eVGA GTX 970 - Terrible Fan Buzz

[night_2004]

Does anyone else have an eVGA GTX 970 with really bad fan buzzing? I just plugged mine in and its terrible. Much louder than the GTX 570, 680, and 780 (all eVGA) that I have used.

I stopped the fan while it was running to confirm that, yes, it is the fan making this much noise.

Its bad enough that I am really contemplating returning this and buying one from a competitor...

 

[FRZ]

you should return it while you still can and buy another version. EVGA 970s have some issues, I returned mine yesterday.

 

[noobferguson]

As much praise is given for EVGA's customer service, the actual performance on their products is pretty spotty. Most of the time, you'd do better buying ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, what have you, and getting a product that actually is quiet and/or cool.

For example, on last gen's 780, you couldn't lower the fan RPM on the ACX below 39 or so, and it made for an unnecessarily high idle fan noise level, especially compared to Gigabyte (somebody reported this on their forums). The general attitude in response was that this was intentional. I say screw that.

 

[night_2004]

How did you file an RMA for a return? I bought this one directly through eVGA, and the RMA options I read about where all for replacements.

Tonight I'll have to register the card and see if I can just state in an RMA request that it is for refund. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be fine.

eVGA has been great in the past, this stinks having to think about buying elsewhere. Are the ACX coolers any better?

Another option is for me to order another GTX 780, so when my wife is done with my other GTX 780 I could just SLI them.

 

[Morphy]

As much praise is given for EVGA's customer service, the actual performance on their products is pretty spotty. Most of the time, you'd do better buying ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, what have you, and getting a product that actually is quiet and/or cool.

For example, on last gen's 780, you couldn't lower the fan RPM on the ACX below 39 or so, and it made for an unnecessarily high idle fan noise level, especially compared to Gigabyte (somebody reported this on their forums). The general attitude in response was that this was intentional. I say screw that.

I'm with you. My experience with EVGA cards is just as you said..great CS but very spotty performance. I'd stay away from the ACX cooler. And their 970 ACX comes with only 4 phase power while others have 6.

I'll buy MSI, Gigabyte, Zotac even before I touch an EVGA card.

 

[n=1]

Hell I just noticed my EVGA 750 Ti SC has coil whine as well!

 

[Seroman]

A little googling shows you're not the only one with the problem. Send it back and get a better one. Alot of people are reporting the same coil whine/buzzing problem with their EVGA card.

 

[night_2004]

I have not seen a lot of other complaints yet, but then again its probably because I am not using the right search terms.

Either way, I am in the process of getting a refund. I ordered a barely used GTX 780 off of Amazon for a tad more cash and plan to SLI next year when my wife is done using my GTX 780 for her CUDA project.

 

[Kronvict]

How did you file an RMA for a return? I bought this one directly through eVGA, and the RMA options I read about where all for replacements.

Tonight I'll have to register the card and see if I can just state in an RMA request that it is for refund. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be fine.

eVGA has been great in the past, this stinks having to think about buying elsewhere. Are the ACX coolers any better?

Another option is for me to order another GTX 780, so when my wife is done with my other GTX 780 I could just SLI them.

I would call customer service to set up a refund.

 

[limitedaccess]

I have not seen a lot of other complaints yet, but then again its probably because I am not using the right search terms.

Either way, I am in the process of getting a refund. I ordered a barely used GTX 780 off of Amazon for a tad more cash and plan to SLI next year when my wife is done using my GTX 780 for her CUDA project.

A new 780 needs to be priced cheaper than the 970 to be good value, and if you look at current retail prices this is where they are trending (along with the game bundle being new purchases). Paying more for a used one, regardless of how much, was not good value.

Also if you look at current trends in actual performance requirements for gaming you will very likely be bottlenecked by VRAM relative to the computational power of 2x780s going forward unless your goal is just to drive higher than 60hz displays at 1080p. Even then that might still be an issue.

 

[night_2004]

Normally I would agree, but when I say a tad more ... I literally mean a tad more. After taxes that I would have paid on a new GTX 970, and the backplate that is coming with the two-month-old GTX 780, we are talking a few cents difference on price.

Its going to be almost a year before I get to even think about SLI so I am not worried too much about it right now.

 

[n=1]

I wouldn't buy a 780 even if it was 80% of 970's price right now, much less pay the same for it. Oh well whatever makes you happy.

Btw Gigabyte 780 is going for $330 on Amazon, and there's a $20 rebate for it too. Now that is a card I may consider getting if I was really desperate.

