Z620 Workstation - Static noise

[MtothaJ]

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@JderulWoodsend wrote:

Yes, it is a common problem.

The HP Authorized seller replied to me that "the noise is normal to appear after a period of using the workstation, and if all the parts are working well, then there is no need to repair the power supply".

So I will have to have fun with this noise from now on.

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The main issue is: is it the motherboard or the power supply that is causing the problem?

If it is the power supply then this is a relatively easy fix - put in a nice aftermarket PSU and use a 24pin to 18 pin adapter cable for the motherboard power supply connection.

It may be a small thing but I found this mightly annoying and it the first time I encountered such sounds from a PC - neither machines I had before or after the Z420 has such a  problem.

[JderulWoodsend]

Its the first time for me too. This problem comes from Power supply .

It is not that simple, as it is not any aftermarket PSU which can go in.  It is some HP dimensions that fits in

[MtothaJ]

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@JderulWoodsend wrote:

Its the first time for me too. This problem comes from Power supply .

It is not that simple, as it is not any aftermarket PSU which can go in.  It is some HP dimensions that fits in

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Sorry I was referring to the Z420 which will accept a standard ATX sized power supply (+adapter cable for the mobo connection). But the topic is about the Z620 and you are right that it uses a propriatery PSU and in this case repalcing the PSU is a lot more problematic and will not be possible without some major modifications, if at all.

Overall, one thing I know after my experience with the Z420 is that I will never again buy a PC which uses any sort of propriatery parts since you a severly limited both on an upgrade and parts replacement / maintenance level.

[JderulWoodsend]

Yes but these proprietary PC are well engineered. I think I only go on these

[JderulWoodsend]

Also this sound is hearable when moving the mouse ( cursor)

[El_Sessero]

In my case, moving the mouse dosn't make any difference, only network adapter when heavily used intesifies the noise, so its probably different issue.  

Anyway, I'm returning my to the resellers for warranty replacement. Will see what they will come up with 🙂

[MtothaJ]

Just to confirm that this is a definietly a power supply issue.

I have by chance recreated the Z420 static noise and also noise when scrolling web pages in Internet Explorer when the system is under load by switching power supplies in my X79 system. I had a BeQuiet 600W PSU, but switched this out for a brand new EVGA 850W BQ PSU - instentenously the sounds I remember from the Z420 have returned.

Needless to say I am not to happy with that EVGA power supply and will be switching back to the Be Quiet unit.

With the Z420 the obvious solution would be to change the power supply for an ATX unit and go with ATX->HP an adapter cable.

For the Z620 since it uses a propriaterary sized PSU the situation would be more difficult but ultimately the required solution would be much the same - modding the case to take a new ATX PSU and ensuring it is appropriaterly connected to the motherboard via some sort of adapter cable.

[tomstephens89]

I have myself a Z620 with 2 CPU's and also experience the 'whine' noise. In my case the system mainly serves as my audio workstation & home office machine. Whilst I can live with it due to frequently having headphones or speakers on in the room, when I can hear it, its the most annoying thing in the world.

Luckily I have a long history of building & modifying high end PC's so ripping this to peices in order to get to the bottom of it won't be an issue for me.

Firstly... Heres what I have done already:

1. Tried multiple different graphics cards.... Noise still present.

2. Tried multiple different power supplies... Noise still present.

3. Tried mains power filters... Noise still present.

4. Tried every variation of BIOS & Windows power options... Noise still present.

From my research online, it seems as if this is a fairly common problem and is indeed Coil Whine. I have experienced coil whine before, but only from GPU's or PSU's. This whine appears to be coming from coils by the CPU sockets, riser board or mainboard I can't tell yet.

In the next day or so, I am going to dismantle my Z620 and cover the coils in hot glue in an attempt to dampen them. This is pretty common in electronics and to be honest, im suprised it hasn 't already been done.

I will report back, but this noise sounds exactly like coil whine and the lack of dampening material on the coils would appear to be a flaw in the manufacturing process. The fact that people have replaced boards and still had the issue reinforces this.

Will post back shortly.

[DGroves]

if the whine/noise really bothers you i recomend you  try a quality 3rd party pci-e sound card such as the creative line 

do not try the low end creative cards, as they lack the power/data filtering that the audigy or  x-fi  models have

uninstall the current audio drivers, then disable the device in control panel to prevent windows from auto installing the drivers again and then shutdown and install the creative card/drivers

[El_Sessero]

Hi,

In my case the noise was present only when the CPU was idle. Is this the same case? I also noticed that, then i chnge the CPU from E5-1650v2 to 1620v2 to noise was little smaller. Also then network adapter is used heavilly noise was much more intense.

were you able to identify which exact component on motherboard this noise is comming from?

I returned my and they replaced motherboard, but they noise remained. So i just returned whole unit. Currently on i7-8700K custom build but I don't see much difference in overall performance. Maybe in games 😉 I also miss this Z620 high quality case..

Im very much intrested in seeing results of attempt to fix this.

Edit: Found this video that shows exactly same issue as mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DirFjf3OO4

Noise only when in C1 State. But in HP Bios there is now way to disable this. I've tried some software methods but no luck. Maybe this is the way to fight this

(not perfect because of more power consumption... )