Squealing sound with XFX 4890

John721

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 8, 2006
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Hi all,

I just upgraded to an XFX 4890, and I'm getting a "squealing sound" from the video card itself. When I first noticed it, I popped the side off my case and must have spent a good 30 minutes listening inside the case while reproducing the noise. I'm very sure its the vid card. Strangely enough, it only seems occur when I'm getting very, very high framerates. I first noticed it in 3dmark2001 and in some game menus. It did not occur in 3dmark06 or even 3dmark05 or during gameplay in any modern games. Additionally, I noticed that forcing the V-sync to always on in CCC seemed to completely eliminate the squealing. Presumably because this caps the framerate to 60 in my case. Also, the sound doesn't occur in windows / the desktop.

Any thoughts on the issue? From my web and forum searching so far, a number of people seem to think its fairly normal for upper end cards while others believe an immediate RMA is called for. Things seem fast and stable for now, but would this be a warning sign for a possible future failure in the video card?

My system specs are in the signature area.
 
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It's inductor coil squeal:

http://theovalich.wordpress.com/200...w-and-how-to-fix-it-no-more-gtx280-squealing/

Among other things, that article states:

If you own a card that squeals, you should do following things:

* Change the power cable. Incredible, but it did work on some cases reported by my friends.
* Is your power clean or “dirty”? Putting a power-filter such as UPS might help.
* If these two fail - mod the board.

The article also states that for cards that are vulnerable to inductor coil squeal, it's hit or miss whether they do, so an RMA may also solve the problem if the simple solutions don't work. I don't know that I'd be interested in putting nail polish on my video card.
 
My 4870 makes a slight sqeeling noise when I run a scan for artifacts. I think it's the vram that's making the noise. I don't notice it in game though... then again, I usually have headphones on :p. If your card is perfectly stable, then there's no need to RMA. I think it's just the high freq of the ram.
 
Oftentimes an RMA replacement will also squeal. It's a huge YMMV.
 
John, it's completely normal. My 4870x2 does it too in game menus. Just keep vsync forced on and you'll be fine.
 
Someone on the egg posted having a similar problem with that card, I believe.

I know it was a 4890 at least.
 
My XFX 4890 makes the same noise, not too noticeble though (one of my motherboards is quite a bit louder). The card runs great. If anything goes wrong, XFX has a great warranty, so I am sure it would be taken care of.
 
Thanks for the posts everyone. I gave XFX tech support a call, and the tech I spoke with mentioned hearing about this issue rather often with a number of different video cards, and he didn't seem to believe it would necessarily impact the lifespan of the card. He did mention that they would RMA it if it was bothersome. I think I'll just play around with it for a few days, run some more games and see how it goes before making any final decisions.
 
Have anyone else heard about squeeling issues for other 4890 brands? Or is it exclusively xfx?
 
My Diamond 4890 squeals on the menus on Stalker Clear Sky, and when 3dmark06 starts, but nothing after that.
 
Don't worry about it.

My Sapphire HD4870 (reference 3+2 digital VRMs) squealed, and the Sapphire HD4890 (reference 5+2 digital VRMs) I just replaced it with squeals. Both during very high framerates (+150FPS). It doesn't impact the card at all, only your ears.

This is highly common and happens with all brands and on both analog and digital VRM equipped cards. It's not just the card that is a factor, but also what PSU you pair it up with. My current Corsair HX620W is a usual culprit in teaming up with high powered GPUs to provide goofy noises during operation.

No big deal. Put some headphones on...
 
Have anyone else heard about squeeling issues for other 4890 brands? Or is it exclusively xfx?

All video cards comes from a few OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) no matter what brand. The OEM simply slaps on a sticker brandname and in some case a non reference HSF (heat sink fan) at the request of the brandname customer.

The parent company of Sapphire is one such OEM. Not sure what other OEMs out there manufacture / assemble ATI cards.
 
When I was using an Nvida 8800 a while back, it would squeal right when I was turning off my PC. It became this little one second squeal I would always expect every time I hit the power button.
 
Was it fed with power plugs straight from the PSU with nothing inbetween? That has helped eliminate squeals for a few people
 
I just purchased my XFX 4890 in hopes it would get rid of the squealing but to no avail. With my old AMD system and PC P&C PSU with an EVGA 8800 GTS 320 I never got any squealing but when I got my new system in my sig that card started squealing. My first GTX260 didn't squeal either but when it died the next three RMA's (for squealing) didn't alleviate the problem. Although the 4890 does squeal/buzz under less circumstances than the GTX260 did. It is nice to be able to browse the internet and Steam browser with no noise.
 
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I just purchased my XFX 4890 in hopes it would get rid of the squealing but to no avail. With my old AMD system and PC P&C PSU with an EVGA 8800 GTS 320 I never got any squealing but when I got my new system in my sig that card started squealing. My first GTX260 didn't squeal either but when it died the next three RMA's (for squealing) didn't alleviate the problem. Although the 4890 does squeal/buzz under less circumstances than the GTX260 did. It is nice to be able to browse the internet and Steam browser with no noise.

What's really interesting is that both you and the OP have the same ps.....
 
What's really interesting is that both you and the OP have the same ps.....

People in the forums here sometimes point fingers at the Corsair PSUs as a common factor, but I do wonder if this is just because a lot of people who read this forum bought Corsair PSUs.
 
It could be, but if it is a common factor and the occurrence rate is high enough, it is something to give thought to since the squeal has to do with the current the card is getting and certain components on the cards.

I've never given the problem much thought since I don't have that problem though. Glad to know that it is quieter now than it was before.
 
I find that even using a PC Power&Cooling 610w as well as an Antec TPQ 850w the noise still occurs just like with the Corsair. The only difference being that with the Corsair the noise actually comes from the PSU while with the other two the noise comes from the actual graphics card.
 
I have an MSI GTX280 being fed by a PC Power & cooling silencer 750w that squeals faintly (not enough to be bothersome really) at hight framerates too. Its a pretty common thing with vidcards, not isolated to any brand or chip. RMA does not always help, bc the gtx280 I have is one I recieved after rmaing an identical card back to newegg bc it overheated, both squealed. My previous 8800GTS was silent, but the 7900GTX I had before that squealed like crazy, so I guess its pretty hit and miss.
 
Heres my exp with this... Bought a 9600GT it was fine for a week. Turned on 'puter one morn. and I had a squeal from video card.....returned it to XFX for testing....they kept it a week and said they found no problem, after they sent it back it's worked quietly ever since.
 
just as a side note to this - i popped on here because last night when i setup folding on my 4890 my sapphire 4890 started to make a squealing sound - caught me off guard, but i noticed when the card was over 80% load according to the CCC, and as soon as i turned folding off the squeal went away.

I'm running an enermax liberty PSU, so different then you guys, driver 9.5 though i think i heard the noise when i first built the machine 2 weeks ago on 9.4
 
When I was using an Nvida 8800 a while back, it would squeal right when I was turning off my PC. It became this little one second squeal I would always expect every time I hit the power button.
Holy crap, I get the same thing with my 8800 GTX.

I've also got a Corsair HX620W PSU. ;/
 
It is my VX550 that squeals, not my 4850. With my 7600GT there was no such noise from the power supply. Unfortunately, the noise is also picked up by the integrated Realtek sound in my motherboard and I can hear it amplified through my headphones.
 
Just got my XFX 4890 XT and it squeals loud during ATITOOL 3d View!

I used 2 diferent PSU's: OCZ PS 520 and a new Silverstone OP1000-E.

Heres the sound when I open and close 3d view: http://tinypic.com/r/2i7sh3n/5
 
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