What Is Coil Whine?
On a pure technical level, coil whine refers to an undesirable noise emitted by an electronic component vibrating as power runs through an electrical cable. Just about anything with a power source can create coil whine to some degree, but it’s usually caused by an electrical current going through a power-regulating component like a transformer or inductor, causing its electrical wiring to vibrate at a variable frequency.
This happens in almost all electrical devices, usually at a frequency and volume that’s inaudible to humans, especially inside a metal or plastic PC case.
But when you’re dealing with high-powered components in modern gaming PCs, especially the graphics card and power supply, these vibrations can be audible. This is especially true for anyone who’s sensitive to high-frequency noises. In bad cases, you can actually hear the pitch of the coil whine change as the GPU draws more or less power, and the electrical frequency across various components shifts. It might be particularly noticeable when running a 3D game or high-intensity graphics application. Coil whine can be especially noticeable—not to mention frustrating!—on otherwise “silent” PCs, like low-power home theater PCs or gaming PCs with a liquid cooling system.
Coil whine is really nothing to be concerned about. It can be annoying, of course, but it isn’t like a rattling engine or a squeaking wheel—the noise is a byproduct of your PC and graphics card’s normal operation. Your system isn’t losing any performance or longevity because of coil whine.
(Note: if you hear a distinct hissing or high-pitched whistling instead of a buzz or scratch, that might be the altogether different phenomenon known as “capacitor squeal.” This is something to be concerned about, since it indicates a failing component.)
What Can I Do About It?
Sadly, there isn’t an easy fix for coil whine, like an updated driver…
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