DMF wrote:
"hupjack" wrote:

I've got your joe-average ATX case and I can hear a faint hissing
coming from the power supply even after the computer is shut
down. I can kill the sound by flipping the switch on the back of
the power supply (which kills power into the psu). I know "faint
hissing" isn't super descriptive, but can anybody tell me whether I
should be afraid of this psu? Is in the process of frying itself? its
capacitor? or some other part that I'd rather not fry? Or is it no
big deal and some psus make a bit of noise? I don't have any past
experience with this hardware, so I'm afraid I can't say if it
used to be quieter or not.


I think your power supply is dying. The high-pitched whine indicates

To me, a whine and a hiss are entirely different things.

A whine I might be concerned about. I doubt a hiss portends more than
the usual evil associated with PCs.

bad capacitors -- power supplies should be silent when the computer
is off but still plugged in. I would replace it before it fails, especially
if
it is more than 3 yrs old. Power supplies are cheap and easy to replace
so why take a chance. Bad voltages can create havoc on a PC resulting
in spurious reboots, corrupted data or damaged hardware (e.g. hard
drive).

Regards,
David




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