed up. So just from your description of the problem I would think that it is indeed a fan issue. Either the fan is unbalanced and your best bet is to buy a new one, or a cord is getting caught up in the fan as it kicks up speed.

There are programs around, nTune and Riva Tuner come to mind, that will let you manually alter the speed of your fans. Shift the speed up to 100% on the CPU and GPU individually and that will help you indentify which fan is causing the problem.

Once again it might be as simple as a your internal wiring being too close to a fan, so make sure everything is keeping well clear of them.

Alexandra-Sweet · Dec 22, 2008, 11:08 PM // 23:08

There aren't any cables near the cpu fan, nor is it possible for cables to go near because there's a big heat sink underneath it, the videocard fan is deep within the card and doesn't even have any rotating blades, PSU fan is well... safely inside the PSU, got 2 fans in a door that can open in the back and I always keep it open, 2 fans ontop (cables don't go anywhere near that) and 1 fan infront, cables don't go there either.

Nor do I think it's the fan speed since the temperature is fine.

And like I already stated, it only happens when running Guild Wars, when I close it, or minimize the window the noise stops and fans don't react within half a second.

So I still believe it's either the processor or videocard that are having trouble with EMI or some other power issue.

But I guess we'll have to wait for our very own Dr. House for that.

Lady Lozza · Dec 22, 2008, 11:35 PM // 23:35

When your computer kicks into 3D mode the fan speed INCREASES to keep the temperature down. It increases in the GPU, the CPU, and the PSU.

Fans which are not properly balance may sound fine at lower speeds but start sounding really noisy at higher speeds. Likely producing this buzzing that you are hearing.

Trust me, the GPU will have a rotating fan, the blades simply aren't viewable from the outside. And it doesn't mean that it can't be unbalanced.

So you have 3 fans plausibly picking up speed when your computer hits 3D mode, any one of which may be poorly balanced.

Sounds like the one you are describing are usually mechanical in nature. And normally caused by rotating components because the buzz is not a solid sound. Buzzing is not cause by electrical components unless there is a severe problem the type that would result in your computer blowing up - and even then I'm not sure that components in computers are large enough, or provided with enough power to cause as much noice as you are describing.

Rotating components in your computer consist of fans, the HD, and the DVD. We can rule out the HD and the DVD as if it were HD it would buzz at the start up of every program, and if it were the DVD it would occur while using the DVD. Case fans are not usually variable in speed, so it should be possible to rule out those.

The fact that your temperature is steady does not mean that there is not a problem with the fans. In fact if the temperature was rising I would expect the damaged fan would be making no noise because it would not be rotating at all.

Snograt · Dec 23, 2008, 12:16 AM // 00:16

Got a new monitor lately?

Apparently, some larger monitors (24"+) have been known to emit an unusual whine in certain conditions.

Alexandra-Sweet · Dec 23, 2008, 12:46 AM // 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

Got a new monitor lately?

Apparently, some larger monitors (24"+) have been known to emit an unusual whine in certain conditions.

I use a rather old 22" widescreen and had someone confirm the sound is coming from the computer and not the monitor.

Elder III · Dec 23, 2008, 01:14 AM // 01:14

IF the sound is from inside the case itself it sounds like a fan somewhere is causing it, not much else would make that noise, except the hard drive...

It's worth it to try Riva Tuner or something similar, just to see if it makes a difference, if not then you haven't lost more than a few minutes of time.

Does this happen in any other games?

IF it is speaker sound then see below:

What is your sound card and the driver for it? It could be an incompatibility between that driver and GW (it is possible).

If this occurs in GW and GW alone, there is a chance your GW install is corrupt, and it's the GW sound files are bad.

Brianna · Dec 23, 2008, 08:26 AM // 08:26

My hard drive used to make a loud whining noise when I had Gw's open and it stopped when I minimized the game. My other HDD didn't have this problem (they're the same drive, Seagate Barracuda 7200's).

It doesn't do it now, but it did it for most of the time that I had it up until recently, kind of odd. That's just my two cents though since I really have no other ideas than some sort of EMI as well, or some such.

Alexandra-Sweet · Jan 06, 2009, 08:39 PM // 20:39

I shoved a straw up my brother's ear and had him locate the noise, he said it came from the video card, another option I tried is using earphones and plug them into the front pannel of my computer, when running high graphical application I can hear a buzzing noise coming through the earphones that changes whenever I do something ingame and it happens when playing any game, or doing something else that requires graphical processing.

I'm still fairly sure it's not the fan because fan speed doesn't change within a second.

I also once picked up that CPUs and GPUs can make a strange sound when generating a lot of frames, this might be true because the sound decreases when the framerate drops.

Pinkest One · Jan 09, 2009, 05:56 PM // 17:56

Actually since you have a 280 OC its more than likely a capacitor issue
http://theovalich.wordpress.com/2008...ling/#comments

This tale speaks of a company that makes great chips, but also has a serious design flaw: PCB design. As long as story about “Built by Nvidia” components was told, there were isolated cases of “squealing”. This squealing is caused by vibration of copper coils, and is not present on products designed by people that take attention at these things. Read: if your card has Digital Voltage Regulation Module (DVRM, as Iwill originally called it - Digital PWM is more popular these days) or all solid-state caps and shielded chokes, no sound should be produced. But, if your part has coils or non-shielded capacitors/chokes, you could be “enjoying” in squealing sounds of electronics.

Snograt · Jan 09, 2009, 07:12 PM // 19:12

Welcome, Pinkest One. As first posts go, that was a doozy

I'd totally forgotten about capacitor squeal.

Good luck fixing it, if that is the cause:

Quote:

Originally Posted by theovalich

* Change the power cable. Incredible, but it did work on some cases reported by my friends.
* Is your power clean or “dirty”? Putting a power-filter such as UPS might help.
* If these two fail - mod the board.

If it's the power cable, job done, minimal expense. Otherwise, plenty of cash and fiddling.

Pinkest One · Jan 09, 2009, 09:21 PM // 21:21

Why thank you Snog, i try to keep computers my forte(they change so quickly).

As for solving the noise, id say you're out of luck short from using headphones . Or sound proof your case effectivly eliminating airflow. Phase change ftw?

Lord Sojar · Jan 10, 2009, 04:05 AM // 04:05

I would tend to agree with capacitor squealing. ASUS isn't known for using solid state on the PCBs. eVGA and BFG more commonly do.

Pinkest One · Jan 10, 2009, 04:31 AM // 04:31

Seeing as we've come to an agreement on the noise, reading back over this i was bothered:
Motherbord: Half working MSI Eclipse.
Half working? Do elaborate.

Alexandra-Sweet · Jan 12, 2009, 09:41 AM // 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinkest One

Seeing as we've come to an agreement on the noise, reading back over this i was bothered:
Motherbord: Half working MSI Eclipse.
Half working? Do elaborate.

It has a mind of it's own. o.O

Sometimes I get 1 or 2 BIOS screens (1 of MSI and 1 of an MSI application called DrMOS), and sometimes I get to see a POST and sometimes I don't.