Fix to coilwhine on Maximus Hero XIII

EDITED - now completed fixed. Update BIOS to latest, go to Advanced in UEFI, find acoustic management options, and try the following settings:

Attachment 90339

Enjoy!

Hmm, very interesting, i'll give it a try.

However i've already fixed my coil whine by disabling the C-States of the CPU.
You see, i noticed that my problem was actually the *low* VCore voltage that was applied to the CPU, while idling, especially when idling + moving the mouse.
Maybe your coil whine had a different cause than mine, who knows.

It's good to see that it resolved your problem though, i will re-enable C-States and try it.
Thanks for the update on that topic !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave2150

Hey guys. This is a bit late for those that returned the motherboard already, but I found a solution to the coilwhine issue (that worked for me at least).

I've been using the board for just under 24 hours with my 11900k, and suddenly out of nowhere, I was greeted with bird chirping coilwhine noise, at idle. Rebooted to BIOS, no coilwhine there, so thought it might be software. From past experience with similar issues with GPU's, I went hunting for any software that's been auto installed by windows updates and found this little chestnut:

https://i.imgur.com/nlPa1B1.png

Stop this service, disable it, and the noise completely goes away :) The process that this service starts was also using 4-5% CPU...

P.S. I believe this was installed via Asus Armory, which found it's way onto a fresh Windows10 20H2 install via automatic updates.

Hope this helps someone, Cheers :)

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That's AURA lighting service. If you have crate installed RGB effects wont work without it. If you dont care then Id suggest going into windows update advanced options and disable automatic driver updates. Ive never had this download from windows update but its guaranteed if you install Aura or Armory Crate.

Coil Whine is dependent on GPU load. You have something funky going on if you get it at idle. Do you run any HDDs?

I had this coil whine as well, but the AURA or Armoury Crate or whatever was not installed. So that was not the case with my system at all.
Disabling C-States worked, but I did not want to leave that disabled.
For me, I was using a 10900K, and the whine was only present when playing some video or audio file via some player, otherwise, the YT or whatever, did not produce the same result.

I'm afraid Lighting Service is not the cause of the problem for me either. I don't even have that service running.
It has to do with low VCore in relation to VID.

This is clearly a VRM problem related to VCore changes.
I've tested it multiple times. Vcore fluctuations = Coil Whine.

Instead of disabling *all* C-States (which works), i tried a different approach.
I switched from Auto / Adaptive Voltage for VCore to Manual.

As expected, applying a fixed cpu voltage completely removes the coil whine issue.
I will also try to change the "VRM Switching Frequency" in Bios, as many people have suggested that it may solve the problem too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave2150

Hey guys. This is a bit late for those that returned the motherboard already, but I found a solution to the coilwhine issue (that worked for me at least).

I've been using the board for just under 24 hours with my 11900k, and suddenly out of nowhere, I was greeted with bird chirping coilwhine noise, at idle. Rebooted to BIOS, no coilwhine there, so thought it might be software. From past experience with similar issues with GPU's, I went hunting for any software that's been auto installed by windows updates and found this little chestnut:

https://i.imgur.com/nlPa1B1.png

Stop this service, disable it, and the noise completely goes away :) The process that this service starts was also using 4-5% CPU...

P.S. I believe this was installed via Asus Armory, which found it's way onto a fresh Windows10 20H2 install via automatic updates.

Hope this helps someone, Cheers :)

---

This has nothing to do with the Lighting Service and is caused by the change in CPU usage and current demand. Power saving modes can exacerbate it, but you will often always get some noise when there are rapid changes in current.

I was just wondering, since the board has two 8 pin CPU power connectors, are you using one or both of those?

A month or so ago I complained about the Lighting service keeping the processor running at high speeds. That was eventually fixed, I believe, but I haven't checked lately.

Coil whine can be caused by multiple events. I have seen descriptions of it being so bad on a Dell system that the student could not stay in class when it was happening..

My board will be here maybe Thursday so I will check when I get it set up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Silent Scone@ROG

This has nothing to do with the Lighting Service and is caused by the change in CPU usage and current demand. Power saving modes can exacerbate it, but you will often always get some noise when there are rapid changes in current.

