Coil Whine on Nvidia 4090 and 4080 cards

Comixbooks

Comixbooks

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Jun 7, 2008
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Seems to be a pretty big problem nothing new but even Der8auer had problems with his 4080 at 8:00 timestamp.

 
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From what I read it's Asus cards for the most part but can happen on MSI but not nearly as much. Gigabyte seems pretty safe as well as the Founders Edition. Changing out the PSU won't solve it because a guy swapped like x5 of them and had the same problem.
 
auntjemima said:
It's always the same. Anecdotal evidence.

You and I have a GPU without coil whine. Whatever. We have one with, we deal with it or RMA it.

A reviewer gets coil whine? XYZ MANUFACTURER THE WORST!

It's dumb.
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Is there any GPU manufacturer that will RMA a card for coil whine?
 
Mchart said:
Even if there were, at this point, i'd rather deal with coil whine then the card that gets butt-f'd during the RMA process and gets returned with a bunch of scratches in the PCB, etc.
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I havent RMAd a card in a while, but I never got the same card back that I sent in whenever I have done it.
 
Coil whine isn’t new. It was also quite prevalent on RTX 30x0 and RX 6x00 series cards, and has been around even in previous generations but at what seems like lesser amounts.

It varies from unit to unit within even the same model so what reviewers notice from their review unit might be completely different than what a customer might experience buying the same model.

ASUS, PowerColor, AMD Reference and the Founders Edition models seemed to be the worst offenders last generation based on the number of complaints I saw online (anecdotal, I know). This generation its too early to tell, but most coil whine complaints I’ve seen thus far are for ASUS models again. But then again they might be pumping out the most units into consumer hands.
 
I get tired of most people claiming coil whine only happens at very high framerates. I had two FE 3080 ti cards and an FE 3090 and all three had tons of coil whine even under very light gaming load and nothing really changed much at high loads/ high framerates. And I think a lot of people are just not bothered by it or are flat out oblivious to it. To me its one of the most annoying sounds and will drive me crazy.
 
My 2070 super had crazy loud coil whine. Lot of people claimed they couldn't hear it. It's very high pitched and annoying.
 
I don't know if you can have a high end GPU that won't whine ever anymore, at least under some types of loads (it's definitely not just about high framerate). But depending on your setup it may not be audible... or it may be horrible. It's just so many variables. I don't believe for a second there is any difference between GPU manufacturers. A lot of times I've noticed coil whine is so high pitched that older people like my parents don't even hear it. But it's there, I can hear it, record it, measure it. But really it's totally random and there are even many different types of coil whine tones to begin with.

Coil whine is one of the reasons why I still stick with closed sound-proofing cases even now that HDDs are gone (think Fractal Design R5 with the front door closed) because this is the type of sound against which sound proofing does wonders (fan noise meanwhile is much harder to deal with because of the lower frequencies). I also have my PC in a different room from the one my desk is in now, which is not something everyone can do, but I totally understand the pain of those who are not in a similar situation. Good luck with your RMAs but don't be surprised to hear whine again at some point.
 
Overclock.UK has a really long thread on it started a month ago Suprim 4090 has some problems but Zotac is fine.
 
Comixbooks said:
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HS! That is as loud as the fans! Have to say never had a card that appears to be as bad as this one. Usually once in a case, on the floor, closed up (oops may not be able to with Lovelace cards) I never hear coil wine.
 
Coil whine id directly proportional to the degree in which your setup has a "HEY, LOOK AT ME, IM SO KEWL" arrangement. High frequencies don't carry, so it doesn't take very much to block it.
 
The higher the power consumption,the higher the chance of coil whine - but on the flip-side,a well-constructed set of inductor stays can bring a smile to any 450w party!
 
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I have been looking so hard for a coil whine free RTX 4090.

I have tried 4 different cards. 2 Gigabyte Gaming OCs, a PNY XLR8 and a Gigabyte Aorus Master.

All unfortunately have too much coil whine like buzz during a high end AAA game even at only 80 to 120 FPS.

Not insanely bad, but definitely more than a faint hush amount. And it is too audible in quiet parts of a game and I always use speakers never head phones.

