Any EE's in here? Why do video cards whine?

[Zebo]

And is there is fix?

My system is totally silent but all video cards drive me crazy including new GTX 680 with EK WB.

HX620 PSU has a fan but you never hear it.

radiator is 360mm x 120mm has three 600rpm fans on it and that's it for fans.

Air enters through bottom of case where I drilled ~1000 holes and goes to top rad and out ...works mainly by induction. CPU and GPU have blocks.

Only thing I hear is whine when gaming high stress scenes.

Should I buy a video card with "solid state chokes" and does that even alleviate it?

 

[Tempered81]

From what I understand (and im not an EE) it's the inductor/choke/coil that are on each of the phases of power delivery on the board. Gets a alternating current or load level that causes it to vibrate at a really fast frequency. The vibration makes a high pitched noise like a dog whistle, then depending on the frequency of vibrations it becomes audible. A power supply with a capacitor near the end of the PCI-E power connector leads is supposed to help. The nail polish is supposed to cover the entire Inductor to the board making an air tight sound barrier. Then you could also put it in a situation where it whines the loudest (like a high-fps menu screen) and let it sit there for 48 hours to hopefully get rid of the noise on its own.

 

[ShintaiDK]

The whine have been a common thing for ages. Usually solids or glue are used today. However there can be times where its not enough. Nothing wrong with them tho besides the noise.

Perhaps we tend to focus more on it today, since the rest of the system got more quiet.

 

[Stuka87]

Ahh yes. Cooling is not going to help you at all.

Typically with video cards its caused by very high FPS. Like several hundred. Have you tried running with vsync on to see if it gets rid of it?

What you here is typically inductor whine. The best way to actually stop it is to add some glue/rtv to the top of the part(s) that are causing it. This changes what frequency they will resonate at. Which typically gets rid of the sound. Although I have not tried this on a video card, it should work. Used to have to do this at a previous job. The trick is finding out which component does it. Which means touching the tops of them while they are making the sound.

 

[Zebo]

What about these MSI cards with "solid state chokes" like Power editions and Lightnings?

I really cant tell exactly where noise is coming from covered with a full cover water block covering everything. Somewhere on card though.

What does an inductor look like?

 

[blackened23]

And is there is fix?

My system is totally silent but all video cards drive me crazy including new GTX 680 with EK WB.

HX620 PSU has a fan but you never hear it.

radiator is 360mm x 120mm has three 600rpm fans on it and that's it for fans.

Air enters through bottom of case where I drilled ~1000 holes and goes to top rad and out ...works mainly by induction. CPU and GPU have blocks.

Only thing I hear is whine when gaming high stress scenes.

Should I buy a video card with "solid state chokes" and does that even alleviate it?

Remove your shroud and put clear nail polish on the inductors/coils. Let dry several hours.

 

[Zebo]

Can you paint them please

 

[Tempered81]

r22 grey blocks

 

[blackened23]

Can you paint them please

Should be the R22's. Your goal is to make an airtight seal around them with nail polish, usually nail polish will harden to the point that it removes the sound

 

[Cookie Monster]

Those square components that has "R22" written on it are the main chokes you need to worry about. Yeah maybe trying that nail polish might do the trick BUT how do you know its the coming from the videocard and not the HX620? or any other devices that use inductors?

And as for applying glue or some sort of adhesive/compound, those chokes (the actual windings) aren't exposed so it wont really do anything.

 

[blackened23]

Those square components that has "R22" written on it are the main chokes you need to worry about. Yeah maybe trying that nail polish might do the trick BUT how do you know its the coming from the videocard and not the HX620? or any other devices that use inductors?

And as for applying glue or some sort of adhesive/compound, those chokes (the actual windings) aren't exposed so it wont really do anything.

The noise can still escape from the bottom at high temperatures. Most card manufacturers shield them to prevent it, but they're exposed here so nail polish may do the trick

 

[Zebo]

Thanks - I'll use lacquer - faster drying & can layer more.

 

[blackened23]

Thanks - I'll use lacquer - faster drying & can layer more.

Isn't that stuff electrically conductive

 

[Zebo]

Those square components that has "R22" written on it are the main chokes you need to worry about. Yeah maybe trying that nail polish might do the trick BUT how do you know its the coming from the videocard and not the HX620? or any other devices that use inductors?

And as for applying glue or some sort of adhesive/compound, those chokes (the actual windings) aren't exposed so it wont really do anything.

I can hear whine in vicinity of card...Hard to pin point though all covered up plus it's sporadic.

So coils inside those R22's is what whines? Vibrations? Sounds like one would have to open them then coat.

 

[Zebo]

Isn't that stuff electrically conductive

Not nitrocellulose lacquers about like nail polish.

 

[bononos]

The noise can still escape from the bottom at high temperatures. Most card manufacturers shield them to prevent it, but they're exposed here so nail polish may do the trick

Thats interesting and I might have to try it. I previously thought that the shield totally enclosed whatever was inside. Edit- There was a thread somewhere about gigabyte cards/mbs giving coil whine and their support dept finally realizing that their lab was too noisy to hear the whine to be able to diagnose the problem.

 

[Zebo]

Oh yeah it's not that loud. But I am sensitive to it plus there are no fans in my system like most systems to sheild it. 600 rpm fans on a radiator make no audible noise - so all you hear is that whine.

My plasma TV whines too drives me crazy but no one else can hear it or says it doesnt bother them.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

My setup doesn't whine, all there is the CPU fans noise

 

[Tempered81]

My setup doesn't whine, all there is the CPU fans noise

I've had about 15 graphics cards over time, and the only one I ever heard make the coil whine was a Powercolor reference 2GB HD6950. I hear it's particularly bad on the Sapphire 7970 OC boards.

 

[tigersty1e]

1. Check your psu. Sometimes video cards give bad feedback to psu and the psu can make the whine exactly when the video card gets stressed. It sounds like its the video card because it happens exactly when the video card gets stressed.

2. Also check to see if the whine occurs during very high fps scenarios. It usually happens in game menus or during heaven benchmark load or test changes during 3dmark. An fps limiter will help here.

 

[Mopetar]

I thought it was the video card fanboys that usually did the whining.

 

[marlinman]

Timely thread. Never heard this until a few days ago, when I noticed my 7850 whining when Skyrim's menu screen first appears after firing up the game. Starts high, then smoothly descends in pitch. Resembles cliched horror movie violin motif

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I had a 4890 that whined. Returned that thing immediately. I'm like the OP, very sensitive to these things.