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Thank you for clarifying it Silent Scone. It makes sense.
So, let me see if i got this right. If for example i set an OC "By Core Usage" with Auto Voltage + V/F (and C-States Enabled) as follows:

1-core : 53x
2-core : 53x
3-core : 52x
4-core : 52x
5-core : 51x
6-core : 51x
7-core : 50x
8-core : 50x

(ex:) V/F: 0.60v - 1.45v

i should expect some high coil whine, if the application core-usage jumps all over the place, simply because the frequences (and voltages due to V/F Curve) jump all over the place.

However, if an "Sync All Cores" Manual/Fixed OC is applied, Vcore will be fixed, and thus no coil whine should be observed. Am i correct ?
Same thing applies when all C-States are disabled, since VCore stays max.

I wouldn't mind disabling C-States, however the problem is that when i disabled C-States, my "By Core Usage" OC was messed up, locking the boost to the lowest core-ratio. Should have i disabled "specific" C-State(s) or changed "Package C-State Limit" ?

** UPDATE **

I think i can confirm there is a bug in Z590 Hero Bios, with power saving when OCing using "By Core Usage".
After extensive testing i found that:

• "Sync All Core" 50x + Auto Voltage = NO Coil Whine (C-States = Auto).

• "By Core Usage" 50x-50x-50x-50x-50x-50x-50x-50x + Auto Voltage = CONSTANT Coil Whine. (C-States = Auto)

The above two OC configurations should result into the same thing, same clocks, same voltage applied. Only "By Core Usage" though results in constant coil whine.

Few Things About "By Core Usage":
It's weird that while all "high performance" / "balanced" / "power save" modes in Windows behave as they should in term of clock speeds (meaning while idle, either: Full Speed / Base Clock / Minimum Clock ), in terms of voltage there is some strange behaviour, resulting in voltage drops to 0.666v in EVERY profile.

thi sis being looked into and will be resolved soon

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shamino

thi sis being looked into and will be resolved soon

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Thank you as always Shamino, much appreciated !

can u try this bios to see if the whine is still there?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eknkwm150i...-0037.rar?dl=0

I noticed some coil whine on my x570 crosshair viii impact and changing VRM switching frequency from Auto to Optimize help a lot. Now i need to have my ears 1cm from board to hear it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shamino

can u try this bios to see if the whine is still there?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eknkwm150i...-0037.rar?dl=0

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Still there. No change for me unfortunately.
Even at stock bios settings without OC it's the same noise, and same problems with windows power modes.
Only Sync-All-Core OC with auto or static voltage or disabled C-States solves the issue and makes power modes work properly.

I think the ehaviour with power modes is normal.

Also, just built a system with a TUF Z590 Plus Wifi, updated to the latest BIOS, CPU is a 10700K, all stock, coil whine is more widespread than it is on the M13H I have, meaning it's present almost all the time, although reduced, while on the Hero it was present only in certain scenarios.

So far, no coil whine on my new system. Running an i9 11900k using the 605 Bios. I am using both CPU power plugs.

No Overclock except I think my 4000 memory is being run at 4700.. Since NVMe drives can be the source of certain noises, I am running a Samsung 980 Pro..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shamino

can u try this bios to see if the whine is still there?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eknkwm150i...-0037.rar?dl=0

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I forgot all about this thread. The day after my post, my coilwhine was back, even with the lighting service terminated, so that clearly wasn't the issue.

If I disable C states, as others mentioned, I get no coilwhine, but I don't want to do this as I want low power idle.

@shamino - I'm using the "0013" BIOS (dated 15th April) currently, still have coilwhine with that (though it did fix my random 'watchdog' BSOD crashes) - is it worth me trying the "0037" version you posted here, since that's presumably older?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shamino

can u try this bios to see if the whine is still there?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eknkwm150i...-0037.rar?dl=0

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Hi Shamino,

Is there a solution yet to this Coil Whine issue? That is not a Beta version?

It seems you work at Asus, I am just trying to get a clear answer to what is happening. I already sent my first HERO XIII board back due to the board noise VRM/Coil whine and I got another board and its the same. I tried to contact customer service but there is no phone lines and emails came back to send the back/RMA.

At the moment this situation does not seem right and I would like to know if there will be a fix for this issue.

