Grinding noise coming from my GPU

Cyber Akuma

Cyber Akuma

Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
648
There is a noise coming from my RTX 2060 Super, and I am starting to get worried if the fans are going.

When I first got it the fans would constantly while it was idle be off, then suddenly speed up, then go off, and repeat over and over. The noise drove me nuts, so I """fixed""" it by using Precision X1 to adjust the fan curve so that fans are always slightly spinning. The basically inaudible noise of the fans always spinning at their lowest setting was far quieter than the fans being off then ramping up to max for a second over and over.

However, now I keep hearing a grinding noise. It seems to mostly happen as the fans are ramping up, but it also happens randomly while it's in operation. I took a video of that behavior here, I was using Cinemark 2024 to make it loop a GPU test that kept ramping the GPU up and down as it looped, triggering the noise often. There is a particularly bad instance of the noise near the end:


View: https://youtu.be/yLUOB9xM-5E

Are my fans dying? Or any recommendations on what I can look into or try to do to see if I can fix this? Not easy to find replacement fans for GPUs, and all the ones I found were expensive and just used ones pulled from another GPU.
 
That sounds like fan blade interference to me. Look for something occasionally contacting the fan blades. Also see if there's noticeable wobble in the fan hub allowing the blades to move more than they should. The latter would imply a new fan needed.
 
I had similar noises from my 980Ti, so I decided to check the three fans and see if they were spinning while my system was running. First fan was fine, second one was completely locked up, and the third one was spinning but strangely. I touched the blades to stop it and the fan completely fell off the motor hub and into the bottom of my case. Noise stopped though, it was likely wobbling side to side hitting the shroud while it was running.

Ended up buying a replacement set of fans for it from amazon that matched my fan setup, they looked unbranded in the pic but they ended up even having the exact same gigabyte stickers as my original ones did. Fans are still working good on it.
 
Not sure if it is clipping on something? Are you sure it's not a case fan. Not sure if there are bearings in the fans that can generate that type of noise but to me it sounds like the fan blade is hitting something maybe a loose wire usually that's what I always discover personally.
 
I have a 1050Ti that has issues similar to this. The problem with it is the fan shroud on the card. It's a piece of shit which doesn't fit properly and when the fans on it begin to ramp up there will be some grinding noise until the RPMs get higher. It does this in a small and specific RPM range on ramp up and ramp down. Without completely removing the shroud there is little to be done on this card but I have something wedged underneath the card which helps keep the shroud in the correct shape so it doesn't rub against the fans much, if at all.
 
The shroud? So it's just the outside cosmetic plastic casing that the fan is hitting against? If that's the case, can I just sand down the edge of the shroud that the fan is hitting against a little?
 
They pressure-fit the cable close to the fans if i recall correctly.
At home i´ve managed something similar by touching the fan whilst it was running and that started the wobble that hit the cable which was not pinched in properly.

A disassembly/reassembly helped.

Still i would start now and get those used replacements that you can buy from over the pond.
Buy at least double since they are used and basically resold trash so you have to get a little bit lucky.
 
The problem if I need to replace the fan is even finding a decent replacement. Like I said I have only been able to find them on eBay which are very likely used and pulled out of a card... yet cost as much as a high-end Noctua fan... or are from sketchy looking sites named things like gpufanreplacement.com which despite the suspiciously specific name clearly designed to be the first hit in Google search results (which it was) charge even more.
 
both fans appear to be working fine and that sound is the blades rubbing on something. id be guessing a sagging fan cable too, seen it several times.
also, yes taking the shroud off will tell you if thats the prob, if the fans arent attached to it.
id pull it and start looking, dont worry about new fans.
 
Looks like those evga cards use the standard micro 4pin, so you can just use one of these cables to attaoh whatever fans you want to the heatsink. Dealing with GPU fan failures really isn't a big deal unless you absolutely want to keep the card in OEM configuration for warranty/resale, or you are an absolute stickler for the stock look. I'm also pretty sure that you can even run the card without anything attached to the onboard fan header, if you'd prefer to run fans connected to your motherboard for whatever reason.
 
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doubletake said:
Looks like those evga cards use the standard micro 4pin, so you can just use one of these cables to attaoh whatever fans you want to the heatsink. Dealing with GPU fan failures really isn't a big deal unless you absolutely want to keep the card in OEM configuration for warranty/resale, or you are an absolute stickler for the stock look. I'm also pretty sure that you can even run the card without anything attached to the onboard fan header, if you'd prefer to run fans connected to your motherboard for whatever reason.
Click to expand...

Not an option with this proprietary motherboard, I will have to use the video card's headers.
 
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A problem I've had with mini PCs is when a GPU sits so close to wires and what not that even if it seems like things fit, all is not as it seems. I had a dual slot gpu with some really soft plastic fan fins. When the fans spun up to high RPMs the rotational force combined with air pushing back would push the fins outward thus fans slapping anything in their way. In this case it was slapping a bundle of cables sitting at least a pencil's width away. At first I thought the fans were defective until I saw the marks on the cables.

I've also had some clearly defective GPU fans. Sometimes flicking the fan center (while spinning) with my finger will nudge them back into a place so they aren't grinding. The issue is if the bearings are defective, then there's not much you can do other than replace them. Sometimes the fans will eventually grind their way free. Other times they just get worse over time.

Fortunately replacement fans are typically a cheap fix.

Another fix is to mount the gpu vertically. Might not be the cheapest or best solution, but you might find the troublesome fan likes its new orientation better.
 
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