GPU Grinding Noise

[Smausage]

My GPU is the GTX 970.

It's started making an odd noise when I play games.
The game in question is very hard on the video card, but it runs it with no performance or temperature issues.
The average temperature when playing is 55-65 Celsius.

It only happens while I'm playing a game, so I figured it was coil whine (which I've had problems with before) at first.
The problem is I only get coil whine at 200+ fps, and I have it capped at 60.
The noise isn't the same either.
Instead of a constant screeching it's a lower pitch grinding/ thumping noise.
It isn't a low pitch noise like a wire hitting a fan, it's still a high pitch, probably around 400-500Hz.

Not really sure why it would make that noise. I've already checked to make sure it wasn't the fans, I ran them at a high % independently of the game, but it sounded normal then.

I also recently ran a much less intense game to see if it did the same thing, and it didn't.

So... does anyone know what this is, and more importantly, if it's a problem?

 

[Eximo]

Probably still coil whine. Resonance changes over time, with temperature, humidity, etc. My typical advice with coil whine is to get a wooden dowel or blunt wooden pencil, run a benchmark or something that produces the noise, and start poking the components you have access to on the GPU. You can also put the end of your tool against your ear and listen for the noise.

Common solutions are a little dab of silicone caulk on the offending component and pcb to change how it vibrates.

 

[Smausage]

Probably still coil whine. Resonance changes over time, with temperature, humidity, etc. My typical advice with coil whine is to get a wooden dowel or blunt wooden pencil, run a benchmark or something that produces the noise, and start poking the components you have access to on the GPU. You can also put the end of your tool against your ear and listen for the noise.

Common solutions are a little dab of silicone caulk on the offending component and pcb to change how it vibrates.

I just went and listened to the noise again, and it actually seems like it's coming more from the processor area, which makes it seem even more strange... I don't think processors have any moving parts that would make that noise.

Again, it can't be the fan because it only makes the noise while playing the game. Changing the fan speed outside of the game won't get it to make that noise.

And now this post is in the wrong section...

 

[Eximo]

VRMs on GPUs and CPUs are very similar. You might have coil whine on the components under the VRM heatsinks surrounding the CPU. There should also be VRMs that supply power to the PCIe express slots near the CPU, that would be my guess for the culprit since it seems related to FPS output.

 

[Smausage]

It isn't related to the framerate because I have it locked at 60, but it does whine if it exceeds that by a decent bit (around 200).
But I can deal with coil whine easy enough, I can't even hear it unless I take off my headphones.
Thanks for the replies, though. Wanted to make sure it wasn't anything serious, better safe than sorry.

 

[Smausage]

Figured out what the problem actually was.

A capacitor blew somewhere (probably the PSU).
There was a popping noise followed by a burning smell.

It was ancient anyways though.