Post here if your 58 series (5870, 5850, 5970) makes high pitch whine/squeal noises

[MJZ]

Hi All, I want to get an idea if this is a widespread problem or just a few units.

This is most notable during load (run Furmark or 3Dmarks) and it should start happening right away.

 

[linuxdude9]

Happens on two 4850s I have here(Sapphire reference design); I've also read on overclock.net some users have had the same issue on their 58xx cards.

 

[JaYp146]

Coil whine is ridiculously common. Some people can't hear it, but it's a common issue that isn't necessarily going to be fixed by RMAing the card.

 

[SicKlown42012]

From all that's been posted about this problem, it really seems to be a completely random chance of getting whine. The only card I've had that had noticeable whine was my old GTX260. Both my 4890 and 5870 don't seem to make it, or at least not at a audible frequency. As the above poster stated, RMAing won't guarantee a fix.

 

[MJZ]

Even if RMA doesn't guarantee a fix, is this technically a defect?

I wonder if I can RMA it to Newegg without being charged a restocking fee......

 

[socK]

my GTX 260 does it and the pitch changes with the FPS

it's only audible when FPS is in the thousands though.


nothing bad will come of it.

 

[SicKlown42012]

Even if RMA doesn't guarantee a fix, is this technically a defect?

I wonder if I can RMA it to Newegg without being charged a restocking fee......

From a Seller's and Manufacture's point of view, a whine is not a defect since it doesn't interfere with the main job of a graphics card, which is to render graphics. You can try and see if Newegg will work with you, but they won't consider it a truly bad card.

 

[pandora's box]

folding@home can do this to my gtx 285's.

 

[Daemas]

break out the nail polish or glue and apply to the offending parts.

 

[MJZ]

I sent a support ticket request to XFX and they recommended I replace the unit with Newegg if the noise was substantial... That would mean no GPU for a week or two.

Damn, I find that I'm starting to hate every single online retailer except Amazon. I wouldn't be having this problem with Amazon (if they had these in stock) since they would just overnight me a replacement before I even have to ship anything back to them.

 

[evilsofa]

Coil whine is the result of interplay between two or more devices, which can include the video card, the PSU and the motherboard. It may or may not be possible to solve coil whine by replacing any one of those parts.

It has been plaguing both Nvidia and ATi for years on just about every video card they make. It tends to occur when the video card is generating extremely high FPS (typically over 1000 FPS). One way to solve it is to ensure that Vsync is always on, but that may be an unsatisfactory solution for some gaming.

 

[Kowan]

folding@home can do this to my gtx 285's.

My 280s had the whine but my 285s don't.

 

[Ihaveworms]

I heard my 5870 whine for a moment and when some load hit, it went away. I haven't heard it since.

 

[Mix-Master]

Yea i get the odd whine now and then, Mostly in game menus when it first starts up. But i game with headphones on so its not a problem for me.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

In general no, but when i tested with vantage, after the loading has finished and before the scene is renderd I got a extremely brief high pitch squeel from my 5970, it occured before every test ran. Nothing else has caused it so I'm not worried.

 

[skytripa]

I've noticed some kind of whine noise with my 2 5850's. Not sure wich one is doing it.

 

[CanesVenetici]

The only time my 5870 does it is when I'm running some ridiculously old benchmarking software like 3d mark 03 where the framerates are through the roof.
Nothing I play has framerates that high, so it never does it while gaming.
This isn't specific to one brand, make, model, etc... of card, yet people keep trying to make it out to be.

 

[MJZ]

Coil whine is the result of interplay between two or more devices, which can include the video card, the PSU and the motherboard. It may or may not be possible to solve coil whine by replacing any one of those parts.

It has been plaguing both Nvidia and ATi for years on just about every video card they make. It tends to occur when the video card is generating extremely high FPS (typically over 1000 FPS). One way to solve it is to ensure that Vsync is always on, but that may be an unsatisfactory solution for some gaming.

Mine does it at load, regardless of FPS (Furmark and 3Dmarks certainly do not get too high in FPS).

 

[WorldExclusive]

I only run software like 3Dmark when new drivers are released or when I first get a new card. It's not something I will use on a regular basis. Your stressing the GPU beyond normal gaming conditions, so of course you going to hear whine. If you run this test regularly, you shouldn't be shocked if you have to RMA your card and maybe your PSU soon.

 

[MJZ]

I only run software like 3Dmark when new drivers are released or when I first get a new card. It's not something I will use on a regular basis. Your stressing the GPU beyond normal gaming conditions, so of course you going to hear whine. If you run this test regularly, you shouldn't be shocked if you have to RMA your card and maybe your PSU soon.

That could not be further from the truth.

I'd expect to run Crysis non-stop for years and not have to RMA anything. You have some very low expectations.

Crysis is more stressful than any 3Dmarks version out there.

 

[WorldExclusive]

That could not be further from the truth.

I'd expect to run Crysis non-stop for years and not have to RMA anything. You have some very low expectations.

Crysis is more stressful than any 3Dmarks version out there.

Is Crysis causing the whine or 3Dmark?

 

[MJZ]

Is Crysis causing the whine or 3Dmark?

Windows Media Player causes whine while playing a video.

 

[DogsofJune]

My 5870 was pretty quiet till the new build. Now it squeals only at the beginning of Crysis. Like during the Nvidia log and the Intel logo. Beyond that, nary a peep from it during the game or anything else for that matter.
Previous 775 build made no noise at all in anything including Crysis.

 

[Daemas]

break out the nail polish or glue and apply to the offending parts.

I love how you guys just continue to ignore the fix and keep bitching about your cards.

