[SOLVED] AMD 6900 XT fans startup noise?

smithchrism

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2013
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Hello,

I somewhat recently purchased an AMD 6900 XT. It's a reference board. I got it off of Ebay, but I'm guessing the seller obtained it from AMD's website based on the packaging and contents.

Good news is the performance of the board does not disappointment. It is sick how good Battlefield 5 looks in HDR and 4K with Freesync on.

I find it interesting the three fans on the card do not run all the time. During normal usage, they are idle and kick in when the GPU temps start to rise such as during gameplay. I think they kick in at 55 degrees, not sure.

I have noticed during fan start up, there is a "chattering" noise coming from at least one fan. The noise is brief, last for just a second if that long. Once the fans start to run, this noise goes away.

I asked about this noise issue in AMD's support forum. I am told by others they are having the same issue. Where I have had my board for 1.5 weeks or so, they have had their boards for a while and I am told not to worry about it.

The bad news is I'm concerned I have a second problem. Going by review sites, I was under the impression the board was quite. Compared to the AMD 5700 XT I had before this board, it is quite but not by much. Based on the reviews of this board, I expected something less noisy and am taken a bit back by this.

The chatter noise on fan startup particularly concerns me. Any one else experiencing this? This noise startup combined with the louder than expected fan noise makes me wonder if I should RMA the card.

I have removed the board and checked the fans. Nothing is obstructing the fans on the boards. I even checked the screws holding the fans in. They are fine. Board temps seem to be fine to. Holding around 60 during gameplay with 64 being the highest I've seen. Based on my Internet research, these temps are fine. In fact, they are pretty good.

Do I have a bad fan?

Thoughts?

Chris Smith
 
Solution
I think the fan may have a bad bearing that exhibits noise during startup.
I don't think this necessarily means the fan's life is shortened....but it may.
I would replace the fan if it wasn't too difficult.
If it was more trouble than I wanted to deal with.....I would keep an eye on it.....and the temps.
It's possible it could run for years that way.
I think the fan may have a bad bearing that exhibits noise during startup.
I don't think this necessarily means the fan's life is shortened....but it may.
I would replace the fan if it wasn't too difficult.
If it was more trouble than I wanted to deal with.....I would keep an eye on it.....and the temps.
It's possible it could run for years that way.
 
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Solution
Considering the GPU temps you posted, and that the fan actually spins without issues I would nott be that concern.

I know is not the same (at least according to what you wrote) but... I have an RTX 2070 from EVGA, and when the temp is between the fan OFF and ON theres one fan that start and stop every second and its annoying sometimes, but its not a problem since the fan work without issues when the temps is high enough.

I think jay32267 may be right about the bad bearing but, Did you took a closer look with a flashlight to see theres no cable near the fan blades? Its a long shot but it wouldn't be the first time.
 

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