GTX 260 Squealing

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WintersFury

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May 19, 2007
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So I'm doing some work on a friends computer, upgrading some things and giving the proc a bit of an OC as it's a lil aging now.

And I'm running some games and benches and whatnot to test overall stability and speed and at different times I notice a sometimes really loud and sometimes pretty quiet squeal from the vid card.

It'll happen during the transitions into and out of the loading % screens for 3dMark06. However out of the games we've tested, only EvE Online seems to do it. Oddly enough it's perhaps the least demanding game that we've tested. And another oddly enough is that the squealing seems to go down a bit when we set the game to v-sync instead of non v-synced.

As for the noise level of the squealing, it's loud during 3dmark and rather quiet but still noticable with EvE. And the card isn't OCed either and has a 700w silverstone psu powering it so I'm thinking it's not power issues.


So after all that... The reason I'm asking... I have no idea what on the card could be causing the noise and therefore have no idea if it means that theres something wrong with the card, or if it's just something mildly annoying and nothing more?
 
It's common with newer cards. My 260's both do it, especially during the most intense use, such as crysis or f@h. It is no cause for concern, just the nature of the beast, although some people get noisier ones or cards that don't seem to make the noise at all.
 
Quite common, mine does it too. The ATITool test bring it out quickly for me. Just be sure its the card and not the PSU before even concidering a replacement. Even some high power, known brands of PSU squeal with the higher end video cards installed which have never squealed previously.

Sounds strange but try reseating / swapping power leads to the card.

Even if you do a warranty replacement on it, there is a chance you get a 'squealer' back in place of it.

There are procedures around that use nail polish and hot glue around the components that produce the squeal but these void warrany I assume and would cause the components to heat up more than they normally would.
 
Usually it's the toroid coil thingy that squeals, hence why on many boards you see a dab of silicone on them to dampen that noise. Try it. I have added silicone to a couple cards that cured the squeal. And I am finally replacing my 512mb 8800GTS with a new 55nm GTX260, so if it squeals, I'll try that again.
 
TheRapture said:
Usually it's the toroid coil thingy that squeals, hence why on many boards you see a dab of silicone on them to dampen that noise. Try it. I have added silicone to a couple cards that cured the squeal. And I am finally replacing my 512mb 8800GTS with a new 55nm GTX260, so if it squeals, I'll try that again.
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I figured it was a coil of some kind as that was always the thing with the mobo's when they squealed, but I don't remember seeing coils or anything on any of the newer cards I've looked at. If my friend finds it annoying perhaps we'll pull the HSF off and see if there isn't something we can do about it.

And you'd think they would by default put something on parts that are obviously known to make noise since it's a common problem.


And as for the PSU one of the first things I did was put my ear to the exhaust vent of the PSU to see if the noise was from in there, but it's definately the graphics card. I'll give the power leads thing a go, I can see how it could work depending on how the leads are routed through the PSU and the rails or virtual rails and since it's easy I'll give it a go, can't hurt anything.


Thanks for the info all.
 
That's weird, but it seems pretty common for NVIDIA cards. Could be coils not wound tightly enough. I have buzzing and squealing during games, but it's actually coming from my power supply. It's likely the voltage regulator on the video card.
 
its a very common since GF 8 series IIRC...and all the card in market right now will have this problem...

this problem starts annoying the crap out of me for awhile, no solution for it yet..

it seem to be only happen in certain application and games...
 
The high-pitched "whine" is from the power switching-regulator circuit. The inductors (aka "coil thingy", lol) and capacitors can emit audible noise when the duty cycle becomes heavy. It is quite normal.

I have several video cards that make such noise, but I have far more motherboards that produce the noise (when strapped to a decent video card).
 
hossdaddy said:
contact the manufacturer maybe rma?
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Honestly, from an electronics standpoint, complaining about this noise would be the equivalent to complaining about the high-pitched whistle produced by CRT's. :p

It is an inherent property that is the product of regulator circuits that are required to handle massive amounts of power. As newer cards require more and more power, little annoyances like these will continue to surface.
 
Well most people I don't think would even hear it, it's not that loud and the case is open and pretty close to where your sitting when using it currently. And I seem to hear high pitched sounds more than most people.

If my friend complains about it when he gets it back I'll just tell him to turn on the speakers or the TV, lol.
 
My brand new 4890 does it when stressed by ATITool's furry cube test. So did my 8800 GTXs before it. This is pretty much a universal thing anymore.

Seems to be directly related to FPS in most cases. The cube hits 2000+ and the sound actually shifts along with the FPS... so it makes sense to me that enabling vsync (which drops FPS to 60 or less in most cases) would quiet things down.
 
It also tends to get better with time, at least in my experience (3 cards now that have done it) - starts out bad, but after a few days or weeks gets less and less noticeable.
 
I read somewhere that some non-reference cards that the manufacturers have designed the power circuit differently to nVidia don't have this problem. Was it EVGA???
 
Technophobe said:
I read somewhere that some non-reference cards that the manufacturers have designed the power circuit differently to nVidia don't have this problem. Was it EVGA???
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The card doing it is one of the new eVGA 55nm 260's. So I'm thinking it's not them.


And Forceman that would be odd if it went away over time, but who knows.
 
WintersFury said:
The card doing it is one of the new eVGA 55nm 260's. So I'm thinking it's not them.


And Forceman that would be odd if it went away over time, but who knows.
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Not necessarily. It's possible whatever is mechanically responsible has been affected by alteration in the physical structure, such as hysteresis in the inductor coil from vibration.

My 260 SSC is a squealer :(
 
All those with squealing cards should start a movement and get the designers / manufacturers to do something about this. They all count on the majority of users just being apathetic and putting up with it (yeah, just like me :) I did report my problem with the people I bought it from and they just gave me a story about never hearing about this problem before and with no intention of doing anything about my card.
 
I just got a BFG OC version, it does not squeal (yet) even when clocked up to 625/1110...

hopefully, it won't.
 
I think they all will squeal under the right conditions, folding always does it. It is annoying and a rma wont help. I have had like 10 gtx 260, 280, 285 cards, and they all do it, on both of my rigs. The 4890 does it while folding also.
 
mine do depending on the app I run.. the only one which I really notice the noise is STALKER CS... and it is quite noticeable! that game seems to work a video card like a rented mule.
 
I had a 8800GTS that squealed like a piggy! I think there is a video on how to glue/resin the coil, can't seem to find it now though
 
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