#1

#2

#3

 

[TYoda]

I love how you guys just continue to ignore the fix and keep bitching about your cards.

#1

#2

#3

Good stuff right there. Thanks.

 

[MJZ]

I love how you guys just continue to ignore the fix and keep bitching about your cards.

#1

#2

#3

I would do the fix except I bought the XFX for 1 reason - Life time Warranty x 2. Unless XFX has no problem with people doing this, I won't be opening mine up...

 

[MJZ]

From a Seller's and Manufacture's point of view, a whine is not a defect since it doesn't interfere with the main job of a graphics card, which is to render graphics. You can try and see if Newegg will work with you, but they won't consider it a truly bad card.

I wouldn't consider that a sound line of logic. If a GPU is emitting poisonous vapors and eating babies but can still render graphics... that does not mean it's not a defect.

 

[BravO)))]

All electronics have a whine to them. Some electronics you can hear the whine and others you can't... This is depending on the frequency of the whine. While some might have a whine outside of the normal human audio hearing range, others will have a whine that is either slight or very strong with in human hearing. There is no way around electronic vibrations, but trying to engineer electronics to get the whine outside of the human hearing range would not make since as it would cost too much time and money. The best advise I can give you is get use to it or look into forums of the electronics you want before you buy.

 

[sabregen]

i am at 5000+ ft. above sea level. i have an xfx hd5850 @ 5870 speeds, with a slight core voltage increase (1150). I have flashed it to the MSI BIOS. I get capacitor whine under load on occasion, but it is not all the time.

 

[MJZ]

All electronics have a whine to them. Some electronics you can hear the whine and others you can't... This is depending on the frequency of the whine. While some might have a whine outside of the normal human audio hearing range, others will have a whine that is either slight or very strong with in human hearing. There is no way around electronic vibrations, but trying to engineer electronics to get the whine outside of the human hearing range would not make since as it would cost too much time and money. The best advise I can give you is get use to it or look into forums of the electronics you want before you buy.

No way... there is no reason to get used to something like this since I've owned dozens of expensive laptops and desktop equipment and they have never had this issue. The noise this makes under load is literally like a dozen house flies started buzzing around in your case. Try operating or playing a game under those conditions.

It is either getting returned, replaced, or sold.

How would looking into forums help if it's a defect on some cards and not others? It seems like the luck of the draw of these particular ones.

 

[BravO)))]

No way... there is no reason to get used to something like this since I've owned dozens of expensive laptops and desktop equipment and they have never had this issue. The noise this makes under load is literally like a dozen house flies started buzzing around in your case. Try operating or playing a game under those conditions.

It is either getting returned, replaced, or sold.

How would looking into forums help if it's a defect on some cards and not others? It seems like the luck of the draw of these particular ones.

If the card works it is not defective. You just happen to have a card that you can hear whine. Just talk to the vendor and ask them to replace it.

 

[bitgod]

Yup, my XFX 5870 squeals like a pig. I've never had a video card do that, and go through cards (recent previous cards were a pair of 4850s and a 8800 GTX). If I get around to seeing a 3rd party cooler I like, I might take it apart at that point and try the nail polish.

 

[Wotan]

I'm lucky enough not to have this happen to my 5870, but a friend of mine's 5870 and a motherboard (RMA'd the board twice, same thing happened with the replacements) of mine both cause the PSU to whine after a reboot.

It's weird. If the PSU (tried with 5-6 different ones w/ same result) has been unplugged from the socket and then powers the computer on there is no whine, but if we power of the pc then turn it back on the whine comes from the PSU and will continue to do so unless the power is removed from the PSU completely again.

It's a pain in the butt.

 

[MJZ]

I'm lucky enough not to have this happen to my 5870, but a friend of mine's 5870 and a motherboard (RMA'd the board twice, same thing happened with the replacements) of mine both cause the PSU to whine after a reboot.

It's weird. If the PSU (tried with 5-6 different ones w/ same result) has been unplugged from the socket and then powers the computer on there is no whine, but if we power of the pc then turn it back on the whine comes from the PSU and will continue to do so unless the power is removed from the PSU completely again.

It's a pain in the butt.

It might not be his motherboard, but rather his video card.

 

[MJZ]

If the card works it is not defective. You just happen to have a card that you can hear whine. Just talk to the vendor and ask them to replace it.

Yes, that's why I mentioned earlier I hate these damn online retailers. I am going to try to stay away from everybody except Amazon.com.

Replacing this with Newegg means I'm out at least $15 in shipping and probably 2 weeks without a video card.

That's pure BS all things considered.

 

[dccmadams]

I have gotten rma's from newegg for the whine. Call and bitch if you want a rma from them.

 

[BravO)))]

Yes, that's why I mentioned earlier I hate these damn online retailers. I am going to try to stay away from everybody except Amazon.com.

Replacing this with Newegg means I'm out at least $15 in shipping and probably 2 weeks without a video card.

That's pure BS all things considered.

If you are willing to open it up, you could put some foam tape or some silicone on the capacitors. The heat will not be a problem as that is not a component that will produce a lot of heat due to open and short resistances with dc and minute resistance to ac.

 

[MJZ]

I have gotten rma's from newegg for the whine. Call and bitch if you want a rma from them.

Did your replacements turn out to be whine-free?

 

[Fliff]

I love how you guys just continue to ignore the fix and keep bitching about your cards.

#1

#2

#3

My 4870x2 has an unbearable coil whine noise while under load, and I did read about the nail polish trick but was afraid to try it as I found very little info on the technique.

All these posts now give enough assurance to try the trick now, thanks!