Noise on computer backplane

[rperini]

This is weird. When Running Folding@Home (which is almost continuous) my speaker has started making a grinder-like noise. i turned off the audio output and the noise continued, so it is not part of the audio output. i unplugged the speaker input and it stopped, but if i touch the input connector to the computer back plane or any ground point, the grinding noise reappears. to its a ground loop problem... but why is it correlated to running the folding@home app? it stops when i stop Folding. it does not happen with any other applications, though i am not sure i have any apps that are as computationally intensive. has anybody heard of this? i am assuming it may be coming from high capacity use of the CPU.... but why ? and why did this just start after i've been folding for over a month? any ideas on how to stop the noise? maybe i need to attach a grounding wire from the computer to a ground in my home? open to any ideas on this.

[MeeLee]

Might be a PSU/grounding issue.
You could perhaps try to plug your PC into a noise filter, or power conditioner, like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002D017M

[toTOW]

It could also be coil whine from the CPU VRM/GPU VRM/PSU ...

You could try to run stress test programs (like OCCT) to see if you can reproduce the noise.

[rperini]

Might be a PSU/grounding issue.
You could perhaps try to plug your PC into a noise filter, or power conditioner, like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002D017M

thank you for the suggestion... that might work... but how about a grounding cord like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Grounding-Ground ... NrPXRydWU=

[bruce]

How old is your computer? My guess is that the noise you're hearing is a cooling fan that dying. The unlubricated bearings in cheap fans have a finite life.

[ajm]

It could very well be an audio driver problem. It's actually very common. If so, right click on Start button -> Device Manager -> Sound, video and game controllers -> Audio (for example Realtek) -> Update of Uninstall (it will be installed automatically at reboot). If the problem disappears after uninstalling and reappears after reboot, it's probably due to some audio hardware issue.

It could also be a crackling produced by electrical discharges inside your PC case. It can happen if your PSU is too weak (and maybe also if not well grounded, as MeeLee suggested). See this video for extreme examples of the phenomenon: https://youtu.be/Ezk9OA7aKOE

[MeeLee]

Might be a PSU/grounding issue.
You could perhaps try to plug your PC into a noise filter, or power conditioner, like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002D017M

thank you for the suggestion... that might work... but how about a grounding cord like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Grounding-Ground ... NrPXRydWU=

I thought about a grounding pin for a while, however, if one of your phases is bad, I'm not sure if you'll fault trip the breaker like this.
If too much power goes down the ground wire, you'll lose power, and it might damage electronics.
Which is why I didn't suggest it before.
But you can definitely try!