What is that high pitch or electric noise coming from my computer?
In some situations you may experience electrical crackling or a high pitch noise coming from your PC or notebook. This electrical crackling or high pitch noise is often referred to as coil whine. When you use your PC or notebook in a quite environment or without headphones, coil whine is more likely to be heard.
Note: Coil whine is not a hardware defect and is within the acoustic tolerance for the level of sound emitted by a PC or notebook during regular operation.
The cause of coil whine
Coil whine is a noise that is caused by vibrations in electromagnetic coils, for example in the video card or another component in your PC or notebook. When electric current passes through an inductor, the copper wire in this component will vibrate against the core. This may result in a high, audible frequency.
In most situations, coil whine comes from components in which more current passes through, such as the video card or power supply.
The effects of coil whine
Other than the electrical crackling or a high pitch noise there are no negative effects for your system. If you are experiencing coil whine, it does not mean that your PC or notebook (or a component) is defective, and it does not impact the performance of your PC or notebook.
How to prevent coil whine
Since coil whine is the result of the physical process that occurs when using your PC or notebook, there are few ways to prevent this effect. Other than using your device in a noise-isolating case, the most straightforward option is using a pair of headphones or PC speakers.
Note: Acer does as much as possible to minimize the effects of coil whine in Acer products. Unfortunately, like any computer manufacturer, we cannot completely eliminate coil whine.
