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Ask HN: Do I really hear my CPU/GPU or am I getting crazy?
When I drag a really big layer in Photoshop a high pitch sound comes from my Macbook. When I stop dragging the layer, it stops. I have SSD and you can clearly hear that sound when there is no fans running. Is it possible to hear your CPU/GPU?
- yunyeng 11y agoHow do you know fans not running?
- ratfacemcgee 11y agoIf it's the new Macbook, it doesn't have any fans.
- karlshea 11y agoYou're not crazy, it's called "coil whine": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP73edpQwgc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP73edpQwgc
- tarikozket 11y agoThank you very much!
- detaro 11y agoYou are probably hearing "coil whine", where parts of the power supply circuits are vibrating and creating noise. If it only happens under very specific load, you can get the effect of only doing it while doing something specific. Displays also can make noise depending on what it is displayed, which probably is a similar mechanism.
- tarikozket 11y agoThank you very much!
- duncan_bayne 11y agoBack in the 80s I could "hear" the CPU of my old 8 bit micro by turning the sound volume up to maximum. I assume that I was hearing some sort of interference, as that system also used to mess with nearby televisions.
- davelnewton 11y agoNo.
- tarikozket 11y agoOK.