Weird Fan Motor Noise from GTX 980ti Gaming 6G

[Restitution]

When my fans start up, there's a very distinct and loud "motor" noise. It's not normal fan noise, and it's not coil whine. The sound kind of pulsates as well. As soon as the fans start up, the noise is there. Why is this happening? I tried spinning the fans manually with the PSU off and the middle fan generates a "motor" noise while the other do not after I spin them. When the fans aren't spinning, the noise stops completely. I believe the pulsating is due to the dynamic change in fan speed; when my computer starts up initially with fan speed constant the pulsing stops and it's a constant sound. It's a very distinct noise similar to what you'd hear from a motor. Perhaps the motor on the middle fan is defective?

More observations:

When the fan speed is less than 10%, the pulsing gets more and more gradual. Perhaps during a revolution there's a point where the noise is generated, and it sounds constant at higher fan speeds because of the frequency of revolutions?

There's a whining sound that accompanies the motor noise at high fan speeds.

 

[glamdringfh]

Sounds like there might be a bad bearing in one of the fans that's giving out. If you still have time I'd recommend returning your card for a replacement, as this is not the first post related to the 980ti card having very noticible fan issues.

 

[Restitution]

That's a shame, I was hoping there was a solution other than replacing the card entirely. Thanks for the possible (and likely) explanation.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Well if your sure its not coil whine I would have to agree with glam on the bearing thing. How old is the card and what is it? I can see if this issue is common with your particular card.

 

[Restitution]

GTX 980ti Gaming 6G from Gigabyte, and around 3 months old.

 

[Dunlop0078]

GTX 980ti Gaming 6G from Gigabyte, and around 3 months old.

Yah nothing I could really find on the fan, I would call gigabyte and tell them your issue they may replace it.