GA-X58A-UD3R electrical noises [solved]

[wilkinsonj]

I too have had the same problems. Essentially, with a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, the PSU I have (Zalman ZM-850) which is normally absolutely silent (which is why I bought it), begins squealing in any tasks such as scrolling the browser, loading windows or running the WEI test. It is particularly affected by Google Chrome.

I initially thought the problem was with the PSU, having read some other complaints about Zalman PSU's whining online. However, I then discovered this thread. I set the VCore voltage, I disabled C1E, and now the sound is 100% gone, meaning that this problem was absolutely a motherboard fault.

I, unlike other users, am quite happy to disable C1E if it stops the noise, so I will be leaving the system as is. I do believe that this fault on the motherboard needs to be resolved though.

Full spec:

MB: Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
CPU: i7-980 Extreme
CPU HS: Noctua NH-D14
RAM: 6GB Corsair Dominator 16000 (3 x 2 GB) for i7 processors
HD: OCZ Revodrive 240GB
GFX: Sapphire Vapor-X HD 5870
PSU: Zalman ZM-850
CASE: Silverstone Raven RV02

For anyone interested in the acoustics of the above system (each part selected for silence), it is inaudible during idle, the idle temps of the CPU are 23 degrees, and it gets 7.9 in every WEI measure.

[Graceman]

I had this problem as a result of posting here Gigabyte RMA'd my board did some work now straight out of the box no noise it works ok and I am verry happy.

It took about 10 days they picked it up and returned it absolutly free It has a new Bios type FVB which the only tweak was to lose the Gigabyte start up logo and set the memory to XMP. all other settings were as it arrived. I did not even try to load the optimised settings it just worked, seems stable as well.

Complete kit is.

Corsair 400 watt PSU
I7-930 Intel with stocl cooler.
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Mb
Corsair 6 Gb 3x2 sticks memory running XMP at 1600.?
Asus Hd 4350 Pci-e graphics card.
Windows Xp pro opsys.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Graceman,

Sounds like Gigabyte finally have found the cure for the coil whine noise then.

Has the BIOS still got all the power saving states enabled?
What has been done to the board to silence these noises?

I am sure if these sorts of questions can be answered here on the forum then many more members will be inclined to make the most of Gigabyte's offer of repair and all these problems can be finally laid to rest.

[Graceman]

Hi Dark Mantis


All the power saving states are enabled and I cannot see what they have done to the board it was new and still looks new. all I can tell you is the Bios is version FVB which is not listed for this board.
I had F2 updated to F5 then updated to the beta version F6n now this new version. cannot think it needed an RMA to try out the Bios though.

Most help was Runn3R who kept me informed all way through and is really the person to answer this question.

[Dark Mantis]

The BIOS version FVB is a number for a trial version as far as I know and will never be released as that number.
Maybe we can get runn3R to post on here with a brief rundown of the alterations.

[runn3R]

I had this problem as a result of posting here Gigabyte RMA'd my board did some work now straight out of the box no noise it works ok and I am verry happy.
(...)

Thanks Graceman for your confirmation. I am really glad  to hear it.

If anyone else from UK & IRL wants to have his MB serviced please contact me as I described already here:
http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,1426.msg18647.html#msg18647

To users from other countries:

I will help to pass the service procedure to our other RMA centers worldwide.

[Omoronovo]

Thought I would add here... This seems to be more than just a hardware issue. I had squealing when I had my Windows Power plan set to "high performance", which was set to have the cpu at 100% all the time. When I checked, the cpu was never actually running at full speed, only at about 2.2ghz (which is an odd speed anyway,  even at stock settings, where i've never really seen it "stay" at a speed other than min or max for extended periods of time).

Changing the power plan to balanced fixed it. Maybe the board isn't properly "adhering" to standards for cpu frequency control? For reference, this does not happen for me under any version of linux i've tried, though I don't believe many of them allow you to force the cpu to run at full speed all the time anyway.

Basically, if your power plan is set to NOT force the cpu to 100% speed all the time, the squeal disappears. My board is 1002 batch with F4 bios. I tested this with 95% minimum speed (which makes it full speed anyway), and the problem still isn't there.

[Dark Mantis]

That is contrary to most other reports as  the noise can be stopped by removing the power saving settings in the BIOS and hence forcing the CPU to not cut back when idle.

[runn3R]

(...)
Maybe we can get runn3R to post on here with a brief rundown of the alterations.

It's just change of 1 capacitor and loading FVB bios. Easy but works

[Dark Mantis]

Thanks runn3R as I know there are several people at least that were interested in what the fix entailed. Maybe more people will come forward to have the fix done now that they know.

[onemilimeter]

It's just change of 1 capacitor and loading FVB bios. Easy but works

Guess the capacitor is to prevent or the reduce the electrical noise on the motherboard to be fed back to the PSU.

By the way, will the fix work with F5? Just curious...

Thanks.

[debrausky]

It's just change of 1 capacitor and loading FVB bios. Easy but works

runn3R this sounds very promising- do you know if Gigabyte Australia are planning to implement the change? Could you also confirm that the fix works for the UD7 board?

Thanks.

[Dark Mantis]

runn3R this sounds very promising- do you know if Gigabyte Australia are planning to implement the change? Could you also confirm that the fix works for the UD7 board?

runn3R is on holiday at the moment so isn't available to respond but from my knowledge the fix will be sent to other centres worldwide once it is 100% guaranteed working. The UD7 and other boards will follow after more testing on them. Hope this answers your questions.

[Lightmgl]

Is this related at all to the new F7B beta bios that has popped up now for the Revision 1.0 boards? I've been unable to find update notes for that bios anywhere so I am wary of flashing it.

[Dark Mantis]

Is this related at all to the new F7B beta bios that has popped up now for the Revision 1.0 boards? I've been unable to find update notes for that bios anywhere so I am wary of flashing it.

No not to my knowledge. The FVB BIOS is a special BIOS for this problem and as far as I know hasn't been released generally and is only for the UD3R boards.