I have been on the fence on getting a GTX 970 due to the coil whine issues reviewers have been leaving. It's been a few month now since the GTX 970 has been released, has this issue been resolved or should I wait for another batch? Is the coil whine issue more prevalent on certain brands compared to others? If so, which ones ..
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GTX 970 question
- Thread starter Runt.
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I bought 2 GTX 970s from Gigabyte. The Gaming G1 versions. Both are Rev 1.1 cards and I have no coil whine.
Go to newegg.com or amazon.com and read reviews of the following brands to see coil whine issues
MSI Gaming
Gigabyte G1 Gaming
EVGA ACX 2.0
I came to the conclusion that Gigabyte G1 Gaming had the least of the issues, already has an improved Rev 1.1 card and highest overclock with best cooling (due to 4 copper heat pipes). I was willing to pay the extra 20 per card than MSI Gaming to get that privelege. It also shows in my overclocking results.
Go to newegg.com or amazon.com and read reviews of the following brands to see coil whine issues
MSI Gaming
Gigabyte G1 Gaming
EVGA ACX 2.0
I came to the conclusion that Gigabyte G1 Gaming had the least of the issues, already has an improved Rev 1.1 card and highest overclock with best cooling (due to 4 copper heat pipes). I was willing to pay the extra 20 per card than MSI Gaming to get that privelege. It also shows in my overclocking results.
Ocellaris
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Coil whine has been around for years and doesn't appear to be getting addressed anytime soon. The problems come from the inductors being used and how they are attached to the PCB along with the user's power supply. Until OEMs start completely encasing the inductors and surrounding area in something solid, coils can produce an audible whine.
This isn't a "new batch" issue, some of the 970s were built on PCBs that are nearly identical to designs going back to the GTX 670 era. Buy the card(s) you want and hope for the best, the ones on GTX 980 PCBs seem less likely overall to be whiny due to their different power delivery.
Plenty of people have reported whining from all manufacturers, just Google "[Manufacturer] GTX970 whine" and you will find lots of hits for every brand.
This isn't a "new batch" issue, some of the 970s were built on PCBs that are nearly identical to designs going back to the GTX 670 era. Buy the card(s) you want and hope for the best, the ones on GTX 980 PCBs seem less likely overall to be whiny due to their different power delivery.
Plenty of people have reported whining from all manufacturers, just Google "[Manufacturer] GTX970 whine" and you will find lots of hits for every brand.
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Porter_
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in all my years of gaming i've only heard coil whine when i'm running ~1500 fps (e.g. in menus). is this what everyone is referring to? or are people hearing this at normal framerates?
Ocellaris
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Picture that same type of noise noise, however it can happen at more reasonable frame rates.
Porter_
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gotcha, i see the fuss then. i've been lucky with my cards.
Drawmonster
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My Gigabyte G1 970 arrives any minute. I'll let you know if I have any coil whine.
Ocellaris
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Here is a really simple way to check for whine...
-Download Furmark
-Run Furmark at the default settings (720P, windowed)
-Press Space Bar to toggle the "fuzzy donut" off an on. This will make the card go from ~120 fps and 100% power draw to like 2400 FPS and lower power draw.
-If your car isn't screaming at either of those settings, you are fine
Drawmonster
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About to put it in now. I'll give this a try and report back.
Drawmonster
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Well now I know what coil whine sounds like...... When I hit space and get rid of the donut, it starts whining. So is this something that would warrant returning the card, or just something that happens at super high FPS?
Ocellaris
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If it is quiet when the donut is up, and quiet in games, you might be fine. Some game menus and such will render at crazy high FPS and you can usually address that with VSYNC being turned on. Lots of cards make audible noise over 500 FPS and are otherwise fine.
Also there are definitely varying levels of loudness. My first GTX 970 was so loud you could hear it from another room, and that was during gameplay
Also there are definitely varying levels of loudness. My first GTX 970 was so loud you could hear it from another room, and that was during gameplay
Drawmonster
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If it is quiet when the donut is up, and quiet in games, you might be fine. Some game menus and such will render at crazy high FPS and you can usually address that with VSYNC being turned on. Lots of cards make audible noise over 500 FPS and are otherwise fine.
Also there are definitely varying levels of loudness. My first GTX 970 was so loud you could hear it from another room, and that was during gameplay
Just played Dragon Age Inquisition at max settings. It definitely makes a noise while in game. Stops when I leave the game. Gonna try a few more games, like FC4 and Shadow of Mordor and see if it happens in them too.
This sucks. It's really annoying to hear the whine while gaming. And that's over all my fans and the sound of the game.
Just played Dragon Age Inquisition at max settings. It definitely makes a noise while in game. Stops when I leave the game. Gonna try a few more games, like FC4 and Shadow of Mordor and see if it happens in them too.
This sucks. It's really annoying to hear the whine while gaming. And that's over all my fans and the sound of the game.
Ugh, sorry to hear that. That is exactly why I'm on the fence.
I would if it was closer to $350 w/o tax but it would end up being more like $410 w/ tax.
I am seriously considering the EVGA GTX 970 FTW.
