# Capacitor Whine



## Mike0409 (Jul 1, 2009)

Alright I have a Capacitor Whine..I can't find it, it's annoying..and I need to try and find a fix.

Is there anyway to find out which cap is causing the whine?  All of them look fine, none are damaged.

And if I can locate the cap, can it be replaced..It's on my EVGA 680i board.


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## AsRock (Jul 1, 2009)

Mike0409 said:


> Alright I have a Capacitor Whine..I can't find it, it's annoying..and I need to try and find a fix.
> 
> Is there anyway to find out which cap is causing the whine?  All of them look fine, none are damaged.
> 
> And if I can locate the cap, can it be replaced..It's on my EVGA 680i board.



If it's the mobo try getting a RMA if thats a option.  You sure it's not a coil making the noise ?. IF it is a coil maybe some hot wax on it might help.

In the past i used a rolled up piece of paper and put it by the ear and listen though it.


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## Mike0409 (Jul 1, 2009)

AsRock said:


> If it's the mobo try getting a RMA if thats a option.  You sure it's not a coil making the noise ?. IF it is a coil maybe some hot wax on it might help.
> 
> In the past i used a rolled up piece of paper and put it by the ear and listen though it.



It goes with system load/idle. Doesn't do it in BIOS or during the Boot process, but once inside window's it does it.

Doesn't really do it until I start pushing some juice through it and playing with some OC setting's..so im guessing its a cap.


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## AsRock (Jul 1, 2009)

Mike0409 said:


> It goes with system load/idle. Doesn't do it in BIOS or during the Boot process, but once inside window's it does it.
> 
> Doesn't really do it until I start pushing some juice through it and playing with some OC setting's..so im guessing its a cap.



Role some A4 paper up and see if you can find it that way.  could be v card or PSU unless your totally sure it's the mobo for some reason.


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## Error 404 (Jul 1, 2009)

I've been having the same issue only with my graphics card, thanks for the tip Asrock!


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## Yukikaze (Jul 1, 2009)

I had something similar. Around half a year ago, without any warning, my HD4870X2 started screaming under load. The whine came from the card itself, and I couldn't figure out why. I Googled around a bit, and a few issues people were having pointed out to the PSU as being the culprit. I had an old HEC Cougar 750W at the time.

I replaced the PSU with a brand new one (Hiper 880W) and the whine went away. The HEC kept running in a secondary rig for about two more months before failing (And getting replaced by a nice and quiet 330W S12-II Seasonic).

Might be worthwhile to look into.


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## largon (Jul 1, 2009)

Capacitors cannot _possibly_ make any sounds.


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## r9 (Jul 1, 2009)

Coils then. And try with another PSU.


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 1, 2009)

I have this problem but with USB devices, it's so odd. The more devices I add, the louder the whines get.


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## AsRock (Jul 1, 2009)

AsRock said:


> Role some A4 paper up and see if you can find it that way.  could be v card or PSU unless your totally sure it's the mobo for some reason.



You could all so use a paper towel tube too . Never find one when i want one though.


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## lemonadesoda (Jul 1, 2009)

largon said:


> Capacitors cannot _possibly_ make any sounds.


But they can be the *cause* of the whine. Basically, they are not "smoothing" or "storing" charge without introducing additional harmonic frequencies to the original AC source.  A better capacitor can remove/reduce this fail-to-smooth or the harmonic signal generation. 
And hence FIX the issue.


ANALOGY:  A child with his hand caught in the door cannot make a sound. Wait. Right. The child will whine. But it aint the hand or the door that's doing the whining.


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## Mike0409 (Jul 1, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> But they can be the *cause* of the whine. Basically, they are not "smoothing" or "storing" charge without introducing additional harmonic frequencies to the original AC source.  A better capacitor can remove/reduce this fail-to-smooth or the harmonic signal generation.
> And hence FIX the issue.
> 
> 
> ANALOGY:  A child with his hand caught in the door cannot make a sound. Wait. Right. The child will whine. But it aint the hand or the door that's doing the whining.



Thanks.

I think I found the problem.  It's around the NB...but im not sure which cap is causing it, or if it is a cap causing it.  It sound's like it's coming from the chipset itself...and the Chipset is also getting extremely hot..even with the fan.

Could the motherboard actually be making the sound?  Caused by just age and heat from the PC?