 

[limitedaccess]

Normally I would agree, but when I say a tad more ... I literally mean a tad more. After taxes that I would have paid on a new GTX 970, and the backplate that is coming with the two-month-old GTX 780, we are talking a few cents difference on price.

Its going to be almost a year before I get to even think about SLI so I am not worried too much about it right now.

Like mentioned above the issue is that a new 780 needs to be cheaper than a new 970. So a used 780 would need to be even cheaper still (keep in mind if it doesn't include the game bundle, you can resell for ~$10-$20 most likely). This also isn't even factoring the in possible gamble on the VRAM difference being an issue going forward.

I just mentioned SLI in case the possibility of doing so was a factor in your decision and was pointing out the possible issue with that.

 

[night_2004]

Like mentioned above the issue is that a new 780 needs to be cheaper than a new 970. So a used 780 would need to be even cheaper still (keep in mind if it doesn't include the game bundle, you can resell for ~$10-$20 most likely). This also isn't even factoring the in possible gamble on the VRAM difference being an issue going forward.

I just mentioned SLI in case the possibility of doing so was a factor in your decision and was pointing out the possible issue with that.

Not trying to get defensive here, but at some point I am better off just buying the damn thing and moving on with life. I'll spend more time trying to save $30 then its worth when there's already a lot of projects I am working on outside of my normal full-time job.

VRAM and SLI are definitely a gamble in the long run, but I'm glad you pointed it out. Its something I will look into more once my wife surrenders my other GTX 780 after her masters degree is done. Worst case scenario there will be two used GTX 780's posted for sale about a year from now but that loss will be offset by a nice juicy promotion for her.

But on the original topic ... shame on eVGA for bombing out on this launch. I would not be surprised if there are a lot of B-stock cards on their website soon.

 

[limitedaccess]

I think you're misunderstanding the money/cost/value issue a bit. Basically the 780 is an inferior product at this point compared to the 970, which is why it should be worth less and a fair value would have you paying less for it. It's just to illustrate where they stand currently relative to each other.

Personally I would've just bought a different brand (either a 970 or a cheaper 780) but I guess you feel stronger about getting an EVGA, which is fair enough as that is a personal preference every individual needs to factor in for themselves.

Edit: Also I want to add the other issue was you said wasn't "new" technically. Although since in your case you purchased from Amazon its a bit of a different situation. But in terms of actual second hand sales anyone selling a GTX 780 for that high (relative to the 970) is hoping to get lucky (to use a nicer sounding term).

 

[n=1]

I think you're misunderstanding the money/cost/value issue a bit. Basically the 780 is an inferior product at this point compared to the 970, which is why it should be worth less and a fair value would have you paying less for it. It's just to illustrate where they stand currently relative to each other.

Exactly this.

 

[Morphy]

Edit: Also I want to add the other issue was you said wasn't "new" technically. Although since in your case you purchased from Amazon its a bit of a different situation. But in terms of actual second hand sales anyone selling a GTX 780 for that high (relative to the 970) is hoping to get lucky (to use a nicer sounding term).

^^ He's right. If OP wants the 780 I'd go haggle the hell out of it and go real low. Usually a seller like that hopes to attract someone who isn't aware of what's on the current market and current values.
And if the seller isn't willing to budge or not willing to go low enough that's his loss.

Hmm just saw its from Amazon. In that case might be tough to bargain then.

 

[night_2004]

Well judging from the eBay prices I am seeing now, yeah the guy got lucky by a few bucks. Damn prices dropped quicker than I thought they would. They seem to be setting at $330 on eBay right now. It was a little higher yesterday when the GTX 780's were slim pickings. Not a huge loss, but a loss.

Main reason for sticking with eVGA on used cards is because I am a little more comfortable with their warranty service, but yeah no one's arguing that one.

Lesson learned. Wait 24 hours.

 

[night_2004]

The GTX 780 isn't exactly working out. I think I'm going to look at the GTX 760 to hold me over until my better half is done with the GTX 780 we already own. Any tips on the value of a 760?

I see nVidia has lowered the MSRP to $219, so used would be less of course. But is $219 even a good value now for a new card with that performance?

 

[limitedaccess]

I don't feel the current <$300 cards are a good value on either side. Capability to price ratio seems to currently lie with both the GTX 970 and R9 290. Really for a lower end card you want the capability to price ratio to increase and not just stay linear as well.

If you go by MSRPs the 760 is ~66.6% the price of the GTX 970. This means it needs to be within that performance to maintain the same performance/price ratio but really for lower end hardware you actually want performance/price to improve not just stay linear. Then you factor in the 2x higher VRAM, newer feature set, and likely better suitability going forward. So does it offer ~66.6% of the capability of a the GTX 970?