Gigabyte GTX 980 ti 6GB Coil Whine

[Smittytomjohn]

So I just built my first gaming PC and I was wondering if it is normal for the graphics card, in this case the Gigabyte GTX 980 ti 6GB, to have coil whine while running benchmark tests like 3DMark.

The card doesn't make any noise at idle or when under moderate load but when I run a benchmark test its unbearable.

Not sure if this is means for RMA or if I just have to live with it.

P.S. my mobo is Asus Maximus VII Hero, PSU is EVGA Supernova 750W G2 and CPU is i5 4690k and overclocked to 4.5 GHz, with 16 GB of Hyper Fury X RAM

I appreciate all answers and suggestions

Thanks.

 

[Sandstorm3000]

I don't think your card is the only one, my card stops making that noise when i enable V-sync (or limit the FPS to 60). It isn't a sign that you have a bad card or anything. It is just annoying

 

[AdriansNetwork]

Just RMA and hold your thumbs that the replacement doesn't also have have coil whine.

 

[Smittytomjohn]

I don't think your card is the only one, my card stops making that noise when i enable V-sync (or limit the FPS to 60). It isn't a sign that you have a bad card or anything. It is just annoying

Right now I'm just running this on 1080p until I get my 1440p 144hz monitor. Do you think it will get worse once I up the resolution?

 

[Sandstorm3000]

It will get worse, because the higher your GPU load the more noise it will make.

 

[dsr07mm]

It's due to high FPS during loading screens/main menu or game itself. Also despite high FPS in some games some engines doesnt make coilwhine despite fps ~300 as in CSGO. So I would say engine+gpu load+FPS = coil whine.

Most of companies dont do RMA due to coilwhine since that doesnt affect issues so you can try but you know, most of the cards can show coilwhine even after year of using them. If you can go over that sound dont worry. Doesnt affect performance even slightly, I have coil whine on 970 since I bought it on release date.

Also in most cases coilwhine is removed by replacing PSU. What PSU do you have ? I'm not talking about watts, thing is about model. For example my LC power supply is common for making coil whine but also if I get high coil whine and I shut down my PC, I plug off everything from card (PSU) coil whine is removed for like couple days. So it's definitely affected due to PSU.

 

[Smittytomjohn]

It's due to high FPS during loading screens/main menu or game itself. Also despite high FPS in some games some engines doesnt make coilwhine despite fps ~300 as in CSGO. So I would say engine+gpu load+FPS = coil whine.

Most of companies dont do RMA due to coilwhine since that doesnt affect issues so you can try but you know, most of the cards can show coilwhine even after year of using them. If you can go over that sound dont worry. Doesnt affect performance even slightly, I have coil whine on 970 since I bought it on release date.

Also in most cases coilwhine is removed by replacing PSU. What PSU do you have ? I'm not talking about watts, thing is about model. For example my LC power supply is common for making coil whine but also if I get high coil whine and I shut down my PC, I plug off everything from card (PSU) coil whine is removed for like couple days. So it's definitely affected due to PSU.

Thanks for the in depth response! My PSU is an EVGA Supernova G2 750W brand new so I thought I was picking a pretty good one for this build. Also does it matter at what speed my card is overclocked to. Say I overclock it higher will that better or worsen the problem. I think the base clock right now is like 1200 Mhz.

I haven't really noticed this in game too much but I haven't tried too many real demanding games just like battlefield 4 and batman arkham knight. I'm just worried that when I bump up the resolution from 1080p to 1440p the problem will be more noticeable.

 

[dsr07mm]

It's due to high FPS during loading screens/main menu or game itself. Also despite high FPS in some games some engines doesnt make coilwhine despite fps ~300 as in CSGO. So I would say engine+gpu load+FPS = coil whine.

Most of companies dont do RMA due to coilwhine since that doesnt affect issues so you can try but you know, most of the cards can show coilwhine even after year of using them. If you can go over that sound dont worry. Doesnt affect performance even slightly, I have coil whine on 970 since I bought it on release date.

Also in most cases coilwhine is removed by replacing PSU. What PSU do you have ? I'm not talking about watts, thing is about model. For example my LC power supply is common for making coil whine but also if I get high coil whine and I shut down my PC, I plug off everything from card (PSU) coil whine is removed for like couple days. So it's definitely affected due to PSU.

Thanks for the in depth response! My PSU is an EVGA Supernova G2 750W brand new so I thought I was picking a pretty good one for this build. Also does it matter at what speed my card is overclocked to. Say I overclock it higher will that better or worsen the problem. I think the base clock right now is like 1200 Mhz.

I haven't really noticed this in game too much but I haven't tried too many real demanding games just like battlefield 4 and batman arkham knight. I'm just worried that when I bump up the resolution from 1080p to 1440p the problem will be more noticeable.

