AC adapter buzzing noise when laptop under load.

[Barrett_killz]

Greetings. I tried to launch a CPU intensive game today, and as soon as I start it, I hear some sort of a quiet buzzing sound coming from my AC adapter. As soon as I shut it, the noise is gone. I'm starting to worry that the adapter might be dying. Tried different power outlets, same problem. Does anyone know if it's normal or what is actually happening?

 

[Dunlop0078]

It's called coil whine. It's usually quite normal and nothing to worry about, a coil in the power supply is hitting a resonant frequency under load and is vibrating thus producing the buzz. It's a very common phenomenon found mostly in GPUs when running at very high framerates say in a menu or something, or in power supplies.

 

[Barrett_killz]

Wow, now this is something new. The fun part is that the sound appears and disappears exactly when I want it to. For example, when I close the game or ALT+TAB from the game, it's just gone. Hopefully it won't melt, because I already had one adapter melted, after I messed it up a while ago.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Wow, now this is something new. The fun part is that the sound appears and disappears exactly when I want it to. For example, when I close the game or ALT+TAB from the game, it's just gone. Hopefully it won't melt, because I already had one adapter melted, after I messed it up a while ago.

Well yes it will likely appear and disappear depending on load, if you close a game or alt-tab from it you just took a large load off of the power supply. Coil whine wont cause a power supply to melt lol.

 

[Barrett_killz]

Thanks, I don't know much about electronics so this kind of worried the heck out of me. Best of luck to you!

 

[Dunlop0078]

Thanks, I don't know much about electronics so this kind of worried the heck out of me. Best of luck to you!

No problem. Just search 'coil whine' if you are worried about it, it's quite a common issue.

 

[captaincharisma]

if your laptop is still under warranty you could always try to get a replacement adapter from the manufacturer or purchase a new one that will work for your laptop

 

[Barrett_killz]

Yeah, I did some research, seems like a pretty "natural" thing. The adapter I'm using is a replacement one, not an original adapter, but I'll definitely get a new original one in the near future, as long as it's just a coil whine.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Yeah, I did some research, seems like a pretty "natural" thing. The adapter I'm using is a replacement one, not an original adapter, but I'll definitely get a new original one in the near future, as long as it's just a coil whine.

Is it just some cheap power brick you got on amazon or something? If so getting an OEM brick would not be a bad idea. Normally quality power supply's coat their coil's is some type of rubber or plastic to try and prevent coil whine, cheaper power supply's often wont.

 

[Barrett_killz]

Pretty much yeah. I'm a student, and short on paper at the moment, so I decided to cheap out on a power adapter, which is not a good thing to do, of course. Problem is, I have an ASUS K501, which requires a 4.74A adapter. The original one is pretty expensive, it's about $80. But I'll buy a new one, for now I'll stick to the buzzing one, it doesn't bother me too much..

 

[captaincharisma]

Pretty much yeah. I'm a student, and short on paper at the moment, so I decided to cheap out on a power adapter, which is not a good thing to do, of course. Problem is, I have an ASUS K501, which requires a 4.74A adapter. The original one is pretty expensive, it's about $80. But I'll buy a new one, for now I'll stick to the buzzing one, it doesn't bother me too much..

just to remind you that it is understandable if you are on a tight budget and have to cheap out on some things but cheeping out on something major like a power supply for a laptop is not really one of those things. this can start out as coil wine but next could be a power surge from it malfunctioning and then you will be out a laptop which will cost a heck of a lot more then a power adapter