Would it be recommended to just replace all of them in that area?

http://img.techpowerup.org/090701/board-bigE.jpg


(Uploaded an image so all can see the area im talking about)


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## largon (Jul 1, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> But they can be the *cause* of the whine. Basically, they are not "smoothing" or "storing" charge without introducing additional harmonic frequencies to the original AC source.  A better capacitor can remove/reduce this fail-to-smooth or the harmonic signal generation.


You're talking about _electrical_ noise, one that you see with a scope. Not the audible variety the thread's about. 
But yes, wrong/bad caps can make inductors to squeal.


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## lemonadesoda (Jul 1, 2009)

How do you make an audible noise from an electrical circuit? (wait a beat). Exactly! QED.


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## Steevo (Jul 1, 2009)

InnocentCriminal said:


> I have this problem but with USB devices, it's so odd. The more devices I add, the louder the whines get.



You are experiencing bus noise.


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## Mike0409 (Jul 1, 2009)

This is all grand, about how something can't make noise, then it can make noise, and how you can see it with a oscilloscope or not.

Bottom line is...It's making noise, It's fucking annoying, I need it fixed.

Located problem, doesn't sound like it's anything replaceable, any ideas?


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## Mike0409 (Jul 1, 2009)

Steevo said:


> You are experiencing bus noise.
> 
> http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/tindo-bus-2.jpg



Running on PS2 mouse/Keyboard ATM and it still doing it.


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## Steevo (Jul 1, 2009)

Probably the two coil chokes. Hot glue them and see if it stops it, and while you are at it, try unplugging your PC speaker and speakers.


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## Mike0409 (Jul 1, 2009)

Steevo said:


> Probably the two coil chokes. Hot glue them and see if it stops it, and while you are at it, try unplugging your PC speaker and speakers.



I'll try this. Thanks.

Now how exactly do I hot glue them?  Glue over top, the base?


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## lemonadesoda (Jul 1, 2009)

FIRST. Put your fingers on them to see if that will dampen the sound. If not, the glue wont help; the problem is elsewhere. The idea of the glue is to stop them, or reduce their ability to vibrate. Fingers work too... much quicker to test if the glue will help.


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## Mike0409 (Jul 1, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> FIRST. Put your fingers on them to see if that will dampen the sound. If not, the glue wont help; the problem is elsewhere. The idea of the glue is to stop them, or reduce their ability to vibrate. Fingers work too... much quicker to test if the glue will help.



Thanks.


Didn't work, so i didn't try the glue.

Im starting to wonder that it's just the age of the board.

I've never had any other issue's and it run's flawlessly..just makes a racket during operation.


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## erocker (Jul 1, 2009)

I've heard of people using nail polish to coat the noisy part.


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## Static~Charge (Jul 2, 2009)

Well, if nothing else works, you could always get the board recapped. I've sent several motherboards to BadCaps.net for capacitor replacement. Contact him and see what he thinks about your problem.


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## Fitseries3 (Jul 2, 2009)

"whine" and "squeel" are made by inductor coils, NOT capacitors. my 680i's had that issue but i have also heard cpus make a similar noise.


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## Mike0409 (Jul 2, 2009)

Fitseries3 said:


> "whine" and "squeel" are made by inductor coils, NOT capacitors. my 680i's had that issue but i have also heard cpus make a similar noise.



You do anything to fix it, or just ignore it swap it out?

Im hoping to get rid of it, cause I'm going to part my rig out.


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## Fitseries3 (Jul 2, 2009)

you can heat the solder up and then let it reseat. that might do it. some boards like DFI's are known for doing that but some 680i's did it too.

RMA is your best option


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## leventp (Jul 2, 2009)

You may try to put one or two drop of silicon glue (the type applied by the melting gun) over the coils.


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## Mike0409 (Jul 2, 2009)

Fitseries3 said:


> you can heat the solder up and then let it reseat. that might do it. some boards like DFI's are known for doing that but some 680i's did it too.
> 
> RMA is your best option



I'll see if they can take it as an RMA.  The Lifetime warranty option wasn't available when I purchased..and I registered after my purchase date.. There is something with the dates from when they offered the service and when I registered that they won't take an RMA. But I'll call again and see.

I'll try a re-solder, thanks Fit.



leventp said:


> You may try to put one or two drop of silicon glue (the type applied by the melting gun) over the coils.




I'l and try that as well. Thanks.


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