Ram making an odd noise

[Okasa]

So about 2 months ago i added another 2gb to my desktop to make a total of 4gb. About a week ago i noticed a wierd high pitched clicking noise that sounded kindof like a harddrive accessing different parts of the platter quickly.

I have dismissed internal cooling fans, cd drives, harddrives
I have not dismissed the PSU, but i highly doubt thats the problem as the sound is not constant and it changes its tone slightly when i access things on the computer.

When i take out all of the ram the noise dosent occur, and i do get major errors in the memtesting, but everything is erratic. I was wondering what may cause this problem? I could swap the mobo but that would take a while and i wanted to try other ideas first. it almost sounds like it makes noise whenever the ram is accesed. turns out my ram is accessed a bit, quite annoying.

 

[Ika]

If you get errors in memtest, RMA the RAM.

 

[Okasa]

sure, i agree that i should rma if that is the case, but with ram in, no memtest errors, the noise still occurs

 

[jkresh]

what voltage is the ram speced for and what are you running it at? Ram shouldn't make noise (no moving parts) but sometimes a buzzing can occur when the voltage is too low or too high (incorect voltages could also explain your memtest errors (too much could cause overheating which would lead to errors, to little could also cause errors). Some ram (ocz) wants to be run higher then spec and if you 2 sets of 2gigs are different vendors then they may want different voltages which could cause a problem.

 

[Okasa]

running them 4 5 4 11 2T @ 2.2v no memtest errors, and it still occured when i upped the timings to 5 5 5 12 2T. the sound is electrical sounding, which it would need to be with ram. also i am only running 2x1gb sticks right now to troubleshoot. Its odd that it would all of a sudden not accept these timings and voltages when they have been set for over a year without problem.

 

[Okasa]

ok now i have tried every possible configuration of the 2 sets of ram and none of them fail memtest. It still makes the audible noise. For example, when i am browsing firefox, if i am looking at one bookmark folder, then move the mouse to the right so that it opens the other, it makes a noise. It even changes the noise it makes when i am moving around in the BIOS so its not an OS problem.

 

[bendixG15]

Here's something diferent ..

Have you got a Sound Blaster audio card in that box of yours ? ?
If yes, then it may be the mouse moving around and causing the card to make noises.
People did complain about that in the past

 

[wwswimming]

it's been a long time since RAM worked at audible frequencies.

i wonder if it's some of the power processing circuitry turning on, the
PWM chips, inductors, caps etc. though they're probably running at
100+ kHz

 

[Okasa]

i think that the circuitry problem may be it. Im going to swap out the mobo and see if that fixes the problem. Also, i do in fact have the sound blaster audigy 2 zs like everybody else, but i took out everything except my ram and cpu (including my sound, wifi, and gfx card) and the sound remained.

 

[olmer]

Yes. Unlikely the new ram is making the noise itself, but it can be the cause of it putting strain on mobo components. Most likely caused by coils. If you want to keep your mobo you can try removing internal beeper or submerging coils into a glue boxes (if not done by the manufacturer already) once you have established a cause of the noise. Just use a rolled sheet of paper to check on suspect components. First though is to make sure it is not your PSU. Another silly mistake everyone makes is not disconnecting their speakers while testing.

Oops ? still reading as i type - if memtest fails at stock on any module in standalone 1st slot configuration than RMA it if it is in different slot or only in conjunction with another module/s than RMA your board (unless the default voltages are different for these modules ? which is unlikely).