Where is this noise coming from? It only happens when I play GTA IV

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CmdrRiker

CmdrRiker

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Jan 2, 2014
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Hello all,

When I start up GTA IV (purchased through Steam) on my PC, there is a high-pitched whining noise coming from my PC. I've tried to open up the side panel while this is occurring to try and narrow down where this noise may be coming from. I'm still not a 100% sure, but my best guess at the moment is my GPU. I've tried cranking down the Graphics but that doesn't change the noise at all. And the second I switch back to my desktop (even if the game is still running) the noise goes away.

Does anyone have any idea what this noise is and how I can stop it? I'd sure appreciate any help on this one.

Update - here are my system specs as well:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card
Case: Azza Hurrican 2000R ATX Full Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Asus VE278Q 27.0" Monitor
 
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veladem

veladem

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Sep 6, 2012
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Either HDD's or maybe from a speaker. If not, fan, gpu, or dvd drive trying to emulate a dvd in the drive.

Just some guess'
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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May 9, 2013
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Way OLDER game engines so no real comparison I think. Have you dusted out your PC, used a brush on the grills and fans and such. Normally the hint of a sound when under 'load' is either the Fans on a CPU/GPU are failing or the PSU is unable to support the load and is failing (need new PSU).

Try running FurMark and see if you can replicate the issue. Worse case maybe because of the specific graphic settings (being too low) you may actually becausing the issue accidentally and just need to set the display in GTA IV to 108P as best as you can.

BTW: I got it from STEAM as well, and I normally have to run it manually from the directory itself, the install by steam doesn't seem to work properly so I can click it to run from STEAM. Also there was some other issues I had too I worked out including it not playing on my W7 machine.
 
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CmdrRiker

CmdrRiker

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Thanks Tom. Yeah I figured those games wouldn't matter much, but you never know lol. Portal is a Steam game, as well I don't see those issues. I just finished building the PC a few weeks ago - I didn't think dust would be an issue yet, but I'll certainly check. I'll try downloading and running FurMark and see if I can recreate the issue.

Do you think re-installing GTA IV the way you suggested might help? I don't remember having any issues installing it from Steam, but I'm certainly willing to try it to fix the issue.
 
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CmdrRiker

CmdrRiker

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Ok so I ran FurMark in Benchmarking mode for my screen resolution (1920x1080). The computer made a noise similar to when I start up GTA IV. After running FurMark I hear what appears to be a fan spinning exceptionally loud for about a minute after the test concludes - it is definitely noticeable over the other fans. Not sure how to interpret this. I tried to take a snapshot of the results and post them here, but I don't believe I can upload pictures.

Edit: I should also mention - the noise changes in pitch as the test was running, going from a low pitch to a higher pitch then back down to a lower pitch.

 
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CmdrRiker

CmdrRiker

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Really? Are you sure it's grinding? I only hear the noise during stress test and when I start up GTA IV. Wouldn't that be happening all the time? Sorry not trying to second guess you, I'm just a bit confused.
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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When your stress testing or running GTA IV, both are putting demands for more power and in turn creates more heat, requiring the fan to increase, it isn't set to 'one speed'). Which can be the ballbearings, imbalance in the fan, etc. all the root cause fo the fan basically grinding or as noted in the 'thread' of the video you linked to, coil issue. Still comes down to, you paid money for a working product, this is obviously a issue, RMA.
 
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Tom Tancredi

Tom Tancredi

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That Synchronizes the Vertical Refresh of your Screen to the card, in otherwords, limit the Frames Per Second to match EXACTLY what the SCREEN would like to see. So all you did is 'throttleback' your games FPS, which means less 'demands', which means less heat, which means less fan speed
 
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Lee-m

Lee-m

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This is most likely a sort of cross talk from GPU, and can also be caused by unclean power, if you have your pc and sound system plugged into the same power adapter that has poor shielding.
I get this my self on some games (usually when running in windowed mode), and most other games (even demanding ones) don't do it.

interesting about the v-sync. I usually have that switched on.
 
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