Thanks

That is not a BETA version BIOS, it is Alpha version :-) I think that is whay 00 at the begining of the version number means.
As for the coil whine, do not hold your breath, I think all boards have it. My M13H has it, my Z590 TUF Plus WiFi has it as well, in the very same conditions. Thing is, they have totally different VRMs, starting with the controller and ending with the actual coils, powerstages, capacitors, everything is different, except for the coil whine.

Can confirm also getting coil while on STRIX Z590-E, 0704 Beta BIOS, 11700K set at 52,52,51,51,50,50,50,50.

Not so bad on the desktop, noticeable when opening web pages, virtually constant while gaming though. Sounds like crickets.

I don't wanna sound weird, but something is really wrong with the Z590 Asus motherboards and Rocket Lake.
Don't get me wrong, i love Asus products and their quality. But i didn't have coil whine in the beginning, until i installed the i7-11700K.
Then problems start appearing and getting worse day after day...

Don't know what is going on, but it feels like the CPU is actually causing damage / degredation to the VRMs of the motherboard, or the motherboard just can't properly handle the CPU. I mean i have no other explanation.

I also don't like the fact that Bios updates take that long, with many things still not working properly, and the latest one being *BETA*.

And then this:

"ASUS does not give any warranties, whether express or limited, as to the suitability, compatibility, or usability of the UEFI, its firmware or any of its content. Except as provided in the Product warranty and to the maximum extent permitted by law, ASUS is not responsible for direct, special, incidental or consequential damages resulting from using this beta BIOS."

I don't know, it's just weird.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EncodeGR

I don't wanna sound weird, but something is really wrong with the Z590 Asus motherboards and Rocket Lake.
Don't get me wrong, i love Asus products and their quality. But i didn't have coil whine in the beginning, until i installed the i7-11700K.
Then problems start appearing and getting worse day after day...

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If I understand, you ran a 10th Gen processor on the board for a while? I suppose some thought might be given to that situation being involved with your system.

I guess I am lucky, I do not have the coil whine and I never ran a 10th Gen on this board.

I did not purchase this board until a couple of weeks after the 11th Gen processors were released. I got the impression this board was not available for about two weeks just before I purchased it. Perhaps some changes were made in the assembly line..

I tried quite a few Z590 motherboards from ASUS, they ALL, without exception, had/have coil whine. I very much doubt there are some that have no coil whine, perhaps one just does not hear it.
It's there with 10th gen, with 11th gen, no matter, and it's quite faint in normal situations, but obvious when the CPU runs at Turbo speeds but with low or no load, hence low VCore. Like...High Performance power scheme and idle, or some such scenario.
Also, as I mentioned above, it does not seem to be related to the componentes used in the VRM.
If I were to speculate, I would say it's related to how the high frequency and low VCore are handled by BIOS, and could be fixed with a BIOS updated, OR could simply be how Intel design specs are.

BIOS 0707 (Hero XIII) - no changes, coil whine still here.....I hope it can be fixed by new bios...don't want to make RMA and spend time....

https://www.overclock.net/threads/ov.../post-28784139
0801 adds acoustic noise mitigation option, search for it,
enable it and
try slow slew rate fast/4

Thank you, Shamino.
Can this be available for the other Z590 boards from ASUS ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shamino

https://www.overclock.net/threads/ov.../post-28784139
0801 adds acoustic noise mitigation option, search for it,
enable it and
try slow slew rate fast/4

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Acoustic Noise Mitigation - Enabled
IA VR Domain - True or False/ Fast/4
GT VR Domain - True or False Fast/4
SA VR Domain - True or False/ Fast/4
Tried different options, no effect. What exactly we should do?
https://i.ibb.co/Vwzn1zy/IMG-0417.jpg

Also, I have a feeling that the coil whine is related to the iGPU. Or rather, the iGPU VRM.
This should be easy to verify with either an F CPU, or even better, with an APEX board which is lacking the iGPU VRM part.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ataemonus

Also, I have a feeling that the coil whine is related to the iGPU. Or rather, the iGPU VRM.
This should be easy to verify with either an F CPU, or even better, with an APEX board which is lacking the iGPU VRM part.

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Apex 13 coil whine too soo...

