[SOLVED] Strange chirping sounds from GPU fans

[karthik.gems]

I have a Gigabyte 2060 Super Windforce OC graphic card which was bought like 4 weeks ago.

I noticed strange chirping sounds from gpu. It seems the fans are making such sounds.
This gpu has some fan off mode till a certain temp and fans are switched on after a certain temp.
That "chirrrr" sound comes like every 10 secs now. Initially, it used to come when the fans are on. But now it's constant.

I have recorded the noise and below is the link to listen to it. Please see and let me know what this is, I am really terrified.

https://soundcloud.com/user-238436781%2Fgpu-sound

My Specs: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max, Gigabyte 2060 Super Windforce OC, Cooler Master MWE GOLD 650W, 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance 3200Mhz, Samsung 860 Evo ssd.

 

[Lutfij]

Sounds to me like the fans are brushing up against a ziptie or a cable very close to the GPU's fan blades/shroud. Might want to go in for a closer inspection. I am ofc excluding any doubt about the noise coming from your PSU. A lot of people here tend to forget posting specs and then later on(very late) we find out that the PSU was not meant to be in use for a higher end GPU.

 

[karthik.gems]

Sounds to me like the fans are brushing up against a ziptie or a cable very close to the GPU's fan blades/shroud. Might want to go in for a closer inspection. I am ofc excluding any doubt about the noise coming from your PSU. A lot of people here tend to forget posting specs and then later on(very late) we find out that the PSU was not meant to be in use for a higher end GPU.

There is no wire or any zipties running near gpu or its fans. I have made sure to check where the sound is coming from, it is from Gpu fans only. PSU is fine and it's not making any sound. I'm using Cooler Master MWE GOLD 650W PSU, I think it can surely handle this gpu. Let me know what you think.

I'm doubting if it is coil whine.

 

[AdemK28]

There is no wire or any zipties running near gpu or its fans. I have made sure to check where the sound is coming from, it is from Gpu fans only. PSU is fine and it's not making any sound. I'm using Cooler Master MWE GOLD 650W PSU, I think it can surely handle this gpu. Let me know what you think.

I'm doubting if it is coil whine.

Does the noise happen while the fans are off? If so, it’s coil whine

 

[mortemas]

Lots of discussion about this on the Gigabyte forums. Unfortunately this is Gigabyte's inability to properly implement decades old PWM technology which should be able to cold-start fans at as low as 10% of the RPM range, combined with their lack of knowledge of the basic concept of hysteresis in thermostatic temperature control design.

You'll need to use software to change the fan control curve. You'll have to discover the minimum starting speed for your fans whereby they won't make that sound when starting from a dead stop. This is usually between 30% and 40% for most people. Then, make a curve that never goes below that. So if you discover your fans' minimum starting speed is 33%, then make a fan curve that never goes lower than maybe 35% just to be safe.

An alternate curve for silent mode should simply ensure that the starting speed is 35%, but you will have to add hysteresis or you will still get the grunting sounds when gpu temp is wavering around the cut-in/cut-out point. I should add, don't choose a starting temp that is too high, maybe no more than 55c. You might still get the fans kicking in and out when needed depending on the heatsink's ability to passively cool the gpu and the current temp inside the case. Set the hysteresis to 5 or 10 degrees. I use Afteburner for my Gigabyte card. Gigabyte's software is horrible.

Last I heard about this subject on the Gigabyte forums is that Gigabyte feels it's normal behavior.

 

[AdemK28]

There is no wire or any zipties running near gpu or its fans. I have made sure to check where the sound is coming from, it is from Gpu fans only. PSU is fine and it's not making any sound. I'm using Cooler Master MWE GOLD 650W PSU, I think it can surely handle this gpu. Let me know what you think.

I'm doubting if it is coil whine.

Also forgot to mention, try adjusting the fans. They could be hitting the shroud or cooler at an angle that is hard to see. If one fan is not aligned it can make that noise. Make sure your case isn’t wobbly, that causes the fans to rotate in a direction forcing the fans to Scrape against the shroud

 

[karthik.gems]

Does the noise happen while the fans are off? If so, it’s coil whine

Doesn't happen when they are off. It happens when they are on

 

[AdemK28]

Doesn't happen when they are off. It happens when they are on

That’s a common issue with those cards. I’d just say not to worry about it unless you notice performance issues or if the blades on the fans are chipped, or cracked.

