8800GT Problems

C

ClariorHincHonos

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
1,972
Got my XFX card today, installed it with all the stock cooling still on it to test it, and while it works fine in 2D/Desktop, it makes a horrible screeching/buzzing sound in 3D. No artifacts or anything, but during changes and movement the sound changes...trying to talk to XFX support now.
 
While you're waiting for tech support to respond, you might want to take a look at the fan on your 8800GT. Sometimes, some cable may have come loose or become positioned so that it makes contact with the fan blade.

If the fan and the cables are okay, you may temporarily want to use RivaTuner v2.06 to set your own fan rotation speed to lower the volume.

-Optimummind
 
Are you sure your PSU can handle the card? Your PSU might not be strong enough to run the card when you put load on it so its giving you the warning screech that its low on power. That or mabey these cards suffer from the same screeching problems the GTX/Ultra was knowin to have?
 
I checked the fan-it seems to run fine and makes no extra noise-in fact the card makes zero noise when in 2D mode.

I'm running an OCZ 700W GameXStreem or whatever..more than plenty I think:

Opty 170 @2.4
2GB of memory
A8N-SLI
WD2500KS
Sound card
2 opticals
2 case +1 cpu 120mm fans

XFX is sending me some driver cleaner....I guess I'm supposed to run that a few times. They said it fixed similar issues before-maybe he was referring to the GTX/Ultra stuff? We'll see.
 
Funny you mention that as I just had the EXACT same issue with my EVGA 8800GT 512mb I just recieved and installer earlier today. Silent during BIOS and 2D windows, but as soon as I loaded CRYSIS it started whining at the EA into animation/video and the pitch was changing as the card changed resolutions.

At first I thought it was a wire touching a fan blade or similar but it sounded more like noisy inductor coil type of sound, really high frequency. Tested this 2-3 times by loading up Crysis and returning to 2D, but after 10-15 mins the sound never came back. Seemed only to whine in lower resolutions and didn't make any noise in Crysis menu either. Run the card through some 3DMark06 then take a listen, maybe something is burning in?
 
Sounds like a bad card, just send it back. Defective electronics are like those sickly puppies on display in pet store windows; you'll always have problems with it and the problems usually get worse with age.

Don't bother talking to the manufacturer's tech support, just bring it back to the store or send it back to the reseller and exchange it for a new one.

Seriously now, $250 is a lot of money to drop on something that doesn't work properly and forces you to jump through hoops to fix it. You already paid for the card, don't pay for it again with your own sweat and efforts.
 
That's what I'm thinking too. Figured I'd just give XFX a shot at it. They are currently stumped however. I think I'll head over to NE and start the RMA.

**Just got off the phone with XFX, RMA it is. NE is currently out of stock according to the page, so we'll see what happens.
 
After rebooting noise came back... Seems to whine while loading CRYSIS intro etc.. So that means this card is defective? My card is EVGA brand and not XFX, something in common?
 
Spino said:
Seriously now, $250 is a lot of money to drop on something that doesn't work properly and forces you to jump through hoops to fix it. You already paid for the card, don't pay for it again with your own sweat and efforts.
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$250 isn't that much if your from the UK, it's like £115? :D

We have to pay between £150 - £210.

But anyway, I bloody hope my EVGA GT doesnt screech.
 
i8088 said:
After rebooting noise came back... Seems to whine while loading CRYSIS intro etc.. So that means this card is defective? My card is EVGA brand and not XFX, something in common?
Click to expand...

i thoguht cards wre emade by pretty much the same people and the only differences was the coolers and the art designs?
 
FWIW, i've had an x1800xt for about 2 1/2 years now that does the same thing........... done it since day one, on about day 3 flashed it with the Sapphire XTPE BIOS, still makes the noise, but rock-solid all this time.......... in my case, ATI told me it's an inductor coil, there's supposed to be some kind of silicone on it or something to keep it from audibly vibrating, mine is lacking some of this material............... FWIW, you do get used to it, but RMA if you can and just deal with it if the replacement card does the same thing, could be a peculiarity of the particular coils they used.
 
Wow.. still really wierd issue. As long as its just the crysis demo intro that does that I wont RMA the card. Everything else works as advertised. So far hits 11K+ in 3DM06 without tweaking.
 
coolie_d said:
FWIW, i've had an x1800xt for about 2 1/2 years now that does the same thing........... done it since day one, on about day 3 flashed it with the Sapphire XTPE BIOS, still makes the noise, but rock-solid all this time.......... in my case, ATI told me it's an inductor coil, there's supposed to be some kind of silicone on it or something to keep it from audibly vibrating, mine is lacking some of this material............... FWIW, you do get used to it, but RMA if you can and just deal with it if the replacement card does the same thing, could be a peculiarity of the particular coils they used.
Click to expand...

yea my 8800gtx does the same and no problems yet. and it only seems to do it when the fps shoot up past 1000 or so.

but yea if you can rma it do so. but if you cant wait at least its XFX it has a lifetime warranty;)
 
i hit 11k in 3dmark06 with my GTS 320mb... i really hope i did the right thing, asking for the "step-up" to the 8800GT...

/worried
 
I called EVGA earlier today asking about this issue. The tech support guy said no one has reported about 8800GTs making noise, nor has he heard of it before. I was given the option to RMA it if wanted to, but im not even sure if this is a flaw or not. I might wait till more of these cards are circulating before RMA'ing it so I dont have to wait weeks for a replacement, considering the stock available.
 
I was hoping the 8800GT might finally be the silent, high-power graphics card I've been looking for, but it looks like it has the same problems described in this and this thread. I guess I'm sticking with my screeching Ultra, woohoo!
 
