Galax builds their own short GTX 970

eizen said:
I have previously tried the silverston sfx 450w modular psu but it was too noisy. So I reverted back to a 5yr old Seasonice 550w non-modular psu (allows me to use my gtx570). The AX850 is obviously overkill but it's very silent so I just wanted to use what I already owned.

What CPU cooler are you using btw?
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Ah, yeah, I can understand that. I actually bought the SG05 with the included non-modular PSU specifically because of reports of noise with the modular one. Cable routing wasn't as annoying as I'd expected and it's really quite quiet.

I had been using a Zalman CNPS8900 originally, with an i5-4670k, but those wound up in another system. When I put the i7-4790k in here I swapped in a Xigmatek Janus. Works wonderfully, although one of the fans rattles occasionally - not sure which it is, but I'm guessing the 120mm. If it is and it keeps up I might replace it with a Prolimatech Vortex 12.

Zap said:
The fan controller may be set on the more aggressive side to handle smaller cases with less airflow, but based on your description of fan speeds ramping up and temperatures maxing out at 72°C, it sounds completely normal to me.
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Yeah, I've done a bit more reading of threads on other 970s and I'm thinking the same.
 
How about this for AMAZING tech support.

I emailed Galax this morning, figuring I'd check with them about the coil whine before I went and tried to do anything to the card myself. Here's the timeline:

8:48AM - I email saying, "hey, I bought this card and it's got some whine, any suggestions?"
10:32AM - they reply, asking when the noise started and if I'd verified it wasn't coming from the PSU, and to send along a copy of my invoice for them to forward to the RMA dept if needed.
10:45AM - I reply, explaining it didn't happen with my old card, it's definitely coming from the video card somewhere, and asking if they need just the invoice or if the order confirmation/paypal receipt will do (I'm at work and don't have the invoice with me)
10:57AM - they get back to me, saying the confirmation email and paypal email are fine
11:07AM - I send them as attachments
12:51PM - they reply asking for my address and phone number to finalize the RMA request

Total time from initial email to RMA completion? FOUR HOURS. That is absolutely insane.

I was thinking I'd give it a few more days burn-in, but I'm just going to go with their offer of sending a replacement instead.

I'm impressed.
 
^^ Not shabby. Hopefully, the coil whine is just an isolated case, and doesn't exist in all their cards.
 
Well I noticed some whine too while heat testing my build yesterday and there was a very silent whine (that could only be heard when the case was opened) that did only occur in certain situations. For example, it occurred in furmark when I turned on postprocessing while the CPU-burner was running and the furry object was rendered, but only on 8xMSAA. Turning PP off made the noise disappear, turning off the CPU-burner made it appear, too. I guess that could've also come from the PSU as it may have reached its load limit on one rail at that point .(the PSU is a 300W FlexATX one)
Nevertheless, it was veeery silent and after I closed the case, I couldn't hear the whine anymore.
 
deruberhanyok said:
How about this for AMAZING tech support.

I emailed Galax this morning, figuring I'd check with them about the coil whine before I went and tried to do anything to the card myself. Here's the timeline:

8:48AM - I email saying, "hey, I bought this card and it's got some whine, any suggestions?"
10:32AM - they reply, asking when the noise started and if I'd verified it wasn't coming from the PSU, and to send along a copy of my invoice for them to forward to the RMA dept if needed.
10:45AM - I reply, explaining it didn't happen with my old card, it's definitely coming from the video card somewhere, and asking if they need just the invoice or if the order confirmation/paypal receipt will do (I'm at work and don't have the invoice with me)
10:57AM - they get back to me, saying the confirmation email and paypal email are fine
11:07AM - I send them as attachments
12:51PM - they reply asking for my address and phone number to finalize the RMA request

Total time from initial email to RMA completion? FOUR HOURS. That is absolutely insane.

I was thinking I'd give it a few more days burn-in, but I'm just going to go with their offer of sending a replacement instead.