 

[karthik.gems]

Lots of discussion about this on the Gigabyte forums. Unfortunately this is Gigabyte's inability to properly implement decades old PWM technology which should be able to cold-start fans at as low as 10% of the RPM range, combined with their lack of knowledge of the basic concept of hysteresis in thermostatic temperature control design.

You'll need to use software to change the fan control curve. You'll have to discover the minimum starting speed for your fans whereby they won't make that sound when starting from a dead stop. This is usually between 30% and 40% for most people. Then, make a curve that never goes below that. So if you discover your fans' minimum starting speed is 33%, then make a fan curve that never goes lower than maybe 35% just to be safe.

An alternate curve for silent mode should simply ensure that the starting speed is 35%, but you will have to add hysteresis or you will still get the grunting sounds when gpu temp is wavering around the cut-in/cut-out point. I should add, don't choose a starting temp that is too high, maybe no more than 55c. You might still get the fans kicking in and out when needed depending on the heatsink's ability to passively cool the gpu and the current temp inside the case. Set the hysteresis to 5 or 10 degrees. I use Afteburner for my Gigabyte card. Gigabyte's software is horrible.

Last I heard about this subject on the Gigabyte forums is that Gigabyte feels it's normal behavior.

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't know about Gigabyte being such crap, but it has a good name here in our country. I will try the fan curve method. I am searching in the web for fan curve values if someone had tried for similar cards.

I wanted a 2060 super for my budget and there was another brand called Galax whose 2060 super was 30$ cheaper. I thought Gigabyte's hardware or service would be better and opted for this model. Damn what a loss for me 😢 .

Will my card still work if I ignore the sound forever?

 

[karthik.gems]

That’s a common issue with those cards. I’d just say not to worry about it unless you notice performance issues or if the blades on the fans are chipped, or cracked.

As of now, they look normal. As far as I played games, didn't notice any performance probs or whatsoever.
My monitor is 75Hz display so I get 75 fps min in almost all games with temps maxed at 78C for the latest games.

How can I check if it is giving any performance issues? Any method other than gameplays?

 

[karthik.gems]

Lots of discussion about this on the Gigabyte forums. Unfortunately this is Gigabyte's inability to properly implement decades old PWM technology which should be able to cold-start fans at as low as 10% of the RPM range, combined with their lack of knowledge of the basic concept of hysteresis in thermostatic temperature control design.

You'll need to use software to change the fan control curve. You'll have to discover the minimum starting speed for your fans whereby they won't make that sound when starting from a dead stop. This is usually between 30% and 40% for most people. Then, make a curve that never goes below that. So if you discover your fans' minimum starting speed is 33%, then make a fan curve that never goes lower than maybe 35% just to be safe.

An alternate curve for silent mode should simply ensure that the starting speed is 35%, but you will have to add hysteresis or you will still get the grunting sounds when gpu temp is wavering around the cut-in/cut-out point. I should add, don't choose a starting temp that is too high, maybe no more than 55c. You might still get the fans kicking in and out when needed depending on the heatsink's ability to passively cool the gpu and the current temp inside the case. Set the hysteresis to 5 or 10 degrees. I use Afteburner for my Gigabyte card. Gigabyte's software is horrible.

Last I heard about this subject on the Gigabyte forums is that Gigabyte feels it's normal behavior.

Forgot to mention one thing, I earlier tried one option. That is, downloaded some aorus app from gigabyte website and there were options "semi-passive" and "active fan". Tried both and issue still exists even for fans costantly being run.

