Motherboard noise

[Taxon]

Hi Anandtech

I have a J&W Mini-ITX 128 motherboard and having troubles with its noise. I've already returned one previously with the same problem (though the onboard gpu was faulty as well).

When under load the board makes a noise - similar to that of a very noisy seeking hard drive. I've been told that this could be the capacitors squealing.

Does anyone know if this will reduce its lifetime or effect performance in any way? The board is 3dmark & AMD overdrive stable after several hours of testing. I can deal with the noise as my other option is to RA it and wait two months+ for a replacement. (thinking it could be something with all these boards anyway). Will under clocking/volting possibly help?

It's running 2GB 800MHz SO-DIMM, AMD 245 and a Seagate 500gb. The PSU is 300W and semi-generic

Thanks

 

[killster1]

read a little on it, could be to powerful cpu (65 watt) or you can try putting thermalpad under the motherboard to try and stop it from shaking? doesnt look like your the only one with this problem but some pads under the mobo seemed to stop it

 

[AstroGuardian]

I have seen it on many boards. It doesn't look like it's a thermal issue or a broken capacitor or so. But i would like to see a likely cause. It's mysterious to me too....

 

[watdahel]

Have you pinpointed whether the noise is from the mobo or power supply? My guess also is a dying capacitor.

I had a similar problem just a couple days ago where my cable modem stopped working. It made this scratchy hissing noise when you listen close to it. I saw bulging caps inside and replaced them and was able to bring the modem back into service.

 

[Sylvanas]

A high pitch squeal is usually a result of the resonance of copper coils and is usually made worse with lots of current through a capacitor. This is why we see most manufacturers going towards Digital PWM circuitry for their designs. It won't reduce the lifespan of your board but you could RMA it. If you can, a better 'cleaner' power supply may make a difference also switch cables around to see if it makes a difference. Otherwise you could mod the board with new caps but that's only if your good with a soldering iron . I'd RMA it and try your luck again very annoying when this happens.

 

[SinxarKnights]

A high pitch squeal is usually a result of the resonance of copper coils and is usually made worse with lots of current through a capacitor. This is why we see most manufacturers going towards Digital PWM circuitry for their designs. It won't reduce the lifespan of your board but you could RMA it. If you can, a better 'cleaner' power supply may make a difference also switch cables around to see if it makes a difference. Otherwise you could mod the board with new caps but that's only if your good with a soldering iron . I'd RMA it and try your luck again very annoying when this happens.

Ya that. I recently figured out what that noise was coming from on my board. It was the coils next to the CPU socket. Mine only did it in certain situations, such as running multiple EVE Online clients in windowed mode, and when I plugged in my wireless USB adapter.

I ended up doing exactly what Sylvanas said. I pinpointed the coil, un-soldered it and put superglue on the bottom of it (This was after a lot of work to figure out it was the bottom of it making the noise). I can't recommend de-soldering components from the MB but if you can't RMA and your good with the iron, worse thing that can happen is you need to buy a new MB heh.

It actually still makes the noise but its not near as loud and annoying.

 

[Sylvanas]

Nicely done SinxarKnights! Glad it's working better now.