I'm impressed.
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Well technically thats not a completion, just approval for the RMA. And from experience, the actual full process may be a few weeks.;)
 
iFreilicht said:
I guess that could've also come from the PSU as it may have reached its load limit on one rail at that point .(the PSU is a 300W FlexATX one)
Nevertheless, it was veeery silent and after I closed the case, I couldn't hear the whine anymore.
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Yeah, my PSU has an ever-so-slight buzz it makes when my video card is loaded - it did with the 560ti as well. But I have to put my ear right up to the back of it to hear it.

In this instance, with the panel off of the case, the noise is coming right from the video card. I looked around the edges of the heatsink to see if there were any open chokes that could be sealed up but didn't see any, and since they've offered an RMA I figure I'll take them up on it rather than try to do anything to the card myself.

Rav3n said:
Well technically thats not a completion, just approval for the RMA. And from experience, the actual full process may be a few weeks.;)
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Ha! Very true. :) But 4 hours from initial contact to approval for it is still impressive.
 
Update here - tracking info shows the card delivered at/in mailbox on 12/15, but I haven't heard back from Galax about a status update yet (some companies, ASrock for instance, send a confirmation email when they receive an RMA). I emailed them on 12/17 and yesterday (12/21) but still no reply.
 
Well, a little over a week later and still no reply. I emailed again yesterday asking for a status update but haven't heard anything.

I'm starting to feel the buyer's remorse taking a risk on these guys - they were super responsive at first, but I haven't heard a peep out of them since they sent me the RMA number on the 9th.

I'd have hoped for some sort of confirmation they received the card, at least. :/
 
deruberhanyok said:
Well, a little over a week later and still no reply. I emailed again yesterday asking for a status update but haven't heard anything.

I'm starting to feel the buyer's remorse taking a risk on these guys - they were super responsive at first, but I haven't heard a peep out of them since they sent me the RMA number on the 9th.

I'd have hoped for some sort of confirmation they received the card, at least. :/
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Damn, that sucks. I know others who have received their Galax cards though :(
 
A bummer, but not unexpected end to this saga:

Galaxy support e-mailed me back (on the 30th actually, but gmail's spam filter caught it and I didn't see it until today, when they directly replied to one of my messages) referencing the coil whine. They said, quoting here:

The RMA team would like you to know that for the GTX 970, it has been known industry wide that there is a slight coil whine on all 970’s. We can either send a replacement OR we can give you a refund.
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They also included a few links to various industry websites with articles on the coil whine. From what I've read on this forum and in other places it seems like it's basically luck of the draw as to whether you'll get the noisy inductors or not.

So, I've opted for the refund, and I'll just sit out the rest of the 900 series launch and see how things shake out with newer iterations of the 970s, or the 960, or whatever.
 
I definitely want a pair of these when the 16nm die shrink happens.
 
deruberhanyok said:
So, I've opted for the refund, and I'll just sit out the rest of the 900 series launch and see how things shake out with newer iterations of the 970s, or the 960, or whatever.
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Maybe give the Gigabyte 970 ITX a chance, if it's not too wide for your case. I'm still very happy with mine, and have had absolutely zero coil whine (which seems normal, according to the Newegg reviews for this particular card).
 
The small Gigabyte one?

I might look at a few other models of 970s that will fit - the SG05 will hold most of the normal-sized ones, just no Strix, etc (which is too bad, because the bigger ones seem to be the ones with additional power phases and whatnot). But with the 960 launch rumored to be on the 22nd, I figure by the time the refund comes in I may as well wait and see.
 
deruberhanyok said:
The small Gigabyte one?

I might look at a few other models of 970s that will fit - the SG05 will hold most of the normal-sized ones, just no Strix, etc (which is too bad, because the bigger ones seem to be the ones with additional power phases and whatnot). But with the 960 launch rumored to be on the 22nd, I figure by the time the refund comes in I may as well wait and see.
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Yeah, their short 970 (LINK).. it's slightly taller than standard, so doesn't fit in some cases.

970 should still outperform the 960 Ti.. I would hope.
 
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