Drawmonster
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Swapping mine out. Amazon already shipped me the replacement. Hopefully I get a non-whining one this time, lol.
Good luck.
I have the Rev 1.1 Gigabyte G1 and have no coil whine at all. Sometimes I wonder if maybe it has anything to do with the PSU. I have never had coil whine on any of my last 4+ cards since I have been using my AX850, which is probably 2.5+ years old now. Probably just a coincidence.
Just bought a gtx 970 from local best buy. The guy price matched it for $339 with amazon. I guess I could provide pics of unopened product and receipt if you want lol
I think every card I've ever owned whines at 300+ FPS
. I'd say it would be an issue if you had coil whine while < 144 FPS. Or whatever reasonable framerate someone might have.Which one on Amazon/Best buy?
Ocellaris
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People are getting Best Buy to price match non-matching cards (against Best Buy's own policies). You just need to find an employee who isn't very smart or just doesn't give a shit.
Armenius
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Might be talking about this reference model that only Best Buy sells.
Drawmonster
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I think every card I've ever owned whines at 300+ FPS
Sadly the one I got yesterday whines pretty much any time it's in use. I tried Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Shadow of Mordor, and Elite Dangerous. My wife was sitting there and at one point looked at my computer and said "What's that noise?".
It's annoying and I can already imagine the question I'd get 2 years from now trying to sell it. "Does it have coil whine?" "Yes" "Nevermind then". If the next one whines, I may consider just getting a 980 and being done with it.
Sadly the one I got yesterday whines pretty much any time it's in use. I tried Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Shadow of Mordor, and Elite Dangerous. My wife was sitting there and at one point looked at my computer and said "What's that noise?".
It's annoying and I can already imagine the question I'd get 2 years from now trying to sell it. "Does it have coil whine?" "Yes" "Nevermind then". If the next one whines, I may consider just getting a 980 and being done with it.
Yeah that's a huge bummer. I had coil whine with 7970s and a 780 Ti but it was during folding@home. Which ran 24/7. Drove me nuts!
Just picked up an Asus STRIX GTX 970.. I will post back my results as well. If it whines oh well.. Frys has like 13 of these suckers in stock.. It might be a long day.. lol I imagine they all whine if put in the right situation. Has anyone actually had one that didn't with furmark and removing the donut?
Ocellaris
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I can barely hear my Strix 970 when the donut is removed. This is a tremendous improvement over the previous 970s I had.
Yeah, it's not stupid loud but easiy heard with your ear down by it.
Sadly the one I got yesterday whines pretty much any time it's in use. I tried Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Shadow of Mordor, and Elite Dangerous. My wife was sitting there and at one point looked at my computer and said "What's that noise?".
It's annoying and I can already imagine the question I'd get 2 years from now trying to sell it. "Does it have coil whine?" "Yes" "Nevermind then". If the next one whines, I may consider just getting a 980 and being done with it.
Rev 1.0 or 1.1?
Actually doesn't matter at this point. RMA those cards to Gigabyte ASAP, and make sure you follow up with the RMA department when they receive your cards.
Gigabyte made me fill out a form detailing my problem, but somehow that form got lost and the techs found "no issues after testing multiple configs" and were ready to ship me back the same cards. Good thing I called in and the guy on the phone promised to take care of it on Monday (called on Friday). Well come Monday and the status becomes "ready to ship" and I was like HOLY FUCKBALLS so called in again, By sheer luck got the same guy who recognized me, apologized and instantly fired off an email to the techs.
3 days later 2 brand new cards show up on my doorstep. Although they still whine under ridiculous load, the noise was not noticeable when gaming, and seems that after god knows how many hours of gaming I've actually burned out the coil whine completely.
Drawmonster
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Well, got my new card today. It whines just like the other one. Still audible unless I have the game cranked up. So they are both going back. It's just not acceptable to me that a high end graphics card has a flaw like this. I've never had this issue before, and always had high end cards.
I got a G1 with a nice oc ceiling, that's the only reason i kept it. After about 2 weeks of consistent gaming/benchmarking, the whine went away. No guarantee that it'll happen, but it did for me. The chance of whine is definitely higher than the 5% the manufacturer's are claiming.
My GTX 980 is much quieter than the two 970s I tried. I still can get whine but only way I was able to do it was using furmark and remove the donut.. I think that pretty much makes any card whine. My GTX 770 never made a bit of noise but would whine when I removed the donut.
Drawmonster
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Which 980 did you get? I'm considering trying to find a used 980 since I'm not having much luck with 970's.
I think in general the 980s aren't as bad. I got the Asus but I wanted the MSI version. Mine seems to be doing well.. 71C peak temps in furmark and my case setup is for silence so that is with very minimal airflow.. 39C idle with no fans turning at all. Both the MSI and Asus have a 0db fan option where they shutoff when under a certain temp. If you are dead set on overclocking the Gigabyte is the way to go. If not then the Asus or MSI will get the job done.
googlethis
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i heard G1 is the best but coil whines are really hit and miss for all 970
seanclayton
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Starting to think they used cheap components. I Hope the gtx 980ti comes out before stepup expires.