 

[mortemas]

Yeah, you'll still hear the sounds even with Aorus software. Afterburner will allow you to set hysteresis. Here's what's happening (note Fan Speed RPM turning on and off rapidly, circled in GPU-Z chart):

 

[mortemas]

Here's my fan curve in Afterburner:

For me this is a mostly silent mode, but because my gpu rad can't passively keep the temp below the "fan-active" target of 55c the fans will turn on every 10 minutes or so and stay on for about 30 seconds until the temp goes down to 49c. At this point the fans shut off. This is the hysteresis setting in action. It keeps the fans on until temp just exceeds 5c below the target temp (IE: 49c) in order to prevent rapid on-off power cycling of the fan which causes the grunting noises. Then, from 49c the gpu will slowly climb up again to 55c in about 10 minutes and the cycle starts over.

It will not be possible to achieve true silent idle unless you either increase the target temp enough (what's too high?) or somehow improve the zero-fan temp of your gpu. Again, things that affect that are the GPU idle power dissipation, GPU rad size, GPU-rad interface size, temp inside the case, room temp, etc.

 

[karthik.gems]

Here's my fan curve in Afterburner:

For me this is a mostly silent mode, but because my gpu rad can't passively keep the temp below the "fan-active" target of 55c the fans will turn on every 10 minutes or so and stay on for about 30 seconds until the temp goes down to 49c. At this point the fans shut off. This is the hysteresis setting in action. It keeps the fans on until temp just exceeds 5c below the target temp (IE: 49c) in order to prevent rapid on-off power cycling of the fan which causes the grunting noises. Then, from 49c the gpu will slowly climb up again to 55c in about 10 minutes and the cycle starts over.

It will not be possible to achieve true silent idle unless you either increase the target temp enough (what's too high?) or somehow improve the zero-fan temp of your gpu. Again, things that affect that are the GPU idle power dissipation, GPU rad size, GPU-rad interface size, temp inside the case, room temp, etc.

Well, this was a lot for me to understand. I am a newbie to this pc thing, always used a no-nonsense gaming laptop and never had any issue until it failed after 7 years. I really appreciate your knowledge here.

As far as I understood, I am not sure about what will be the use of "silence mode". I already have 6 fans in my case and I don't care if gpu fans are running as well constantly. But only these sudden whirring noises give horror.

If these noises continue, does the gpu fail or something? Or will my gpu stays fine even with these noises?

And I am still trying to understand the meaning of hysteresis in this situation. By the way below is a fan curve set by someone with a different nvidia card, but they too have same gigabyte silence tech crap. What do you think of this fan curve?

 

[mortemas]

Yes, that curve is fine, but I would bump the minimum speed up to 35% just to be safe and I would change the Hysteresis to 5. Fans will be on all the time, but you're not going for silence anyway and idle gpu fan noise should be just fine.

Yeah, the thing about Hysteresis is the user shouldn't really have to fully understand it, but it would have been nice for the Gigabyte engineers to have done so. The simplest description of hysteresis is a delay and it can be found in many interfaces and control mechanisms that we use. A sub menu in the drop down menu in Chrome has hysteresis. For example, move the mouse to "More Tools" in Chrome so that the sub menu pops up. Now, quickly move up to "Print" and then back down to More Tools again (without clicking). More Tools never closes if you've done it fast enough. Now do it again, but this time keep the mouse at Print. This time More Tools will close automatically. There is a delay in the "close this sub menu" function such that if you come back to More Tools within a certain amount of time it won't close, but if you're away too long it will close. This makes navigating the menus a lot more forgiving of the uncertainty in our mouse movements when we are trying to find things and the experience is a lot less frustrating.