I have an MSI Z690 Unify Z Motherboard and Corsair HX 1200 PSU and using the 12PWHR Corsair adapter

One thing I wonder is if the motherboard plays a role. I have found from 3 different replies on Tech PowerUp and Overclock.net those with no coil whine on Asus motherboards. 1 Asus Z790 Apex, an Asus X570 Dark Hero, and an Asus Z790 Rampage Extreme. They all say they have no coil whine with a Suprim X on both Z790 boards even with their ear next to the card when it is under load on a test bench and the other has a Giga Gaming OC on the X570 Dark Hero.

Maybe Asus after all produces motherboards that mitigate coil whine for attached components. Though their motherboards maybe excellent at mitigating coil whine, their video cards are the worst offenders of it.

Coincidence or something to it regarding Asus high end motherboards being better at mitigating coil whine of GPUs??
 
I have a 4090 FE and hear no coil whine. If it has it, it's extremely silent. All corsair fans at half speed, very quiet. I do have a higher end Asus Z790.
318097505_1303975337028093_3273577339743906758_n.jpg
 
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Wolverine2349 said:
What kind of motherboard, CPU and power supply?
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Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 @ 5.5 GHz
Asus TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 48 GB
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2
NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 4090
EVGA Supernov 1300 G+ 1300 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power
 
Ferris23 said:
Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 @ 5.5 GHz
Asus TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 48 GB
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2
NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 4090
EVGA Supernov 1300 G+ 1300 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power
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Scratching my head on why you wouldn't go DDR5 on this build?
 
1) It's a DDR 4 mobo
2) I bought this system pre-built for 2,300 dollars from a dude on Facebook who didn't want to scalp but needed to sell for personal reasons. I wanted just the card, but I made an exception because the price was nuts, and now am building my daughter a gaming computer with the computer I had before this. To answer your question, I don't know why maybe because DDR 5 is expensive? Is the gaming performance worth it? I don't see myself upgrading to a DDR 5 motherboard just to run DDR5, but now you have me curious.
 
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Ferris23 said:
Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 @ 5.5 GHz
Asus TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 48 GB
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2
NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 4090
EVGA Supernov 1300 G+ 1300 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power
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Another Asus user with good report for coil whine on RTX 4090 and this is under load you hear no whine at all as that is what counts. I had an Asus Tuf Z690. Then when Raptor Lake dropped and hearing of DDR5 RAM improvements and my parents a surprise gift of new car contribution money, I decided to make the jump to Raptor Lake and DDR5 thinking it would go easy. I had such a tough time getting DDR5 XMP stable on 2 Asus 4 DIMM boards even using onlly 2 sticks at XMP settings as random BSODs and WHEAs. Got an MSI Unify X and got it stable. Though maybe MSI boards cause more GPU coil whine and Asus boards are better at mitigating it?

I am thinking of going with Z690 or Z790 Apex.
 
Wolverine2349 said:
Another Asus user with good report for coil whine on RTX 4090 and this is under load you hear no whine at all as that is what counts. I had an Asus Tuf Z690. Then when Raptor Lake dropped and hearing of DDR5 RAM improvements and my parents a surprise gift of new car contribution money, I decided to make the jump to Raptor Lake and DDR5 thinking it would go easy. I had such a tough time getting DDR5 XMP stable on 2 Asus 4 DIMM boards even using onlly 2 sticks at XMP settings as random BSODs and WHEAs. Got an MSI Unify X and got it stable. Though maybe MSI boards cause more GPU coil whine and Asus boards are better at mitigating it?

I am thinking of going with Z690 or Z790 Apex.
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Just get a z790 my Z690 Tuf works like shiot with Raptor Lake had to put my old chip Alder Lake back in. Ram errors and M.2 drive not showing up with Z690.
 
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Wolverine2349 said:
Another Asus user with good report for coil whine on RTX 4090 and this is under load you hear no whine at all as that is what counts. I had an Asus Tuf Z690. Then when Raptor Lake dropped and hearing of DDR5 RAM improvements and my parents a surprise gift of new car contribution money, I decided to make the jump to Raptor Lake and DDR5 thinking it would go easy. I had such a tough time getting DDR5 XMP stable on 2 Asus 4 DIMM boards even using onlly 2 sticks at XMP settings as random BSODs and WHEAs. Got an MSI Unify X and got it stable. Though maybe MSI boards cause more GPU coil whine and Asus boards are better at mitigating it?