This same issue popped up when the DFI p965 boards were the flavor of the month :(
 
Ok this is going to sound REALLY stupid... but I had my 8800GTS start making the most horrible whine. It sounded like a bad component.

The problem was the protective film on the card. I usually leave it on so if I want to sell it later it isn't all scratched up. Well, the stuff started to come off. And when the fan would speed up, it would start to pull a tiny edge of it into the fan blades. Just enough to make the most unbelievalbe high pitched whine you've ever heard. It sounded 100% like ultra high freq component whine. But it wasn't.

99% chance that isn't your problem, but it just happened to me so WTH. ;)
 
I can rule out fan obstruction in my case as it is repeatable with launching Crysis, its also synced to resolution and screen changes.

Heres an audio recording I took of my cards whining with an external recorder outside the case. This wav recording starts as Crysis is splashing intro credits / ads. Again this is not a ground loop in the audio recording path, im using a microphone outside the case connected to a Minidisc recorder.

http://media.putfile.com/8800GT-Resonance

If you listen to the end you can hear it changing freq then when it enters the UI menu it drops drastically but still present in the noise floor. I normalized the audio signal and raised the noise floor to amplify the source.
 
i8088 said:
I can rule out fan obstruction in my case as it is repeatable with launching Crysis, its also synced to resolution and screen changes.

Heres an audio recording I took of my cards whining with an external recorder outside the case. This wav recording starts as Crysis is splashing intro credits / ads. Again this is not a ground loop in the audio recording path, im using a microphone outside the case connected to a Minidisc recorder.

http://media.putfile.com/8800GT-Resonance

If you listen to the end you can hear it changing freq then when it enters the UI menu it drops drastically but still present in the noise floor. I normalized the audio signal and raised the noise floor to amplify the source.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the fan speed is changing.
 
An earlier post talked about coils lacking an insulating goop to stop them from vibrating, and that reminded me of advice in threads about older 8800's with the same problem--find the coil, take a hot glue gun, put some glue on the coil. Don't know how hard it is to find the coil, but would this work? Maybe rubber cement instead of hot glue? Clear calking compound? Not sure what would be best in terms of resisting high temps and avoiding bad chemical reactions.
 
Commander Suzdal said:
An earlier post talked about coils lacking an insulating goop to stop them from vibrating, and that reminded me of advice in threads about older 8800's with the same problem--find the coil, take a hot glue gun, put some glue on the coil. Don't know how hard it is to find the coil, but would this work? Maybe rubber cement instead of hot glue? Clear calking compound? Not sure what would be best in terms of resisting high temps and avoiding bad chemical reactions.
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yeah but does doing this void your warranty? i think you guys are better off rma'ing it and getting a solid card with no problems.. i know, the wait will suck though :(
 
My EVGA 8800GT is going back to NCIX.com for replacement. This really sucks.
 
Damn, sorry to hear guys. My card should be here any time now. Hopefully it's not plagued with this issue. I've been using ATI cards for the last 5 years or so. The only nvidia card I've ever owned was a Ti4600 and I had to RMA it a few times before switching to ATI. Hope I have better luck this time around. :eek:
 
ClariorHincHonos said:
I did, and they advised me to RMA. Newegg is currently out, so I'm going to see if you guys have some. Any idea on the turn around? Also...do you just submit a ticket requesting an RMA?
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I just recently had my 7800 GT's RMA'd. Average turn around is about 2 weeks they said. I sent the cards there UPS Ground and they'll probably ground them back. After they got there, they tested the cards out and updated my support ticket in about 36 hours. The cards spend more time in transit than anything else.
 
hmz said:
Did you buy an OCed one?
Click to expand...

I purchased the "EVGA Superclocked (650Mhz)" model, not the SSC version.

Concerning shipping time, I've decided I might get a credit or refund so I will be ready to get a GTS w/ 128 shaders when their out. It will take at least a week and a half before I get a replacement (if not longer :mad:) so might as well wait and get the better card. I will lose shipping but its only $8.80.
 
I'm shipping mine back. I'm guessing any new card that comes out won't be as cheap, and I already purchased a Zalman cooler for this card as well.
 
My x800gto^2 has done this for 2 years now.

It's just an inductor coil, don't worry about it.
 
So whats the final answer on this.. I got a Purolator guy that will be here within 2 hrs...

If its just a noisy inductor and it wont pork the whole card do I just keept it?? I might just call EVGA one more time, the guy on the phone the 1st time didnt even know what an inductor was.
 
From what I've read in other 8800GT threads not all of them are doing it. So it's worth getting a new one and not having the noise. I don't know about yours, but mine is simply unbearable-it's loud in Crysis...really loud. Considering the 2 week turn around I've thought about waiting for NE to get them in...but what the hell, might as well get it over with. I put my 8600GTS back in, so I'm still good to go and noise free. Just have to wait a little longer for pretty graphics....lol.

And to those saying its "just" and inductor coil-so what, it's still defective.
 
I just got off the phone this time with another EVGA service rep. He said he has heard of this issue before with other GTX board's inductor(s) and might vary from card to card. He also mentioned it shouldnt harm the card nor cause it to fail. My card only does this audibly during the Crysis intro and very low in Stalker's menu so its not really a big annoyance. My concern was for failing components due to shoddy IC soldering/placement/stock. I aborted the puro guy until I can get enough info on this.

What would suck even more would be sending this card back, then waiting another 2-4 weeks to find out your replacement whines also. Im not so sure I want to send this back anymore. Im better off keeping it or stepping up to a GTS-G92 if they make their way out in 90 days from now. My whine does not seem to be as loud as the one your having, ClariorHincHonos.
 
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