cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/linux4noobs/p/1953356/my-pc-is-making-a-high-pitched-noise-like-coil-whine-only-under-linux

So I built a new PC a couple weeks ago. My old one broke one day (I think I helped it, but that’s another story). I was happy to move from a stock Prism Wraith cooler that was LOUD and ANNOYING. I put a new AMD Ryzen 9 7900X in this box with a couple of new nvme drives (Samsung 9100 PRO and 990 PRO). The thing is silent under Windows 11. Silence at last!

Then I installed openSUSE Tumbleweed (from which I’m typing this) and as the post title says, something is making a high-pitched noise, like coil whine, when the system is mostly idle. I searched the web and the first suggestion is that Linux handles CPU power states (C-state) differently than Windows. Or, it could be the new disk(s), too. It’s a fly in the ointment, I am very happy with the new PC, with how powerful and fast it is, I’m so far happy with openSUSE, but there HAD TO be SOMETHING to spoil the experience.

Has anybody had a similar problem? Any tips on how to troubleshoot it and not BREAK my computer?

EDIT: more info from the comments

I just use the Ryzen iGPU, don’t have a dedicated GPU. I set the fan curves in BIOS, so it’s the same across all OSes. I’m pretty sure it’s not the fans. My main suspect is the CPU because the noise is there in openSUSE’s installer, so even before anything touched the disks (they were straight from factory with no partitions). As soon as I launched the Tumbleweed installer I heard it. Not hearing it in Windows 11. I can hear it when the CPU is idle, if I start some program, run a compiler or even scroll fast in the web browser, there is no noise.

I had the same monitor for several years. I hear the noise from the PC case and I’m 100% sure about that. I used the same monitor with my previous PC and there was no noise, including in Fedora Workstation. This is a new PC.

The noise is audible in openSUSE’s installer, that’s the first time I heard it. So even before there was anything on either of those nvme disks, at that time they were straight from factory with no partitions.

I dual boot on this PC and the whine is not there in Windows 11, neither in BIOS. I have fan curves set in BIOS, so it’s the same across OSes.

  • notabot@piefed.socialEnglish
    7·
    3 days ago

    One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in other comments is to check it’s actually the computer, and not the monitor, making the whine if you’ve got them near each other. A slightly wrong frame rate could cause the monitor to try to compensate and whine.

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
    5·
    3 days ago

    You want to first isolate where the noise comes from. What’s your GPU? Open your case, run something on the computer that makes it whine, have your finger on the outside of the CPU cooler, the GPU case, your disk, your case fan brackets, your PSU. When the noise happens, which one vibrates the most? There are various tools, bios settings and physical setups that one could change depending on the source of the noise, like fan curves.

    • steel_for_humans@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      I just use the Ryzen iGPU, don’t have a dedicated GPU. I set the fan curves in BIOS, so it’s the same across all OSes. I’m pretty sure it’s not the fans. My main suspect is the CPU because the noise is there in openSUSE’s installer, so even before anything touched the disks (they were straight from factory with no partitions). As soon as I launched the Tumbleweed installer I heard it. Not hearing it in Windows 11. I can hear it when the CPU is idle, if I start some program, run a compiler or even scroll fast in the web browser, there is no noise.

  • Dingaling@lemmy.mlEnglish
    4·
    3 days ago

    Are you sure it’s the computer and not the monitor? I’ve had that at certain frequencies, it could be linux is driving it differently to what you’re using. Also unplug speakers - might be driver noise from that.

    I’m pretty sceptical that the OS would make a motherboard behave differently enough to induce something like this, but I’m not an electronics engineer, so what do I know.

  • Left as Center@jlai.lu
    2·
    3 days ago

    I’d first reboot in Windows to see if this is really linked to Linux or if this is just another change that happened at the same time that Linux was installed.