OK, so not related to the iGPU VRM then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shamino

https://www.overclock.net/threads/ov.../post-28784139
0801 adds acoustic noise mitigation option, search for it,
enable it and
try slow slew rate fast/4

---

Thank you for coming back to us Shamino. I tried the 0707 BIOS and there is still Coil Whine. I have not yet tried the 0801 version but from what someone else has already said it seems that this does not fix this issue either (Board is Hero XIII).

I personally want to start using this computer properly for work as well as gaming but feel in a bit of a rut to be honest with the coil whine issue, I am not happy with the noise it seems excessive for a £450+ board.

I was looking forward to the experience of building a new PC and this really has taken the edge off.

Will it be possible for BIOS changes to fix the coil whine or is this something that is inherently going to be part of this/these board/s? (I am on still on the fence slightly as to whether I send the board back/RMA).

Thanks

Also using XIII Hero here, PSU is Corsair RM850x, GPU is Asus Strix RTX 2080 Super, 2 WD SATA HDD , 1 Samsung 970 Pro M.2 SSD on M.2_3 slot, I have no coil whine on first day of completing build and running, both 8pin CPU is plugged on the motherboard, BIOS was 0232, updated to 0605, no coil whine either, I am very picky, sensitive and high standard to noises, so my environment is always quiet as it needed to be, right now most obvious noises that I can hear from the case is my NZXT Z73 AIO Cooler pump and that is also quiet enough (I had to get my head closer to the case to be able to hear it). So could anyone with this motherboard and coil whine issue record it, upload to Youtube and let me hear it so I can know what kind of coil whine noise is it and double triple check if my motherboard have this kind of noise for you guys.

If you can hear the pump, that is not even close to quiet. The most obvious noice, when the CPU is in idle and coil whine is to minimum, is the bubbles in my Pepsi can. Otherwise, I have to get very close to the case to hear the coil whine, but the fans in the system are literally un-hearable, at least by me.
Coil whine becomes noticeable in certain conditions, described previously.

all AIO pump always have noise, it depands your standard, perhaps your level of quiet is when you attach your ear to the pump and you still can not hear anything, then thats a different story, my pump's noise isnt that noticable at all, i think you are being particular to what I said, what I meant is there is minimum noise i can hear from my case , if wanting to pick a noise that I can hear, it would be the pump, AND I have to get my head very close to the case to hear it, are you telling me theres no noise at all from your case , no noise from you fan or cooler, even when you get your head very close to the case ? and you can only hear your coil whine ? I am very keen to hear your silent computer if you can record and put it up on youtube, if you still dont understand then theres nothing i can do, I am just trying to help. to add more information, i am also running 10900k, c-states auto, asus armory installed. what audio/video player are you using that you can hear coil whine when audio/video are played? what cpu cooler are you using, how many fans do you have in your case? and what rpm , dba are they? if i put a coke can on my table of course the bubble would be the loudest thing in my room as well, much louder than my pump if you still dont know how quiet my pump is, anyway why don't you record the coil whine and put it up on youtube ?

anyway I've heard coil whine from 1 of my old old graphics card many years ago, also seem youtubers video like Linus showing coil whines, i know what kind of noise that is, and i was very uncomfortable to hear it and if i can hear anything like coil whine, i would definitely notice it since i hate it and i am very senstive to it, was what i meant.

Well, there are 3 possiblities.
1. Your board has no coil whine, which I doubt, honestly.
2. You cannot hear the coil noise, as it's usually faint and not very high pitched, due to the pump or other noises.
3. You cannot hear the coil noise because your hearing is not picking up the frequency, it happens, with age one starts hearing some frequencies but stop hearing others.

ok yeah yeah i will just leave it to you then, its always other people's problem not yours, i've seem some ppl like your kind, just wanna say instead of judging every XIII Hero board have coil whine like yours or judging other people's hearing problem. perhaps you should try different PSU or GFX, and also google it, yes there are few posts that saying they have coil whine also but ii've also seem other posts saying their XIII Hero doesn't have coil whine either, just because you have it does not mean everyone else must have it, if others not have it then it must be other people's hearing issue wow, okay lol

I loled, thank you for that.

The only coil whine i notice is on boot up only. benching gameing or surfing web. its quiet.
really noticeable on boot for me only.