In the context of gpu fan control, you want the fan to start when the gpu temp reaches a certain amount, say 55c. Let's say it's at 50c and climbing and the sensor keeps checking and will turn the fan on just as the temp reaches 55c. When this happens, the fan starts to cool the GPU. But that means it will immediately drop to 54c, which instantly turns the fan off again. The GPU heats up without the fan on and now it's quickly back at 55c and the fan turns on again. This is a form of oscillation in the system. The power to the fan is oscillating on and off and we are getting the undesired effect of weird fan noise, among other things. There are 2 terms here that I mentioned earlier - cut-in (fan on temp) and cut-out(fan off temp). You will see this in HVAC equipment like your home furnace. If there were no cut-in and cut-out (like the Gigabyte GPU) your furnace would do the same thing as the fans - it would rapidly turn on and off. Actually, the problem with the GPU fans is the cut-in and cut-out are the same (55c). So, we need to put some distance between the cut-in point and the cut-out point to prevent the rapid oscillation of the system. Note that technically the system is still oscillating, it's just that the period is spread out more and we reduce some unwanted effects and the system works a lot better. Also note this is only a problem because of zero noise mode. We have a spot in our curve where the fan can be totally off or make a transition to on. Additionally, that spot is usually only a problem at idle. If the card is rendering 3d it’s likely to stay above and away from 55c and just operate in variable speed mode using PWM. Use an “always on” curve like the one you linked to and this shouldn’t be a problem.

I've had my GPU for over a year now. I'm not super bothered that Gigabyte didn't get it right, it just would have been nice if they did. Others on the Gigabyte forums were just not happy and returned the card. It's up to you. It can be mostly fixed with fan control software. Just know that the fan control software will have to always be running, or the custom fan profile won't work. The card doesn't "remember" a custom fan profile.

 

[karthik.gems]

Yes, that curve is fine, but I would bump the minimum speed up to 35% just to be safe and I would change the Hysteresis to 5. Fans will be on all the time, but you're not going for silence anyway and idle gpu fan noise should be just fine.

Yeah, the thing about Hysteresis is the user shouldn't really have to fully understand it, but it would have been nice for the Gigabyte engineers to have done so. The simplest description of hysteresis is a delay and it can be found in many interfaces and control mechanisms that we use. A sub menu in the drop down menu in Chrome has hysteresis. For example, move the mouse to "More Tools" in Chrome so that the sub menu pops up. Now, quickly move up to "Print" and then back down to More Tools again (without clicking). More Tools never closes if you've done it fast enough. Now do it again, but this time keep the mouse at Print. This time More Tools will close automatically. There is a delay in the "close this sub menu" function such that if you come back to More Tools within a certain amount of time it won't close, but if you're away too long it will close. This makes navigating the menus a lot more forgiving of the uncertainty in our mouse movements when we are trying to find things and the experience is a lot less frustrating.

In the context of gpu fan control, you want the fan to start when the gpu temp reaches a certain amount, say 55c. Let's say it's at 50c and climbing and the sensor keeps checking and will turn the fan on just as the temp reaches 55c. When this happens, the fan starts to cool the GPU. But that means it will immediately drop to 54c, which instantly turns the fan off again. The GPU heats up without the fan on and now it's quickly back at 55c and the fan turns on again. This is a form of oscillation in the system. The power to the fan is oscillating on and off and we are getting the undesired effect of weird fan noise, among other things. There are 2 terms here that I mentioned earlier - cut-in (fan on temp) and cut-out(fan off temp). You will see this in HVAC equipment like your home furnace. If there were no cut-in and cut-out (like the Gigabyte GPU) your furnace would do the same thing as the fans - it would rapidly turn on and off. Actually, the problem with the GPU fans is the cut-in and cut-out are the same (55c). So, we need to put some distance between the cut-in point and the cut-out point to prevent the rapid oscillation of the system. Note that technically the system is still oscillating, it's just that the period is spread out more and we reduce some unwanted effects and the system works a lot better. Also note this is only a problem because of zero noise mode. We have a spot in our curve where the fan can be totally off or make a transition to on. Additionally, that spot is usually only a problem at idle. If the card is rendering 3d it’s likely to stay above and away from 55c and just operate in variable speed mode using PWM. Use an “always on” curve like the one you linked to and this shouldn’t be a problem.

I've had my GPU for over a year now. I'm not super bothered that Gigabyte didn't get it right, it just would have been nice if they did. Others on the Gigabyte forums were just not happy and returned the card. It's up to you. It can be mostly fixed with fan control software. Just know that the fan control software will have to always be running, or the custom fan profile won't work. The card doesn't "remember" a custom fan profile.

Wow, that was a fantastic explanation of "hysteresis". Now I actually understood what it is.
I tested the gpu fan settings again and changed to user-defined fan curve as per ur suggestion. Now I didn't hear any sound.

