C2D E6600 - Faint Squeal Sound

Howdy All,

Just now starting to overclock my E6600 on my eVGA 680i motherboard. My BFG 8800gtxes are in for RMA (missed pre-launch recall and had bad resistor). So, I'm using an ATi Rage 128 PCI card for my video!

Anyways, noticed something really odd. I'd heard of capacitors on video cards, PSUs, and motherboards making noise before. However, I'd never heard of a squeel coming from (what I believe to be) the CPU before. At least, not a recent vintage CPU.

At stock speeds, it doesn't happen. But as soon as I overclock my CPU to 3.15GHz (350x9), I get the following. . .

About twenty minutes into running Dual Prime95s, as soon as it starts the 8k fft tests, I get a faint (though clearly audible) warbling squeal from the CPU area of the system. It's defintely not the psu. Though it could be a cap near it.

The oddest part is that, like clockwork, it only exhibits the sound when the 8k fft tests 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 are running. The even numbered tests do not produce the sound. Huh!?!

The noise stops as soon as I stop one Prime95 instance (freeing up one core).

The only thing I've done in the BIOS is up the vcore to 1.25v and raise the FSB to 1400 (350x4). Temps remain in the low 40s and never approach 50 (via Core Temp).

So, is this a bad sign for my E6600? Is it more likely that the sound is coming from the motherboard? Anyone else getting anything similar? Would be a shame if either one of them croaked!

H

I too get the squeel noise when I run prime on my P965 DS4, with E6600 and QX6700, (both overclocked to 3.3GHz and above) the squeel that goes away immediately once prime stopped.. As for at 8k fft instance.. I will have to check.. but I think so too. My first tought was some of my many heatpipes are hissing/squeeling but as this also occurs on a totally different board/chipset.. the squeel may come from capasitor or most likely cpu related

hmm interesting...

im betting what your getting is 2 capacitors that are fully charged when both cores are peged, the odd interations, while appereing to start at the same time, are acctually just a split seconed off (millseconeds even). the caps normally osillate at a certain frequency, when the seconed core picks up a split seconed beind the other, your geting a sound wave refraction thus why it seems to warble as you put it. the demand form the processor, while appereing to be peged, is acctually osillating the voltage (and causeig the squeal in the first place) haveing 2 power stages osillating at slightly different times. you get a hum.

/edit, this would also explain why it is showing up on 2 different branded boards, chances are its a desgine flaw in intels power section they didnt account for (provided the boards follow there spec, and they probably do, it to new of a platform for companies to have developed one off custom power sections) perhaps the power fets are linked to the cpu (or somewhere on the system buss) when you change the frequency they change there frequency to compinsate for power requirements, this would explain why at stock you dont hear it, (unless you do, you didnt say if it was there at stock speeds)

i suppose it could be the silicone doing the same thing. though it dosent seem likely try stoping and starting the second core at different times to see if you can change the frequency of the warble however my thinking is that the cpu frequency is so high above human hearing range that even a collideing osillation wouldnt be audible. however capacitor osillation is controled by the op-amp infront of it (or fet, or what ever the case may be). and like you said, its not unheard of to have a squealying cap.

Tough to read... But what thore said

that was either the greatest load of BS ever invented, or thore is really really smart... but i'm inclined to go with what he said 0o

Just FYI, I finally got off my lazy butt and put the PCI video card into the identical system that I'm building for a friend (only difference is the case). His 8800gtx is on its way back from BFG as well. Didn't think I could get it to fit in the P180 case because all the power cables spilling out from the PSU chamber were blocking the last slot. But it wasn't too tough once I applied myself.

Anyways, same exact behavior with exactly the same OC: Faint, gurgling squeal on the odd-numbered tests in Prime95 8k FFT. So, I can stop worrying about it. If both systems do it, it's probably not an indication of impending failure.

Oh, and the squeal does not happen at stock speeds. I think I mention that in the long rambling first post.

Thanks for the heavy-duty information dose though!