Official GIGABYTE Forum
Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with Intel processors => Topic started by: nordiga on December 12, 2010, 09:39:04 pm
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Hello,
My recently bought UD3R is making a very high frequency sustained tone, fluctuating in pitch, that seems to be related to CPU activity (so you can hear the pitch changing when for example the computer starts and the CPU fan speed changes). It seems to get higher in pitch when the CPU is more active.
I read the threads about the 'electrical' noise, and other similar posts on the web, and I am not sure that this is the same problem - I am not getting chirping or crunching sounds, just this high, quiet but piercing sound. Still, I tried disabling C1E and C3/C6/C7 like suggested in the electrical noise thread, and it did make a difference - the pitch got quieter and less fluctuating. Before the BIOS change it was changing pitch quite drastically, and now it is rather constant. But it is still there.
I am worried that it might mean that there is something wrong with a capacitor on the motherboard? Is that possible? Should I consider RMA?
My system:
Intel i7 930
Nexus NX-5000 530W PSU
4GB OCZ Platinum 1066 CS7 Ram
HP Nvidia Quadro NVS290
I hope some one can shed light on this matter!
Thanks,
Assaf
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Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte UK Forum.
This is a known problem and has been officially recognised and dealt with. If you contact your local Gigabyte centre they will arrange for the modification to be carried out. There is a BIOS update that you might want to try first. I am assuming that you have the revision 2.0 motherboard.
http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/upload/files/BIOS_X58A-UD3R_2_FVA.zip
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Hi and thanks for the quick reply!
I have revision 2.0 indeed, and I have updated to BIOS FD already. Is FVA more recent?
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FVA is specifically aimed at curing this particular problem and yes it is fairly new... a few weeks old.
Make sure that you use QFlash to run the update not @BIOS. QFlash is much safer and allows you to disable the Keep DMI Data before doing the update.
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Ok, updated to FVA with no improvement. Opened a ticket with Gigabyte tech support, lets see what they say.
Can Gigabyte tech support definitely resolve this problem? Since I am considering RMA and getting an Asus just to be on the safe side. However, who know what problems that board will bring...
By the way after the BIOS flash C1E was set back to enabled, and the noise is much more audible and piercing now.
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Yes as far as I know the success rate has been 100%. With some just the BIOS update will fix the problem but with others there is a small hardware fix that needs to be implemented.
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Good. I just hope Gigabyte Netherlands can also deal with this problem. I am posting in the UK forum because I recently moved here from the UK and still speak English :)
Thank you for your help Dark Mantis, it is very much appreciated!
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You are very welcome and please let us know how you get on. You can continue to use this forum even if you are in a different part of the world now, we don't mind at all. ;)
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So far no reply from Gigabyte.
But, just something new I noticed - when the vcore voltage was down to about 1.00V the "whistle" was loudest. So I manually set it to around 1.25, and the noise became mostly inaudible, and only returns for a while occasionally, still not sure on what occasions.
But still, I did not get this board to have all its features disabled and giving the CPU more voltage than it needs... btw does anyone know if this kind of voltage can damage the CPU? It's an I7 930.
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One way of more or less kiling the noise used before the fix was found was to disable the power saving modes in the BIOS...EIST, C1E, C3 etc this worked by stopping the CPU frequencies fluctuating anmd causing the coils to whine.
The core voltage should be fine at that level as mine is going beyond that on auto.
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Right. I got a new replacement MB, same model, and it makes exactly the same noise as before. I understand it's called coil whine.
As I said in my first post, I already tried disabling EIST, C1E, C3 etc. on the first board and it didn't help. I tried it on this one too with the same results. The only thing that seems to help is setting the Vcore voltage to 1.2v, but even that just stops it for a while, and then the noise just comes back.
This makes me think that maybe the combination of this particular PSU and this MB makes the noise. Is that possible? Especially since the guys at the RMA lab say that they could hardly hear it over there with the previous board, but here it is loud and clear. My PSU is 520w.
Any ideas?
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Absolutely correct it is caused by a combination of motherboard and PSU and possibly memory but only when certain manufacturing tolerances come together. The PSU is most probably the cause of the erroneous vibrations and so by changing it they will most likely go.
As I said before the other option is to have the motherboard modified and the FVA BIOS installed.
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I see. So I shouldn't have listened to the RMA guys who said that it will be better to replace it rather than send it to get fixed.
Maybe it makes more sense to replace the PSU now. Do you have a suggestion which PSU to use? Is there a significance to the power output of the PSU in this case? And if so, should I go with more power or less (right now its 530, not 520 as I said before).
Thanks...
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Obviously it depends on your power requirements and possible future plans to upgrade to determine what size of PSU would be best. If you would like to post your existing hardware and any upgrade ideas you have and I will try and give you some advice.
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The noise is getting louder, and setting the voltage manually has stopped working. Strange. You can listen to it here:
http://agid.jehuti.com/coilwhine/coilwhine2.mp3
http://agid.jehuti.com/coilwhine/coilwhine.mp3
I've contacted Gigabyte support again, asking what should I RMA, the PSU or the MB.
My system is:
Intel core i7 930
the UD3R
4GB DDR3 1333 CS7 RAM (OCZ Platinum)
Two Samsung HD's: 1X1TB, 1X500GB
Nvidia Quadro NVS290 (heat sink)
Adaptec firewire expansion card
Some USB powered peripherals: Wacom, midi keyboard, webcam etc.
Winows XP Pro SP3
The system is for audio production. Not gaming.
Possible future upgrades might be Win7, another hard drive (SSD?), 2GB more ram.
Thanks!!!!!!! :)
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Well I would say that your PSU is powerfull enough and generally of a good quality build, the only downside is that being of an older style and spec it has been suggested before that this could be one of the contributing factors of the coil whine problem. I suppose that you have checked to make sure that the noise is coming form the coils? You can always use a length of cardboard or plastic tube as a listening device to pinpoint the area.
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I checked briefly and it seemed that it was coming from the CPU area. In the case that I got (Nexus Prominent 5) the PSU is mounted at the bottom, far from the CPU, so I could be sure it's not from there.
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In that case I would advise you to return your motherboard to Gigabyte for RMA fix of the problem as that isn't going to cost you as much as replacing the PSU. If there is any noise still when you have had the fix done then you will have to update your PSU too.
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Noise source identified!
I feel a little embarrassed actually, the solution was very obvious and did not require replacing the MB at all. A guy from Gigabyte support NL called me on the phone, and said that after hearing the recordings, he suspects that it might be a faulty engine in a case or CPU fan. I disconnected the CPU fan while the computer was running, and the noise stopped immediately. Of course I connected it right back. So now it's just a matter of replacing the Intel stock CPU cooler.
I was so locked on the idea that the UD3R boards make noise, that I failed to look into other, obvious possibilities - a fan making noise? who would have thought? :) (though the noise was far from typical fan noise)
Thanks again Dark Mantis for your help, it's always nice to come across such generosity. Also it's worth mentioning that the Gigabyte support team were very helpful, as well as the RMA technician at Zercom.nl.
Cheers!
Assaf
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Cool! At least you got a good result in the end and I must admit to pretty much being the same as you in the respect of it did sound like coil whine. I really should have thought of the CPU fan. Never mind worked out alright. ;)