[SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

MrCelticFox · 2021-12-30 02:20:55

I haven't seen this mentioned in this section so apologies if this is a duplicate.

I updated all my packages about a month ago, amongst which was Gnome. They introduced new power saving features I didn't have before:

*Power Mode*
- Performance
- Balanced
- Power Saver

I selected Performance and I started hearing a strange grinding noise from the CPU-area, similar to what an older HDD sounds like when under load (except I don't have a HDD installed..).
If I switch to Balanced it only happens a little and on Power Saver it goes away completely (the way it always was before).

Has anyone else noticed this or an equivalent side effect?
Also what is making the noise? I don't think it's the fans because they have their own distinct noises, and turn on and off independently of this one, but what other parts can cause that noise?

Last edited by MrCelticFox (2021-12-30 23:21:03)

seth · 2021-12-30 09:47:13

Did you check/compare the fan speeds w/ eg. "sensors"?
The CPU could cause a high pitched, constant beeeeeeeeep, but "grinding" sounds like the fans.
Maybe grinding D.U.S.T.?

Last edited by seth (2021-12-30 09:47:24)

MrCelticFox · 2021-12-30 13:07:30

Unfortunately I don't have fan speeds in my sensors output, just temperatures for the various cards and drives, and the battery voltage. I think I did look for them before to disable my "smart" fan control, but they weren't controllable in my laptop

I agree a CPU shouldn't grind ^^ and in an old machine I'd have sworn it was the HDD because it's almost the same noise, and it reacts to certain types of input (like moving the mouse a lot will make it "grind" more). Again this only happens on Gnome's "Performance" power setting and a little with the "Balanced" setting, and it wasn't there before the upgrade.

I'm open to the idea that it is the fans because they are the only (hopefully) moving part in that area, but they make their own normal fan noise, which goes up and down with workload, and sometimes switches off when it's cool enough. The grinding noise however seems independent of fan speed, it's there when the fan is off or when it's at max. I should also mention that the normal fan speed seems unaffected by the change in Gnome power setting.
So I don't see how one fan could make two independent noise patterns simultaneously? (And what is Gnome changing that makes it happen more?)

seth · 2021-12-30 14:28:29

Does the sound come from the case or from the speakers?

I assume gnome does little more than controlling https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/CPU_fr … _governors but I can't imagine how this leads to "grinding" noises (but for the semi-ruled out fans, obviously)

MrCelticFox · 2021-12-30 16:49:07

The sound is coming from the case.

You're right about Gnome using the governors though, using the monitoring command from that page I can see the CPU frequencies go from 800MHz on "Power Saver" to 3.8GHz on "Performance", on "Balanced" they drift between the two. So the noise is caused by the CPU being run at maximum capacity on all cores (even though it's not actually doing any work), and the fans don't kick in until it's hot enough.

With this info I did some googling about possible noises resulting from overclocking and came up with this possible culprit: "coil whine". I've heard this before in other things but it seems scratchier when in CPUs and GPUs...
I also found this video which is pretty much the same sound as what I have: https://youtu.be/QkvAc-YqxJc?t=18

seth · 2021-12-30 21:26:09

Seems you identified it … I wasn't aware that it could make *that* kind of sound.
(Though it's reasonable since it's ultimately just vibrations)

Does it stop if you gently press the noisy area eg. w/ your palm on the case?

Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

MrCelticFox · 2021-12-30 23:23:34

Does it stop if you gently press the noisy area eg. w/ your palm on the case?

I'm afraid I can neither confirm nor deny, I tried and didn't see a noticeable difference, but my case also isn't that flexible...

Marked as solved

Arch Linux

#1 2021-12-30 02:20:55

[SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

#2 2021-12-30 09:47:13

Re: [SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

#3 2021-12-30 13:07:30

Re: [SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

#4 2021-12-30 14:28:29

Re: [SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

#5 2021-12-30 16:49:07

Re: [SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

#6 2021-12-30 21:26:09

Re: [SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

#7 2021-12-30 23:23:34

Re: [SOLVED] CPU "grinding" noise since GNOME upgrade

Board footer