This is driving me nuts...

[imported_Wreck]

Okay this is kind of hard to explain, but I'll attempt it. My computer sounds like a normal PC most of the time except when I play BF2. There is a weird faint sqeaky noise that comes from somewhere in the vicinity of my processor when I play. It's barely audible, but it annoys the crap outta me. I have unplugged all system fans one by one during this occurence even the chipset fan. The problem still persists. The main culprit I am looking at is the motherboard. What on the motherboard could be making a noise like this?

Any tips to help with my investigation? Any advice? Any similar experiences?

[TokenBrit]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

edit: should have read the whole post
Is there anything you have tried to lead you to believe its not the graphics cooler? I can't imagine anything other than a fan making a "squeaky" noise

[Trevortt]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

could be ur harddrive 74GB Raptor ~ those things can tend to make alot of noise when playign games, as they are spinning faster & faster.

[imported_Wreck]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

edit: should have read the whole post
Is there anything you have tried to lead you to believe its not the graphics cooler? I can't imagine anything other than a fan making a "squeaky" noise

Happened with my stock graphics cooler, and a different X1900 XTX too. It's an ongoing issue I've been trying to ignore. I also stopped the graphics fan.

could be ur harddrive 74GB Raptor ~ those things can tend to make alot of noise when playign games, as they are spinning faster & faster.

I was thinking this, but it's located at the front bottom portion of my case partitioned off form the motherboard area. The processor area is where I distinctly hear it coming from.

It doesn't happen as soon as I start BF2. I have to start the game, join a game, load the map and then at the spawn screen the noise starts. It continues until I load back into the game menu or close BF2.

It does sound like a squeaky fan imo, but it can't bee since I've unplugged each fan one by one. Aslo I don't think a fan would immediately start at exact moment I enter a game and end when I leave.

I'm totally at a loss, and my first instinct is to buy a new motherboard. I wouldn't bother to post if it was something simple. I'm not the type who posts asking for help.

[TokenBrit]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

Edit:
It has occurred to me that capacitors under strain can be known to "chirp". Maybe you have a bum capacitor somewhere? You could try checking each one in the area CAREFULLY for any "doming" or bulging anywhere, this could be an indication they are under stress and may cause them to fail. The fact that it is happening with two different graphics cards indicates I suppose that this would be on the motherboard, or maybe a sound card?

[imported_Wreck]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

Edit:
It has occurred to me that capacitors under strain can be known to "chirp". Maybe you have a bum capacitor somewhere? You could try checking each one in the area CAREFULLY for any "doming" or bulging anywhere, this could be an indication they are under stress and may cause them to fail. The fact that it is happening with two different graphics cards indicates I suppose that this would be on the motherboard, or maybe a sound card?

Yes it is a chirping. Could it also be a toroid?

It's definetly coming from the motherboard.

I am getting a little information about something called coil whine. I'll check out the caps.

[Stormy{CAN}]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

Don't have much to offer in the way of help other than to let you know you are not alone with this issue. You are not the first person I have seen posting about a chirping/humming/buzzing type sound that is coming from the motherboard. Only thing is I wish I could remember where the hell I saw it (and what it was that was making the noise). I do remember that the first few people to respond told the person they were crazy as it is impossible for the motherboard to make any noise.

But you have definitely gone about it the right way by eliminating the possiblilty of it being a fan making the noise.

Anyway I'll try and see if I can track down where I saw it before, and link to it here if I can.

[TokenBrit]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

If you by toroid mean an inductor or transformer then that is also possible. I would lean towards capacitors however as these are the most likely culprits for a squeaky noise, simply because there are so many more! On the other hand, so called "coil whine" is a known phenomenon, moreso I suppose than a dud capacitor. However this is all relative, either case would be rare.
In either case this would be caused by power discrepancies.
I wonder if this could somehow be a symptom of overclocking? Im not certain whether changing motherboard power settings could have this sort of effect.
In any case if it is a dud capacitor it may be replacable without ditching the entire motherboard, if you are confident enough to diagnose which one and perform some minor soldering. However if you are under warranty I think the best thing to do would be to RMA it. Depending on which capacitor is(if it is indeed a capacitor), I would be a little concerned about what might happen to other motherboard components if it fails totally.

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

Yes it is a chirping. Could it also be a toroid?

It's definetly coming from the motherboard.

I am getting a little information about something called coil whine. I'll check out the caps.

Yep, I'd check the caps, as they've been known to make noise.

[i made you]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

I don't see why a faint sound would matter if you're playing a game. I'm guessing video card.

[sackynut]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

my PSU is what does it. check that, mine makes a LOUD chirping sound during games and intensive situations, (mainly CPU intensive). serisouly check it, try another psu or something.

[imported_Wreck]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

my PSU is what does it. check that, mine makes a LOUD chirping sound during games and intensive situations, (mainly CPU intensive). serisouly check it, try another psu or something.

It's not the PSU. I've tried a Silverstone Zues 750watt and it still makes the sound.

I'm looking at the newly released DFI CFX3200 ATI RD580 as a new board. It's supposed to be DFI's last board before AM2.

[TokenBrit]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

Did you tie down the problem? I am quite interested as this is one of the more interesting problems I see around here as opposed to OMFG will this graphics card/Dell PC play battlefield?

[BigDaddyTX]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

This has gotten my interest too.

Ever since being hte victim of bad capacitors on an ASUS baord, I have been keeping a close eye on them. My old board tended to reboot when under "stress" and I jsut happenned on a site posting known bad capacitor batches. ASUS and others at one time had some boards with caps from bad batches.

I'd bet on caps or torrids personally. Everything else has been swapped other than memory and mainboard. (was the CPU fan swapped as a test?)

[imported_Wreck]

Re: This is driving me nuts...

Like I said the issue is on the motherboard. I see no bad caps, but there is a huge toroid inductor (biggest on the board), right in the center of where the noise is coming from. As per a suggestion I put some super glue on the toroid inductor and the noise did quiet down some, but it's still noisy. I am almost positive this is the issue.

I thought I'd add it happens on other 3D apps as well.