Graphics Card Buzz

[Luno]

Hi,

For some years now, I have been experiencing a weird problem with a range of hardware. The symptom is always the same: Buy a graphics card, put some stress on it, listen to a gnome using an electric shaver inside of you pc case.

Or, well... At least that's what it sounds like .

I first stumbled on this issue a few years ago when I bought an MSI GTS450. Depending on how demanding a 3D game was, the described noise came from somewhere inside my pc case. This noise wouldn't be one constant tone - it changed depending on what I was being rendered on screen. It would almost fade if there wasn't a lot of stress on the GPU and would transform into a somewhat "clicking" sound if there was heavy load on the card.

Certain that this had to be some kind of defect, I RMA'd the card - just to get one back that had the exact same issue. I did some googling, posted on some forums about it. The first thing I would always find / get as an answer: "That's coil whine!" Just that it's not. I know how coil whine sounds like, and while every graphics card I ever had displayed this issue to different extents, it has always been easily prevented by simply turning on VSync.

I couldn't find a definitive answer. Some said "All modern graphics card do that, live with it.". The rest was mostly wild speculation with lots of smattering, so I accepted the noise into my heart and the card and I lived happily ever after.

Or not. While I kinda managed to ignore the noise, it did bother me, as I was puzzled by the fact that GPU manufacturers would put out graphic cards that had almost inaudable fans, a feature rendered (ha! "rendered") irrelevant by a weird buzzing noise louder (or at least more audible) than the fan under stress.

About 2 years ago, I upgraded to an MSI GTX660. With high hopes of a new card eliminating the noise I was pretty disappointed when I got BBBZZZZZFFFSSSSMMMM'd in the first game I started. Irritated, I wrote to MSI, asking them why the equipped their hardware with buzzers. Their answer was basically: "Uhm, get a decent PSU, duh!"

I already had an okay-ish PSU, but I tried a few others. And with a beQuiet! 530W the noise was finally gone. Well, not completely gone, but with the case closed it was completely inaudible. So, the solution, it seemed. PSU <mod edit> / not powerful enough = weird buzzy stuff.

Fast Forward to now. PSU still the same, get a MSI GTX970. While the card performed superb, it brought an old friend: The gnome with the electric shaver. Tested the card in 2 completely different setups with 3 different PSUs (400 - 730W) - the buzzing always prevailed, which is why I'm returning the card. And now I'm confused.

What the hell is that noise? Where does it come from? Why could I almost eliminate it with a PSU upgrade once? Something something electricity?



TL;DR: GTX970 makes weird buzzing noise, wat do?

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Failing bearing on a case or CPU fan? Doubt it would last years, though.

VRMs operate at tons of different switching frequencies - could it be that it is coil whine, but you're used to coil whine from a higher frequency PWM controller?

Can you make a recording? If you boot the PC outside the case, can you tell where the sound is coming from?

 

[COLGeek]

Given the history here, I would suspect a wiring (electrical) problem in the house/apartment. I assume this has all happened at the same physical address location. Could be a grounding (or lack thereof) issue.

 

[Luno]

@ COLgeek: Nope, happened in 3 (completely) different locations.

@ Someone: Definitely not a fan problem. I can also rule out coil whine - it's not squealy / squeaky enough. I'll look into providing a recording. I think the sound is coming from the graphics card, but it's hard to pinpoint exactly.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Do you have integrated graphics? If so, does it do it if you remove the GPU and use that?

Tried a different power cable?

No speakers or headphones hooked up to the PC, including the monitor, and no buzzer attached to the motherboard?

 

[Luno]

Do you have integrated graphics? If so, does it do it if you remove the GPU and use that?

Tried a different power cable?

No speakers or headphones hooked up to the PC, including the monitor, and no buzzer attached to the motherboard?

To clarify, the current setup:

MSI Z77MA-G45
Intel Core i5-3570
beQuiet! Pure PowerTM L8 530W 80+
MSI N660 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC

works perfectly fine. The noise is present but is so faint, that it's completely inaudible once the case is closed and / or you're more than ~50 cm away. I would have never even noticed it if not for my previous experiences and accordingly heightened awareness of the issue.

Same situation if I put in my old GTS450. Using Intel HD Graphics, there's no noise at all. Insert the 970 and the gnome returns.

I did change every cable I could. Buzzer not connected, speakers / headphone / fancy stuff (lights, chassis fans...) not connected during the tests.

 

[Xibyth]

When I first bought a GTX 770 MSI, it had this issue and it faded out over time. It's coil whine. The sound it makes depends on the frequency, the person hearing it, and even the types of metals. I have heard coil whine that sounded like a banshee, a jaguar, and the classic robotic whistle. The issue is very common with MSI cards, I like em but facts are facts. They use intolerant capacitors on their PCB that cries at the slightest variation in electrical frequency. Never had an issue with EVGA though. Or you could wait it out and see if it goes away.

 

[COLGeek]

ATX I/O panel vibration? This is definitely an odd one.

 

[Luno]

And here I was convinced those noises were something different. 90% of the coil whine complaint discussions I found go like this: "My GPU makes a funny noise while gaming." - "Enable VSync" - "Thanks, it's gone."

Which led me to believe my problem is caused by something else.

Here's a recording of the noise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffVqmYdfCCc

And, for comparison, what I thought coil whine is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBe0Xlyutg

 

[COLGeek]

That sounds almost like a piece of paper/label/or something similar vibrating. Have you tried stopping each fan, one at a time, to attempt to isolate the source of the sound?

 

[Luno]

Finally made some recordings:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9rcbrbq43pjlynz/AAAeJJpVgs7Pp0LEs0_mUNwpa?dl=0

Recorded with a Roland R-05 from within my computer case, directly next to the GPU while running Unigine on Extreme. Amped it up a little because the sensitivity was too high when recording it.

So far, I've come to this conclusion: It is indeed coil whine, and all GTX970 seem to "suffer" from it (Tested another one, a Gainward Phantom 970). "Suffer", because this doesn't seem to bother a lot of people. It does bother me because the noise is pretty... well... bothering if the rest of your PC has the noise levels of leaves rustling.

Current plan: Skip the 970, wait for the 960 (Ti), and try my luck again.