Intermittent Buzzing from PC

[Inbox4]

Hi,

I am getting some very odd and irritating buzzing from my desktop PC.

The PC is nice and quiet at idol. However, when I scroll through a web page it makes a buzzing noise as the page moves. This happens for the duration of the mouse scroll wheel turn or a page movement if I use the up or down arrows on the keyboard.

I get the same with a variety of browsers.

Does anyone know what it could be and what, if anything, I can do to stop it?

I've wondered if it is coil whine from the PSU (Corsair RM750x) but I'm not entirely sure what CW sounds like or whether it is intermittent based on activity such as page scrolling.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Inbox4]

It could be a number of things...could be something like coil whine from somewhere although I have never heard coil whine described as a buzzing noise.

Given that it starts and stops with mouse and/or keyboard inputs, this makes it more likely that it is either the ports the input devices are plugged into or that there is interference across the motherboard that is highlighted by the inputs. Where are your mouse and keyboard plugged into? Are they wired or wireless? If they are plugged into the USB port on the top/front of the case, try moving them to one of the rear USB ports and see if it still happens.

Thank you very much for your reply.

I have a Logitech Mouse and Keyboard wirelessly connected to their unifier dongle. The unifier is plugged into a USB hub (connected at the rear) rather than being connected directly to the PC.

The noise hasn't occurred since receiving your suggestion. I will plug the unifier into a separate USB port when it happens again.

I'm wondering whether it occurs when the PC is cold. I've spent a few hours gaming and it has stopped. I know it will happen when I turn it on again tomorrow.

Does the intermittent nature and perhaps the heat aspect give any further clues? Do these factors have any bearing on coil whine?

Thanks again.

 

[Inbox4]

Hi,

My PC is buzzing again as I scroll through pages. It is cold at the moment.

I tried plugging a wired mouse directly into a front USB port on the PC. Unfortunately the buzzing with each click of the scroll wheel was exactly the same.

I've tried recording the noise but strangely the mic isn't picking it up. The noise is easily heard from my chair but not by the mic when being held close to the computer.

Does a wired mouse behaving the same way give any further clues?

 

[ubuysa]

You might try moving the PC temporarily to a completely different location in your home. It's not impossible that what you're hearing is being caused by interference from something else close by. Trying it somewhere else would at least eliminate that possibility.

 

[Inbox4]

Did you check if the PSU fan was running constantly? As I said, from cold the PSU fan shouldn't be running...until you put significant load through the system. If it's running constantly from start-up then I'd be inclined to think there is a fault there...a flaky transistor could acocunt for a buzzing noise, although why it would get worse with mouse movement is baffling to say the least.

I didn't check the PSU fan reliably as I can't see it through the case. However, the PC is whisper quiet so I'm guessing not. As we've said before, this happens without any significant load at all. I only had a browser with one tab open.

Perhaps the fact the PC is so nice and quiet is why the little buzzes with each page move are so irritating. Fortunately it doesn't happen all the time. I'm finding I'm becoming more and more sensitive to it and listen out for it now!

The first PSU I had with this PC blew up (literally!). This is an identical replacement. Perhaps this model of PSU (Corsair RM750x) just isn't the premium product I expected?

 

[Inbox4]

The RMx PSUs are, usually, excellent....as with everything, sometimes things break (I had the same with my TXm PSU after 9 months, it just stopped working)

EVen if the fan is running all the time, the RMx would not make a huge amount of noise anyway as they are pretty quiet.

Hi,

I have another bit of info that hopefully may help with diagnosis...

The buzzing I have been experience has been quite bad at times and has been irritating me greatly. However, I have found that if I shut my PC down after use, it is completely fine the next time I turn it on. The buzzing is completely gone. If I sleep the PC, it comes back when I next use it.

This makes no sense to me at all but turning it off rather than sleeping it seems to make all the difference.

 

[ubuysa]

Hi,

I have another bit of info that hopefully may help with diagnosis...

The buzzing I have been experience has been quite bad at times and has been irritating me greatly. However, I have found that if I shut my PC down after use, it is completely fine the next time I turn it on. The buzzing is completely gone. If I sleep the PC, it comes back when I next use it.

This makes no sense to me at all but turning it off rather than sleeping it seems to make all the difference.

TBH I never see the point in sleeping a PC. Mine is on 24x7.....