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Low hissing sound emitting from either the CPU or the Motherboard

victor_c26victor_c26 Chicago, ILRegistered User regular
edited November 2007 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
My motherboard or processor started making (or at least I barely noticed) a low hissing sound. Googling around described the symptom with a buzzing or hissing capacitor as the culprit. Could these be the signs of a dying motherboard?

The system has been running fine so far. Just like it always has, just with the added hiss that I probably just noticed.

By the way, it's only audible if I put my ear near the Processors heatsink. And it's not the fan, I already know this isn't mechanical related as the hissing happens when the processor is idle. When there's any kind of activity. For example, when scrolling a webpage, it fades away. The hiss comes back when the processor is idle again.

Should I prepare for the worst?

It's been so long since I've posted here, I've removed my signature since most of what I had here were broken links. Shows over, you can carry on to the next post.
victor_c26 on

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    SilvoculousSilvoculous Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    If you think it's a capacitor, look all over the motherboard. If any of the capacitor's silver tops are bulging (as illustrated here - http://www.pctips.org.uk/assets/images/autogen/a_Capacitors.jpg) then you're in trouble. You might have to get that mobo replaced.

    Silvoculous on
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    waterloggedwaterlogged Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    What kind of mobo is it. Some recent mobos have been known to making hissing/screatching sounds as their vregs/mosfets start to die off.

    waterlogged on
    Democrat that will switch parties and turn red if Clinton is nominated.:P[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    victor_c26victor_c26 Chicago, ILRegistered User regular
    edited November 2007
    MSI RS480M2-IL.

    So far, I haven't seen any bulging capacitors, they all look like they are intact.

    victor_c26 on
    It's been so long since I've posted here, I've removed my signature since most of what I had here were broken links. Shows over, you can carry on to the next post.
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    NialiNiali Registered User new member
    edited November 2007
    The first capacitors to go will be the ones next to the CPU heat-sink; they get an unfair share of waste heat, and if their connective leads are arranged so that one "leg" is closer to the CPU socket than the other, that will cause the capacitors to gradually lean away from the heat-sink. On an ASUS A7M266-D I used to have, that leaning caused three of them to press together, reducing the capacitors' ability to shed heat... the middle one blew, and toasted the processor when it died.

    If you find a capacitor on your board that looks like it's swelling, you want to replace the motherboard before it goes. Otherwise you risk having to buy a new processor as well.

    Niali on
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    victor_c26victor_c26 Chicago, ILRegistered User regular
    edited November 2007
    So this is definitely a precursor to imminent failure? No way this can be normal in any way? Damn it, I just installed Windows again 2 months ago because of a dying hard drive, and now this.

    So should I start saving up for a new system build?

    victor_c26 on
    It's been so long since I've posted here, I've removed my signature since most of what I had here were broken links. Shows over, you can carry on to the next post.
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    AlethiometerAlethiometer Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    That would probably be the sound of the magic smoke escaping.

    Remember kids, once you let out the magic smoke, it's time to get a new circuit board.

    Seriously though unless it's the fan, there should be nothing- nothing- making noise on a motherboard or cpu, they're pretty much solid state. The only time you hear hissing on electrical appliances is due to extremely high voltage (Think high tension lines here) or high resistance (most likely a capacitor overheating, but it could be some crap on the circuit board as well).

    Alethiometer on
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    waterloggedwaterlogged Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    victor_c26 wrote: »
    MSI RS480M2-IL.

    So far, I haven't seen any bulging capacitors, they all look like they are intact.

    Googled your board. If you see where those three silverish metalic heatsinks are that's where the mosfets that regulate your CPU power are. Those will make an angry noise if they start to go, and once they are gone the board is toast and it can take the CPU with it.

    My advise would be to take the build out of the case and onto your desk, then listen to that area and see if it's making the noise, if not listen to other parts.

    waterlogged on
    Democrat that will switch parties and turn red if Clinton is nominated.:P[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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