linux4noobs

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linux4noobs

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PlutoParty@programming.dev

My PC is making a high pitched noise (like coil whine) only under Linux (piefed.social)

submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by steel_for_humans@piefed.social to c/linux4noobs@programming.dev

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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?

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[–] entwine@programming.dev 0 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Coil whine can come from your power supply, and it's a fairly common phenomenon with low quality ones. I don't think it has anything to do with your OS, unless maybe some background process is increasing power consumption and triggering the issue.

Use top or some other process monitoring tool to see if there's anything running in the background while you hear it making the noise.

The solution would be to replace the part making the noise, whether that's the PSU or something else. It's ultimately a hardware defect.

Or, it could be the new disk(s), too.

I've never heard of an NVME with coil whine, but maybe they increase power consumption enough to trigger the issue? Or having extra disks in the system triggers some periodic background tasks that increase power usage. If you're on Suse, that likely means you're using Btrfs, which tends to do that.

[–] steel_for_humans@piefed.social 0 points 4 weeks ago

I'd say it's the opposite. It happens when the system is IDLE, not when it's processing something.