What is this sound coming from my Power Supply?

gunmetalTrevan

gunmetalTrevan

New Member
I bought an Antec Earthwatts 650w PSU about a month ago. It's been fine as far as I know, but fairly recently I discovered this annoying and very high-pitched "ticking" like sound - it kind of sounds like sparks, but I don't see anything. I know Antec is a good brand and all, but I don't want this to burst and fry my OTHER parts. Replacing the PSU won't be that big of a deal since it was cheap, but it will be a waste since the warranty will go out in a couple days (and I did a mail-in rebate anyway.) I also noticed that this sound is a lot more frequent when under load (Skyrim is all I know of... I JUST noticed that it's more frequent, and I have it minimized now :P.)

Here's the sound I'm talking about - I uploaded this. Wear headphones if you have them, it's a bit difficult to hear. Just listen for a sort of ticking.
http://youtu.be/k6ND_b3EYxk

Computer specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k (Quad 3.3GHz, no OC)
GPU: HIS HD 7850 2GB
RAM: GSkill Ribjaw 3x4gb (I'm going to pick up a fourth stick soon for dual channel.)
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 650w
HDD: Samsung 1TB 7200rpm SATA, and Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200rpm SATA
 
Tried watching the vid but couldn't hear very well (don't have headphones on me atm).

If it were me I'd just RMA the power supply. No sense risking the rest of your parts on it.
You're sure the noise is coming from the PSU?
 
I had headphones on and I couldn't hear any ticking.

Make sure its coming from the PSU though. PSU's usually only make high pitched whining noise, not ticking. Ticking usually comes from the hard drive.
 
I know it's coming from the PSU, and I'm sorry that it's hard to hear in the video - it's the best I could do. It's not exactly a ticking... it's hard to describe. Kind of like very rapid squeaking in very short bursts. I would say it is more of a squeaking than a ticking, but I called it a ticking because of the pattern. You SHOULD be able to hear it if you turn it up load enough and your headphones can push that high-pitched tone (around 17,000ish hz). It's more frequent around 7 seconds into the video...
 
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Hmm... I can barely hear it, but then again I know what it sounds like, and I know what to look for. I'll try that guide as soon as I get home.
 
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