On Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 8:02 AM, Nikos Chantziaras <[email protected]> wrote: > This is a question that is off topic of course, but I'm not sure *where* it > would be on-topic. Considering that Gentoo users are also often so-called > "enthusiasts", I'll drop the question here ;) > > In KDE (3), when enabling the "fade" effect for menus, clicking on a menu > results in a faint, high-pitched tone coming from somewhere inside the PC > case. The tone lasts for the duration of the fade effect (should about 0.2 > seconds). This is happening on more than one machines. You have to listen > carefully to make out the sound, but it's there. > > So the question is simple: where does the sound come from and why?
I have a Core 2 Duo E6600, with Abit In9-32X Max motherboard and I get the loud hissing noise. It seems to basically happen during CPU load that is not balanced between the two cores. In other words, if both cores are idle or both cores are busy, there is no noise, but if only one core is busy it makes a loud hissing sound. I've heard a similar noise coming from the video card (I've assumed) on an IBM laptop. Whenever there is heavy video I/O it makes a hissing sound. I can't remember the exact reasoning, but I do recall being told "it's normal" and that it varies from one system to another, even with the same hardware. I think it's related to capacitors or voltage regulator or something like that. (I am not an electrical engineer) When trying KDE4 with all the desktop effects, it was really annoying, everything I did would cause the hissing noise, presumably because it's using more CPU load to do basic things. So, in other words, "it's normal". :) Paul
