[cyberspacegenie]

Is there a possibility that the PSU just isnt powerful enough and its simply straining under the load. I bought the case before the CPU and was originally planning to get an E6600, hence I wasn`t worried about 430w not being enough juice. At the last minute I decided to opt for the quad but I figured it would be ok as the rest of the set-up was modest. I just went on a site to calculate the power and it came out at 500w. Could the prob be its simply too much for the psu under load and hence my stupidity means that I need to go out and buy a new psu?

This is the entire system breakdown - what do you guys reckon in terms of power:

Q6600 (GO) - overclocked to 3.2Ghz @ 1.4v
P5K-E/Wi-fi
2 RAM sticks (1GB x 2) DDR2 800 RAM (1.95v)
Asus EN8600GT silent (passive - no fan)
Samsung HD501LJ SATA HD (500GB) x 1
Asus DVD RW
2 x 120cm fans (1600RPM - currently 1100RPM)
1 x 100cm fan (1500RPM - currently 1100RPM)
Antec spot fan (2200RPM currently 1300RPM)
scythe Karmameter fan controller
floppy drive with card reader

The comp was built at the end of July. overclocked in Aug. I did try get to a higher overclock a few weeks back and pushed it to 3.4Ghz (1.46v) This problem appeared about 2-3 weeks ago. its possible its related but I dont connect the 2 events together (i.e. I didnt notice the problem directly after or during the overclock) so i dont think it happened directly after this - maybe a week or so later or possible even before. The problem does seem to be directly linked to the voltage though since at 3Ghz (1.3v) its much less noticeable. At 3.2Ghz (1.4v) and 2.4Ghz (using bios defaults - 1.375v) it is much more noticeable.

I hope this all makes sense!

[Krlll]

450W PSU for that rig=not enough imo.

[cyberspacegenie]

Ok, the problem isnt the power supply - I just changed it putting in a brand new 620w PSU ,(I also brought the old PSU back to the shop and they gave me a new one) but the high pitched whine is as strong as ever . So its definitely the MoBo or GPU. I bought the MoBo from the same place that I bought the original Case/PSU from and as they just gave me a new power supply I dont want to bring the MoBo back too unless I'm very sure that it is the culprit. I dont really want to bring the vide back to the other shop in case they test it and tell me nothing is wrong (although that may be the last option)

Any ideas on how I can find out for sure which is the culprit?

I dont have a spare PCI express card, or know anyone that could lend me one to try out. The only thing I have is an old AGP card but I'm assuming that is not usable in a PCI/PCI express slot.

The noise also kicks in a little at start up. Would taking the video card out and starting the system without a card be an option (obviously I wouldnt be able to see anything and would have to shut down using the power switch) or would I just get MoBo errors and hence it wouldnt start up?

[Insomnia]

I think it would work booting up without one. Of course you wouldn't be able to see anything, but you would be able to hear. Probably best to get the advice of a more technology-savvy person though, because my ideas aren't always 100% sound.

[Krlll]

It will not start without the graphics card.
The board does not have an AGP slot so you cannot test with your AGP card.
Your options are limited.
You have no other hardware to change and replace to help isolate the fault.
The motherboard I see also uses high quality(lol)capacitors so any swelling on the top will be difficult to see.
What can you do?
You must either try a different graphics card or bite the bullet and submit the Mobo for RMA

[cyberspacegenie]

Thanks Krill, its pretty much what I thought so thanks for clarifying. I'll bring the video card back first and then the mobo if there's still a problem. I really hope its the video card, really would like to avoid taking out the mobo again.