I wouldnt say so. There is a limit for coilwhine loudness. With headphones you shouldnt hear anything. For example I have 5 fans in my case and I need to concentrate in quite room to get annoyed by coil whine. Best way is to try out by yourself

 

[Smittytomjohn]

It's due to high FPS during loading screens/main menu or game itself. Also despite high FPS in some games some engines doesnt make coilwhine despite fps ~300 as in CSGO. So I would say engine+gpu load+FPS = coil whine.

Most of companies dont do RMA due to coilwhine since that doesnt affect issues so you can try but you know, most of the cards can show coilwhine even after year of using them. If you can go over that sound dont worry. Doesnt affect performance even slightly, I have coil whine on 970 since I bought it on release date.

Also in most cases coilwhine is removed by replacing PSU. What PSU do you have ? I'm not talking about watts, thing is about model. For example my LC power supply is common for making coil whine but also if I get high coil whine and I shut down my PC, I plug off everything from card (PSU) coil whine is removed for like couple days. So it's definitely affected due to PSU.

Thanks for the in depth response! My PSU is an EVGA Supernova G2 750W brand new so I thought I was picking a pretty good one for this build. Also does it matter at what speed my card is overclocked to. Say I overclock it higher will that better or worsen the problem. I think the base clock right now is like 1200 Mhz.

I haven't really noticed this in game too much but I haven't tried too many real demanding games just like battlefield 4 and batman arkham knight. I'm just worried that when I bump up the resolution from 1080p to 1440p the problem will be more noticeable.

I wouldnt say so. There is a limit for coilwhine loudness. With headphones you shouldnt hear anything. For example I have 5 fans in my case and I need to concentrate in quite room to get annoyed by coil whine. Best way is to try out by yourself

So if I keep my FPS lower it would reduce the coil whine?!

Okay I'll tinker around with it a little. I found out i can RMA it so if it's just unbearable I'll probably end up going that route and hopefully don't get a card that's even worse!

 

[dsr07mm]

It's due to high FPS during loading screens/main menu or game itself. Also despite high FPS in some games some engines doesnt make coilwhine despite fps ~300 as in CSGO. So I would say engine+gpu load+FPS = coil whine.

Most of companies dont do RMA due to coilwhine since that doesnt affect issues so you can try but you know, most of the cards can show coilwhine even after year of using them. If you can go over that sound dont worry. Doesnt affect performance even slightly, I have coil whine on 970 since I bought it on release date.

Also in most cases coilwhine is removed by replacing PSU. What PSU do you have ? I'm not talking about watts, thing is about model. For example my LC power supply is common for making coil whine but also if I get high coil whine and I shut down my PC, I plug off everything from card (PSU) coil whine is removed for like couple days. So it's definitely affected due to PSU.

Thanks for the in depth response! My PSU is an EVGA Supernova G2 750W brand new so I thought I was picking a pretty good one for this build. Also does it matter at what speed my card is overclocked to. Say I overclock it higher will that better or worsen the problem. I think the base clock right now is like 1200 Mhz.

I haven't really noticed this in game too much but I haven't tried too many real demanding games just like battlefield 4 and batman arkham knight. I'm just worried that when I bump up the resolution from 1080p to 1440p the problem will be more noticeable.

I wouldnt say so. There is a limit for coilwhine loudness. With headphones you shouldnt hear anything. For example I have 5 fans in my case and I need to concentrate in quite room to get annoyed by coil whine. Best way is to try out by yourself

So if I keep my FPS lower it would reduce the coil whine?!

Okay I'll tinker around with it a little. I found out i can RMA it so if it's just unbearable I'll probably end up going that route and hopefully don't get a card that's even worse!

Yes. Thats only reason why VSYNC helps especially on 60hz monitors with capped 60fps. Awesome, atleast you have options not like me Thanks for best answer selection and I hope that you solve your problem one way or another, now when you have options . Have fun !

 

[Guest]

Dude, get a new psu. My situation is strange, I had a 980ti, it normally had coil whine, but every 20 minutes it would make a very strange noise, for about 20 seconds. Now i have my replacement, which only (so far) whines normally. People say get a new psu, but a have a EVGA supernova G21000w. So confused, and frustrated

 

[dsr07mm]

Dude, get a new psu. My situation is strange, I had a 980ti, it normally had coil whine, but every 20 minutes it would make a very strange noise, for about 20 seconds. Now i have my replacement, which only (so far) whines normally. People say get a new psu, but a have a EVGA supernova G21000w. So confused, and frustrated

Thread is old and solved. But I will say PSU might be a problem, not ALWAYS though. It's common that LC psu's makes coil whine and I said there are way for temporarely disabling but again its random. Also even with best PSU coil whine might appear, so no rule about that 🙁

 

[Smittytomjohn]

Dude, get a new psu. My situation is strange, I had a 980ti, it normally had coil whine, but every 20 minutes it would make a very strange noise, for about 20 seconds. Now i have my replacement, which only (so far) whines normally. People say get a new psu, but a have a EVGA supernova G21000w. So confused, and frustrated

So I figured out I was just running the wrong benchmark so the FPS were way high like 600 so it was out of control. Ran a better benchmark suited for my setup and used V-Sync and it kept it under control