Sound like a cricket chirping inside my computer!

I've got a sound like a cricket chirping or a faint bell ringing inside my computer even while it's in standby mode. When I first heard it I wandered if an insect had decided to live inside my case! It started around the time I installed a new Antec TPC-750 PSU. I'm guessing that it's coil whine. Since this is the first time I've experienced it in around 20 years of using a computer have I been lucky or is it something that has become more common with higher quality power efficient components being developed? I've got numerous cheap PSUs and none of them have it and the Corsair TX-750 I used for about 7 years before replacing it with the Antec TPC-750 didn't have it.

 

Maybe there is a cricket living inside your computer
My money would be on a failing hard drive though.

 

The computer is only about 8 months old and the hard drives are all near new high quality drives with 5 year warranties and no issues reported by diagnostic software that look at the S.M.A.R.T data. It can't be the hard drives because it still happens sometimes when the computer is in standby mode with the PSU feeding a minimal current to the computer.

 

I bet it is a fan bearing (had similar myself) and it is an easy fix.

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/quiet-noisy-computer-fans-with-a-drop-of-oil/

Pull the side cover of case and then try and isolate which fan it is. Most that are on bearings you can give them a push in the middle and note the noise stops for a moment.

Google: PC Fan Bearing chirping sounds - and you will find lot's of hits....

 

Yes I would pull the side of the case off and stop each fan one at a time and find the faulty fan... then replace.

Easiest solution.

 

It's not the fans because I've heard it continuing with the computer in sleep mode with all fans off and the PSU only supplying standby power to the computer ready to wake it when I press a key on my keyboard. It's coil whine from the Antec TPC 750 PSU. Doing a Google search reveals that others have experienced it too with the same PSU. There's even a YouTube video of a guy with an Antec TPC 750 PSU demonstrating the coil whine when the computer is stressed. It's intermittent and thankfully not very loud so I won't worry about it.

 

It turns out that I was wrongly blaming the Antec PSU. I've traced the source of the noise to a Monster brand power filter I bought at Harvey Norman that is plugged into the power point with all power to the computer being filtered through it. It sits not far from the Antec PSU so I wrongly blamed the PSU. The filter is supposed to somehow filter the 240 volt power from the wall socket and make it 'cleaner' and it chirps like a cricket as it does whatever it does!

 

Glad you got it sorted.
If the chirp irritates you take the filter off.
Unless you have got really dirty power it is not doing anything.

1. does the computer run any better without the filter. No
2. If lightning strikes the wires outside your house is it going to save your computer. No

Filters are better suited to Audio equipment where a hum is generated from something else on the line.

 

Apparently it does offer surge protection so it might save my computer from a lightning strike etc. On the back in small print it says 'Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor' and it also does 'Stage 1 Filtering' of power. I've tried it on other sockets running other appliances and it only chirps when I use it on the power point I run both of my computers off along with the other devices used by the computers. Then it makes an audible sound like a faint sounding bell ringing constantly. Presumably this coil whine.

My place is near a transformer and voltage is higher than normal. I just measured it at 255 volts. I don't know if it might help protect damage that might result from this but given the audible noise it makes when I use it to filter power to my computers it appears to be actively doing something!

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/monster-appliance-powercentre-timer-with-surge-protection.html

 

A "surge" is like 300V, not 30,000. No way will it protect against lightning.

Your PC's PSU will have surge filters (MOVs) in it anyway.

It's Monster, so it will do whatever their marketing department thinks you are gullible enough to believe.

 

Lightning struck outside my place only a couple of months ago during a violent storm in the late afternoon damaging many pieces of electrical equipment in the block of townhouses I live in. My computer was on when the lightning struck and it switched off and was undamaged apart from my modem which got zapped because the phone line wasn't filtered through a surge protected power board. The Monster unit and 3 other surge protected power boards after the Monster unit appear to have protected the computer, monitor etc. My next door neighbour had a piece of electrical equipment blow apart when the lightning struck so maybe the Monster unit did protect my computer.

 

god no
ditch that and get yourself a belkin pureav powerboard

i am surprised you have not burned your house down

 

The Belkin will clearly state $40K Warranty - your gear get`s fried your covered.......

 

Over 10 years ago I bought 3 top of the line Belkin powerboards (I believe they had equipment damage warranties) and one of them tripped in response to exceeding the 2500 watt limit when I connected a heater and part of the board fused making it useless. Belkin sent me a replacement (surprisingly the guy on the phone didn't even require that I send the broken powerboard to him) but the replacement wasn't the top of the line equivalent board to the one that broke which was stingy of Belkin! The boards (I still have several of them) had a design fault and they tripped too easily and a part of the board fused when it tripped rendering it useless. I'm guessing that Belkin lost a lot of money having to replace boards that fused in response to minor things (like overloading the board like I did) rather than genuine power surges that can damage equipment!

At worst the cheap Monster unit I bought at Harvey Norman that chirps under load as it filters power does nothing useful but it wouldn't be doing any harm. Lightning struck very close to my townhouse a couple of months ago and damaged many pieces of electrical equipment in the townhouse complex I live in and my computer instantly switched off. I have no idea if the surge protection in the Monster unit or any of the several powerboards (including a Belkin one) with surge protection I have connected after the Monster unit saved the computer that was running when the lightning struck. I'm guessing that if lightning struck directly then nothing would have protected the computer.

 

you did WHAT???
nobody connects heaters, fridge, washing machines to powerboards

 

I have two heaters that I use in my lounge room during winter. One is next to where I sit in front of my computer and the power point is behind my huge heavy computer desk that looks like a wardrobe (Tandy used to sell the computer desk many years ago and it's a great computer desk) and because the power point is behind the large heavy desk I connect my heater and computer devices to powerboards within an arms length reach so I can lean down and switch devices on and off easily.

I also use a second heater where I sit on my couch to watch TV and it's connected through a powerboard for a similar reason because the power point is behind a heavy metal storage cabinet. There's no reason why heaters can't be connected to powerboards as long as you don't exceed the limit of the powerboard. I agree that major non portable devices like fridges, washing machines, air conditioners etc are better connected to a power point.