I am thinking of going with Z690 or Z790 Apex.
Click to expand...

Was it worth the switch to DDR5 in games? Like noticeable? I'd hate to ditch this setup I have now as it's stable as hell, just curious what kind of real world gaming increase I could expect from DDR5. I'm thinking not much unless numbers are what I'm after. As it is with a 4090 the games melt off the screen practically, how much more speed will I get with DDR5?
 
Ferris23 said:
Was it worth the switch to DDR5 in games? Like noticeable? I'd hate to ditch this setup I have now as it's stable as hell, just curious what kind of real world gaming increase I could expect from DDR5. I'm thinking not much unless numbers are what I'm after. As it is with a 4090 the games melt off the screen practically, how much more speed will I get with DDR5?
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Not much now, but more for the future without having to build again in a year or 2. If I was to stay DDR4, miswell stayed with a 12th gen 12700K.
 
Wolverine2349 said:
I have been looking so hard for a coil whine free RTX 4090.

I have tried 4 different cards. 2 Gigabyte Gaming OCs, a PNY XLR8 and a Gigabyte Aorus Master.

All unfortunately have too much coil whine like buzz during a high end AAA game even at only 80 to 120 FPS.

Not insanely bad, but definitely more than a faint hush amount. And it is too audible in quiet parts of a game and I always use speakers never head phones.

I have an MSI Z690 Unify Z Motherboard and Corsair HX 1200 PSU and using the 12PWHR Corsair adapter

One thing I wonder is if the motherboard plays a role. I have found from 3 different replies on Tech PowerUp and Overclock.net those with no coil whine on Asus motherboards. 1 Asus Z790 Apex, an Asus X570 Dark Hero, and an Asus Z790 Rampage Extreme. They all say they have no coil whine with a Suprim X on both Z790 boards even with their ear next to the card when it is under load on a test bench and the other has a Giga Gaming OC on the X570 Dark Hero.

Maybe Asus after all produces motherboards that mitigate coil whine for attached components. Though their motherboards maybe excellent at mitigating coil whine, their video cards are the worst offenders of it.

Coincidence or something to it regarding Asus high end motherboards being better at mitigating coil whine of GPUs??
Click to expand...

Not sure if true but I have a Gigabyte Windforce and an ASUS motherboard B550. Absolutely zero coil whine and I am super sound sensitive, the sound of refrigerators and flourescent lights can drive me up the wall.
 
My Gigabyte waterforce 4090 has no whine. I'd go nuts if it did. I only had 1 card ever do coil whine, and even then it was during furmark testing only. I keep my pc about 2.5ft away from me on my desk level.
 
jobert said:
I get tired of most people claiming coil whine only happens at very high framerates. I had two FE 3080 ti cards and an FE 3090 and all three had tons of coil whine even under very light gaming load and nothing really changed much at high loads/ high framerates. And I think a lot of people are just not bothered by it or are flat out oblivious to it. To me its one of the most annoying sounds and will drive me crazy.
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I have a 3080 that I pulled from an Alienware (I hear they’re made by MSI) buddy has a 3080FE. First thing I noticed when I fired up a game was the rather excessive coil whine from that card.
 
Be interesting to see if the next gen ATX 3.0 PSUs make any difference at all with respect to alleviating or eliminating coil whine.
 
jobert said:
I get tired of most people claiming coil whine only happens at very high framerates. I had two FE 3080 ti cards and an FE 3090 and all three had tons of coil whine even under very light gaming load and nothing really changed much at high loads/ high framerates. And I think a lot of people are just not bothered by it or are flat out oblivious to it. To me its one of the most annoying sounds and will drive me crazy.
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Did you sell them? Switch cards? Is there a problem with most 3080s or 3090s - or just certain ones?

Edit: I read that the AMD reference 7900 XT and 7900 XTX cards also have coil whine and/or produce noise - I just read about those complaints yesterday, FWIW.
 
Comixbooks said:
Just get a z790 my Z690 Tuf works like shiot with Raptor Lake had to put my old chip Alder Lake back in. Ram errors and M.2 drive not showing up with Z690.
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I have a Z690 Tuf - bought it open box on ebay a while ago. Works fine afaik. The M.2 drive shows up - although, I recall a bit of trouble upon first getting everything set up with it. But, it worked out after some tweaking.
 
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