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Crackling/whirring noise from SSD?
- Thread starter mao58
- Start date
Yes it is annoying.
Try a different power supply.
This is worth a try if the noise bothers you.
Trying another PSU can make it better or even worse. It's a matter of trial and error.
If your BIOS has options to change PWM frequency on the mobo VRMs you may want to experiment with this as well. YMMV as always.
If you're feeling the vibrations through the drive case itself potting it with RTV should squelch the noise. Obviously voids the warranty! ;-)
I'm feeling the SSD itself vibrate. Not sure what you mean by the drive case.
It's an older Asus P5Q-EM mobo. I don't want to step down the sata speed if I can help it.
Inside the SSD case is the pcb which has the flash, controller, et-al. You could run it outside of the case and the noise may not be as bad and performance would remain the same.
Does the grinding/buzzing hurt the SSD at all?
I'm still reluctant to say the ssd is making any noise atall they really don't use enough power to cause any sort of coil whine (and they contain 0 induction coils). An actual grinding noise sounds exclusively like a fan. Is the sound a higher pitch whine or something else?
I only have one fan in my PC and that's the CPU fan.
It's not a high pitched whine or whurrr or whoosh or anything. It's an actual grinding or buzzing sound, similar to a HDD grind, but more buzzy.
I have never seen a laptop that made noise do to anything other then the fan, speakers, or hdd if it had one.
Is the noise there when using the laptop on battery?
Not a laptop. A PC desktop. Specifically, an HTPC form factor. One fan. One SSD. A 200W PSU. Onboard graphics. All components except for SSD and RAM are 12 years old.
It makes the noise when I start it up (power on) but mind you, every desktop with any kind of drive I've had makes a similar noise upon start up. But this noise also happens every time a task is performed that involves the SSD. Opening documents, saving documents, transferring documents, opening programs, etc. It started happening when I swapped out the old SSD (Intel X-25 160 GB) a week ago for a newer Samsung 860 Pro (500 GB). I also added more RAM because I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on it.
michalrz
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2012
- Messages
- 4,340
The SSD does have inductors on its PCB, there is also parasitic inductance galore in any computer.
I understand your problem, as I can hear my SSD accessing things in my headphones with the volume up.
I've also had systems that made any other connected device (USB soundcards) whine slightly. Had systems where a similar pitched whine was audible near the case AND in speakers.
I sometimes have to turn off the RGB lightshow on my keyboard because I can hear that whine also.
With vibration and electrical noise, you also bump into microphonics and it's all a bizarre, vicious cycle. It can whine, buzz, vibrate slightly. Consider the computer as a whole, even if you only changed the SSD and added RAM. A particular set of parts will or will not play nice.
It's not really a sign of a serious problem, but if it were - it would suggest PSU trouble, as people have already pointed out.
I can give you a list of things I usually tell people to try to mitigate the issue, but some of the stuff has already been pointed out, though.
Some stuff that could have been missed is:
1. Disable all audio inputs, mute microphone and line-in,
2. Set your power settings to 'maximum performance' to prevent clock modulation,
3. Disconnect the front audio panel if you don't need it,
4. Reseat all wiring (especially power),
5. Check whether any cable connected to your PC (including power) is not coiled
6. Check if your power cable does not run close and in parallel to any signal cable (audio, video...)
(could think of more if you want them)
As you see - it's an uphill battle and the problem might be easily solved or unsolvable.
I understand your problem, as I can hear my SSD accessing things in my headphones with the volume up.
I've also had systems that made any other connected device (USB soundcards) whine slightly. Had systems where a similar pitched whine was audible near the case AND in speakers.
I sometimes have to turn off the RGB lightshow on my keyboard because I can hear that whine also.
With vibration and electrical noise, you also bump into microphonics and it's all a bizarre, vicious cycle. It can whine, buzz, vibrate slightly. Consider the computer as a whole, even if you only changed the SSD and added RAM. A particular set of parts will or will not play nice.
It's not really a sign of a serious problem, but if it were - it would suggest PSU trouble, as people have already pointed out.
I can give you a list of things I usually tell people to try to mitigate the issue, but some of the stuff has already been pointed out, though.
Some stuff that could have been missed is:
1. Disable all audio inputs, mute microphone and line-in,
2. Set your power settings to 'maximum performance' to prevent clock modulation,
3. Disconnect the front audio panel if you don't need it,
4. Reseat all wiring (especially power),
5. Check whether any cable connected to your PC (including power) is not coiled
6. Check if your power cable does not run close and in parallel to any signal cable (audio, video...)
(could think of more if you want them)
As you see - it's an uphill battle and the problem might be easily solved or unsolvable.
Thanks. I will try some of those.
Just to be clear, again, it's not a continuous noise. It happens in sharp bursts. And it's not a whine, it's a grinding/buzzing sound for about a second or two. I just checked again, and it mostly happens when I 'select' or highlight a document i.e. when I click on a folder or other icon without opening it. Hmm..doesn't seem to happen when I open a document or move it.
Do you have a disk activity light on your system? If so does the noise coincide with the activity light?
hititnquitit
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2018
- Messages
- 2,573
Haven't read the entire thread but wondered if you've tested the drive in another system yet?
I don't have another system.
yes the noise coincides with the drive activity light.