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Would you RMA a great OC GPU 'cause of coil noise?

EliteRetard

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
EVGA GTX970 ACX 2.0, stable at 1,607 MHz (so far) no extra power.
HORRIFIC coil noise though, like 70db (you can literally hear it in another room with the doors closed. Can't hear the music or fans through the rooms.

I'm currently trying to "burn it in" looping Unigen Valley at 27% fan 75c. Been going for a few hours now.
 
Does the coil whine persist when you lower the clocks?

I am also not aware that RMA's even covered coil whine. I most certainly would not want the card if it had a loud coil whine, but if that only happens when you push the OC, then just dial it back.
 
If you are OC'ing didn't you void the warranty / RMA option already anyways?

Plus the card is designed to have acceptable properties (such as accoustic properties) at the settings it was manufactured and sold at. If coil noise starts happening beyond those settings then it's not the company's fault.
 
Noise occurs at stock speeds, even with light loads and low FPS. Since they provided the option to turn the fans on and off I tested that too...no unusual noise from the fans.

From what I've been reading online its very common to RMA for electrical noises.

I've never had a card with this kind of noise, or any weird electronic noise at all. Though the fastest I've played with until now is a 6950.

Fortunately this card is not for me, I'm building for somebody else. The objective was a silent PC at idle that wasn't obnoxious under load. With this GPU it's obnoxious anytime it loads 3D clocks and cranks up from there. Actually even at 2D clocks it make a little buzzing/clicking noise too, but you have to listen for it.
 
Depends. Does it coil while gaming? Then no problem, as I game with headphones or speakers turned on. Does it whine at desktop or doing web browsing/insertyoureverydayapp, then yes. This happened to me with a his 7950 iceq when moving the cursor while on autocad, was totally annoying.
 
There are plenty of tricks like glue you can try.

I havent heard coil whine on any card i have ever owed. Including the 970 reference.

A friend of mine complained about it but it only occurred in games with really high frame rates. He did play a lot of older games with high frame rates but he said that even modern games would whine during loading and title screens,

After a couple weeks he said it went from intolerable to barely a bother. It ended up going away completely after a month or so.

I dont know everyone's experience but I know others claim it will go away. There are tricks such as glue but that is up to you to decided. I bought the gtx970 reference and i am glad there is no whine at all. I think there was something done to make sure it wouldnt be there, i was told this but never looked into it.

I also hear that coil whine is a result of components chosen by the vendors in their custom designs. So sending your card back might end up getting you another card that whines too but has a much lower overclock than 1600mhz. So think about it before you decide. There are many people that claim a dot of hot glue fixes it immediately and just like that.
 
Ranulf said:
I saw this the other day, evga just released the "SSC" version with a better cooler/heatsink:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/evga-gtx-970-ssc-acx,28382.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814487088

Maybe try evga's step up program?
Click to expand...

I have a weird hybrid version SC. I have the updated cooler with a different heatpipe design than the "old" one. They removed the gap and/or moved the pipes so all 3 rest on the GPU now. I have the zero fan and the plate too, but no thermal tape/material to attach the plate to the RAM (so it actually blocks the RAM from cooling). I also don't think I have the updated phase design (old 4+1) and I have 2x DVI.

Edit: Also they say the RAM doesn't need cooling...but the ones on the back of the card are easily hitting 80c and will burn the crap out of you if you touch them (I tried). I'm pretty sure there's a layer of crispy skin left on there.
 
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EliteRetard said:
Noise occurs at stock speeds, even with light loads and low FPS. Since they provided the option to turn the fans on and off I tested that too...no unusual noise from the fans.

From what I've been reading online its very common to RMA for electrical noises.

I've never had a card with this kind of noise, or any weird electronic noise at all. Though the fastest I've played with until now is a 6950.

Fortunately this card is not for me, I'm building for somebody else. The objective was a silent PC at idle that wasn't obnoxious under load. With this GPU it's obnoxious anytime it loads 3D clocks and cranks up from there. Actually even at 2D clocks it make a little buzzing/clicking noise too, but you have to listen for it.
Click to expand...

If it can be exchanged or RMA'ed, I'd do that. As it is new, just return it if possible. It is not worth living with the noise, even for a good OC.
 
Well all this time burning it in and the loudest buzzing noise has somewhat reduced, you can't really hear it in another room now...but a new screaling noise has appeared. Its a super high pitched noise kinda like a flash charging but just on the edge of hearing and it kinda has a pulse to it. It's a similar experience to a dentist drilling into your teeth without any numbing agent. I've turned it off for now and I'll let it cool/rest overnight (and so I can sleep). Will see what it does in the morning.

Still undecided if it's right to return the card, as someone mentioned it officially is operating "normally". And like other reports I have read the noise has changed with burn in. Though not really for the better.
 
The noise frequency can change with burn ins but in my experience, it won't go away. If you're lucky, it will get a pitch that isn't very annoying.. but it could go the other way.

Coil whine is one of the most annoying noises to have nearby, so I would ditch that card. Not worth the hearing pain.
 
You might just get even faster,,, or slower,, but use sammy magician... I think you can use it thru any means. gl
 
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