• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Mobo buzzing with USB activity

G

Geryon

n00b
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
48
Umm, yeah. I just installed a brand new P5Q Deluxe mobo, did a fresh install of Windows 7 x64, and the PSU is suddenly making a strange buzzing/squeaking sound whenever there is activity on the USB ports or I'm running a 3D application..

Moving the mouse or running a 3D game makes a particularly noticeable sound - I can hear it above the case fans. Other activity produces a much quieter, barely audible noise, e.g. holding down keys on the keyboard, or moving the sticks on a gamepad. When I plugged a different mouse in it went quieter.

The noise itself sounds kind of like a noisy hard disk going nuts with access, or like the noise you may have heard from a case/mobo speaker when Windows froze but the mouse still responded (know what I mean? :confused:).

The noise also gets louder the more I OC the CPU. Changing USB ports makes no difference.

I made some recordings from different positions:
http://rapidshare.com/files/398338591/buzzing1.wma
http://rapidshare.com/files/398338592/buzzing2.wma
http://rapidshare.com/files/398338593/buzzing3.wma
(You'll have to turn the volume up, then you should hear the high-pitched noise above the hum of the fans)

Any ideas what the hell could be wrong?
 
Last edited:
First, disable/turn off ASUS EPU if you can in bios or whatever. See if problem goes away or is greatly reduced.

Some other thoughts:

Poor board grounding, poor PSU/case grounding, Poor ground at AC wall receptacle.

Are you dead certain it is the PSU ?

Roll up some paper into to tube and use it like a stethoscope to locate where the noise is coming from. My money is on the board near the CPU socket where depending on load it is cutting-in or cutting out the number of on-board CPU power supply phases.

Any chance you used the little red paper washers that some cases still provide with the moutning hardware ? No longer needed and will prevent the motherboard from grounding well to the case.

Try using a lockwasher (the star shaped ones work best) under one of the power supply mounting screws so the washer will "bite through" any paint or other finish and ensure the case is well grounded to the power supply (which should be grouned by means of the wall AC outlet ).

Bad news is a lot of power supplies just dont like the constant load changes the constant enabling/disabling of cpu power phases causes and will "sing".

You can try and turn off C1E or "C states" however the power saving freatures (and anything to do with them) are listed in the bios.
 
Thanks for the reply. This should probably be moved to the PSU section, but anyway...

I had disabled all the CPU features in the BIOS to work on my OC. I'm not sure which setting, if any, refers to EPU, but everything else is off.

I'm 90% sure it's the PSU now. It definately seems loudest when I listen to the exhaust grill at the back of the PSU. I also found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiGocVpYh6A which is exactly what I hear (and exactly the same PSU), with the same thing triggering it, i.e. mouse movement.

I didn't mount the board with any washers. It's just straight onto the standoffs, so that should be fine.

Something else I just discovered is that if I run the Everest Stability Test, the noise disappears. Maybe it's just that the new board is doing some funky things under certain conditions, that resonate a component in the PSU where my old board didn't? :rolleyes:

I really just want to be sure that the board doesn't need an RMA, but I guess I can't do that without trying a different PSU :(
 
Your manual is here
http://static.compusa.com/pdf/Asus_P5Q-Deluxe_Manual.pdf

The EPU is a utility installed from the driver DVD that came with the motherboard.

Page 4-24 of the manual is where the detailed info starts.

Before you start sending stuff back and have to deal with not having a computer I would suggest you install it and play with the settings. Run the calibration and then try the different modes, the high performance or Turbo mode should reduce the board trying to constantly adjust power and might help. Or not.

There are also a lot of bios settings that might help, change the value of the spread spectrum stuff (if on, turn it all off, if off turn it all on/Auto ) and see if it makes any difference. If the source of the noise is EMI from the USB controller it might help.

Toggle the load line calibration and see if that helps. Or not.

Set the USB 2.0 controller to Full Speed if you have it on High Speed.
 
I'm 90% sure it's the PSU now. It definately seems loudest when I listen to the exhaust grill at the back of the PSU.
Click to expand...

BTW I just love spending time trying to people who ask for help yet ignore my advice. Take the side panel off and roll up a magizine or use a paper towel cardboard tube and stick one end to your ear and use the other end to probe around and find the source of the sound 100%. Please. Pretty Please.
 
BillParrish said:
BTW I just love spending time trying to people who ask for help yet ignore my advice. Take the side panel off and roll up a magizine or use a paper towel cardboard tube and stick one end to your ear and use the other end to probe around and find the source of the sound 100%. Please. Pretty Please.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't ignoring it. I've just been out all day and have a clan gaming commitment this evening. When I get a chance I'm gonna take the PSU outside of the case and then listen to the mobo through a tube like you suggested. I was simply thinking out loud based on what I've heard so far ;)

I'll give your other suggestions a try too.

Edit: I already toggled the spread spectrum settings at least, and that made no difference.
 
Last edited:
Ok, just an update - I took the PSU out of the case and the noise is 100% coming from the PSU. No noise from the case at all with the PSU outside. The PSU is quite clearly whining as in that youtube video I linked before.

I've now noticed heavy disk access also triggers the noise. So that's 3 things causing it: USB activity, GPU load, and disk activity. But stressing the CPU stops it.

Anyway, I'll try the EPU software tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top