Question Weird electrical noise from graphics card?

[creat0r]

A couple of months ago, I bought a Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 56 Nitro+ 2xHDMI 2xDP 8GB to put in a Razer Core X for my Mac. It has been performing really well, however, when I put heavy load on the graphics card (like a graphics-intensive game for example) it makes this really weird electrical sound. The heavier the load, the louder the noise is.

Here's a video of it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te2EL-qn_NA


System specs:
GPU: Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 56 Nitro+ 2xHDMI 2xDP 8GB
eGPU: Razer Core X
Connected to a Mac mini 2018 (3,2 GHz Intel Core i7, 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4, 500 GB) via the Razer Core X's USB-C port (USB-C to USB-C). Connected to a monitor via the Sapphire's HDMI (HDMI to HDMI).

Is this a problem, or is it normal? Should I return the graphics card?

 

[-Fran-]

I didn't identify any electrical noise that I'm familiar with, so I'll ask: is this sound coming from inside the box-thingy? Did you make sure it was the card and not the internal power supply of the box itself?

What I did recognize is known as "fan whine", but it might be coming from the little PSU fan from the box itself as when you put the Vega into load, the little ah heck has to pump a lot of juice. If not "fan whine", it's also similar to power transformers' "coil whine"*. When they have to move a lot of electricity through the coils, they whine and they whine loudly (like that). Have you ever gotten close to an electrical plant or heard the big power towers?

Cheers!

 

[Rxzin]

It's probably coil whine and theres no fix for that.

 

[RobCrezz]

As above, coil whine.

Nothing to worry about, just a bit of an annoying noise.

 

[creat0r]

No, no! I'm talking about the electrical noise that occurs between 00:02 - 00:05 in the video. It's definitely not a coil whine. Listen with headphones and you'll clearly hear an electrical sound between 00:02 - 00:05.
Listen to the difference between 00:00 in the video and 00:03 and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Also, the sound occurs even though there's no fan that starts to spin. It sounds like it comes from within the graphics card? Alternatively, the PSU on the Razer Core X.

 

[creat0r]

It's probably coil whine and theres no fix for that.

No, no! I'm talking about the electrical noise that occurs between 00:02 - 00:05 in the video. It's definitely not a coil whine. Listen with headphones and you'll clearly hear an electrical sound between 00:02 - 00:05.
Listen to the difference between 00:00 in the video and 00:03 and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Also, the sound occurs even though there's no fan that starts to spin. It sounds like it comes from within the graphics card? Alternatively, the PSU on the Razer Core X.

 

[-Fran-]

At the exact moment I hear the sound, the video on the screen starts... I think it is related to the PSU and not the GPU.

Now, just to be super sure, check the cables and see if they are too hot after you bench the card for a couple minutes. If they are, then maybe the GPU is too much for the enclosure.

Cheers!

 

[RobCrezz]

No, no! I'm talking about the electrical noise that occurs between 00:02 - 00:05 in the video. It's definitely not a coil whine. Listen with headphones and you'll clearly hear an electrical sound between 00:02 - 00:05.
Listen to the difference between 00:00 in the video and 00:03 and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Also, the sound occurs even though there's no fan that starts to spin. It sounds like it comes from within the graphics card? Alternatively, the PSU on the Razer Core X.

That is 100% coil whine.