The only case is - whenever they are on to off or off to on, then I can hear that noise twice or thrice and it goes away. I guess that is how Gigabyte engineers have designed it. I can see unusual spikes in Fan speed graph in Afterburner, when using Auto settings.

So that explains something. I spoke with Gigabyte executive today. He didn't discuss anything about this but simply asked me to drop it off at their center so that they can check and repair or replace if needed. So I'm guessing maybe I have to check with them tomorrow if they can do something about this.

Even if they don't replace, the user-defined fan control seems to solve the problem to a good extent. But I hope fans or gpu won't get damaged if fans are run continuously forever.

 

[bamb00zle]

Yes, that curve is fine, but I would bump the minimum speed up to 35% just to be safe and I would change the Hysteresis to 5. Fans will be on all the time, but you're not going for silence anyway and idle gpu fan noise should be just fine.

Yeah, the thing about Hysteresis is the user shouldn't really have to fully understand it, but it would have been nice for the Gigabyte engineers to have done so. The simplest description of hysteresis is a delay and it can be found in many interfaces and control mechanisms that we use. A sub menu in the drop down menu in Chrome has hysteresis. For example, move the mouse to "More Tools" in Chrome so that the sub menu pops up. Now, quickly move up to "Print" and then back down to More Tools again (without clicking). More Tools never closes if you've done it fast enough. Now do it again, but this time keep the mouse at Print. This time More Tools will close automatically. There is a delay in the "close this sub menu" function such that if you come back to More Tools within a certain amount of time it won't close, but if you're away too long it will close. This makes navigating the menus a lot more forgiving of the uncertainty in our mouse movements when we are trying to find things and the experience is a lot less frustrating.

In the context of gpu fan control, you want the fan to start when the gpu temp reaches a certain amount, say 55c. Let's say it's at 50c and climbing and the sensor keeps checking and will turn the fan on just as the temp reaches 55c. When this happens, the fan starts to cool the GPU. But that means it will immediately drop to 54c, which instantly turns the fan off again. The GPU heats up without the fan on and now it's quickly back at 55c and the fan turns on again. This is a form of oscillation in the system. The power to the fan is oscillating on and off and we are getting the undesired effect of weird fan noise, among other things. There are 2 terms here that I mentioned earlier - cut-in (fan on temp) and cut-out(fan off temp). You will see this in HVAC equipment like your home furnace. If there were no cut-in and cut-out (like the Gigabyte GPU) your furnace would do the same thing as the fans - it would rapidly turn on and off. Actually, the problem with the GPU fans is the cut-in and cut-out are the same (55c). So, we need to put some distance between the cut-in point and the cut-out point to prevent the rapid oscillation of the system. Note that technically the system is still oscillating, it's just that the period is spread out more and we reduce some unwanted effects and the system works a lot better. Also note this is only a problem because of zero noise mode. We have a spot in our curve where the fan can be totally off or make a transition to on. Additionally, that spot is usually only a problem at idle. If the card is rendering 3d it’s likely to stay above and away from 55c and just operate in variable speed mode using PWM. Use an “always on” curve like the one you linked to and this shouldn’t be a problem.

I've had my GPU for over a year now. I'm not super bothered that Gigabyte didn't get it right, it just would have been nice if they did. Others on the Gigabyte forums were just not happy and returned the card. It's up to you. It can be mostly fixed with fan control software. Just know that the fan control software will have to always be running, or the custom fan profile won't work. The card doesn't "remember" a custom fan profile.

Thank you so much for this write up. I've been losing patience with the seemingly erratic fan speeds of my Gigabyte 2070 super Gaming OC, and some small adjustments in Afterburner based on this information has solved it.

Completely agree, it's a shame Gigabyte seem to have implemented poorly thought out cooling solutions on all the Windforce and Gaming OC cards, especially considering these are inexpensivew mid-high ranges cards. I'm happy with a little manual intervention to get things how I like them with thermals/noise ratios, but I can sympathise with those who would deem the default configuration unacceptable and request a return.