Hi,
For some years now, I have been experiencing a weird problem with a range of hardware. The symptom is always the same: Buy a graphics card, put some stress on it, listen to a gnome using an electric shaver inside of you pc case.
Or, well... At least that's what it sounds like .
I first stumbled on this issue a few years ago when I bought an MSI GTS450. Depending on how demanding a 3D game was, the described noise came from somewhere inside my pc case. This noise wouldn't be one constant tone - it changed depending on what I was being rendered on screen. It would almost fade if there wasn't a lot of stress on the GPU and would transform into a somewhat "clicking" sound if there was heavy load on the card.
Certain that this had to be some kind of defect, I RMA'd the card - just to get one back that had the exact same issue. I did some googling, posted on some forums about it. The first thing I would always find / get as an answer: "That's coil whine!" Just that it's not. I know how coil whine sounds like, and while every graphics card I ever had displayed this issue to different extents, it has always been easily prevented by simply turning on VSync.
I couldn't find a definitive answer. Some said "All modern graphics card do that, live with it.". The rest was mostly wild speculation with lots of smattering, so I accepted the noise into my heart and the card and I lived happily ever after.
Or not. While I kinda managed to ignore the noise, it did bother me, as I was puzzled by the fact that GPU manufacturers would put out graphic cards that had almost inaudable fans, a feature rendered (ha! "rendered") irrelevant by a weird buzzing noise louder (or at least more audible) than the fan under stress.
About 2 years ago, I upgraded to an MSI GTX660. With high hopes of a new card eliminating the noise I was pretty disappointed when I got BBBZZZZZFFFSSSSMMMM'd in the first game I started. Irritated, I wrote to MSI, asking them why the equipped their hardware with buzzers. Their answer was basically: "Uhm, get a decent PSU, duh!"
I already had an okay-ish PSU, but I tried a few others. And with a beQuiet! 530W the noise was finally gone. Well, not completely gone, but with the case closed it was completely inaudible. So, the solution, it seemed. PSU <mod edit> / not powerful enough = weird buzzy stuff.
Fast Forward to now. PSU still the same, get a MSI GTX970. While the card performed superb, it brought an old friend: The gnome with the electric shaver. Tested the card in 2 completely different setups with 3 different PSUs (400 - 730W) - the buzzing always prevailed, which is why I'm returning the card. And now I'm confused.
What the hell is that noise? Where does it come from? Why could I almost eliminate it with a PSU upgrade once? Something something electricity?
TL;DR: GTX970 makes weird buzzing noise, wat do?
For some years now, I have been experiencing a weird problem with a range of hardware. The symptom is always the same: Buy a graphics card, put some stress on it, listen to a gnome using an electric shaver inside of you pc case.
Or, well... At least that's what it sounds like .
I first stumbled on this issue a few years ago when I bought an MSI GTS450. Depending on how demanding a 3D game was, the described noise came from somewhere inside my pc case. This noise wouldn't be one constant tone - it changed depending on what I was being rendered on screen. It would almost fade if there wasn't a lot of stress on the GPU and would transform into a somewhat "clicking" sound if there was heavy load on the card.
Certain that this had to be some kind of defect, I RMA'd the card - just to get one back that had the exact same issue. I did some googling, posted on some forums about it. The first thing I would always find / get as an answer: "That's coil whine!" Just that it's not. I know how coil whine sounds like, and while every graphics card I ever had displayed this issue to different extents, it has always been easily prevented by simply turning on VSync.
I couldn't find a definitive answer. Some said "All modern graphics card do that, live with it.". The rest was mostly wild speculation with lots of smattering, so I accepted the noise into my heart and the card and I lived happily ever after.
Or not. While I kinda managed to ignore the noise, it did bother me, as I was puzzled by the fact that GPU manufacturers would put out graphic cards that had almost inaudable fans, a feature rendered (ha! "rendered") irrelevant by a weird buzzing noise louder (or at least more audible) than the fan under stress.
About 2 years ago, I upgraded to an MSI GTX660. With high hopes of a new card eliminating the noise I was pretty disappointed when I got BBBZZZZZFFFSSSSMMMM'd in the first game I started. Irritated, I wrote to MSI, asking them why the equipped their hardware with buzzers. Their answer was basically: "Uhm, get a decent PSU, duh!"
I already had an okay-ish PSU, but I tried a few others. And with a beQuiet! 530W the noise was finally gone. Well, not completely gone, but with the case closed it was completely inaudible. So, the solution, it seemed. PSU <mod edit> / not powerful enough = weird buzzy stuff.
Fast Forward to now. PSU still the same, get a MSI GTX970. While the card performed superb, it brought an old friend: The gnome with the electric shaver. Tested the card in 2 completely different setups with 3 different PSUs (400 - 730W) - the buzzing always prevailed, which is why I'm returning the card. And now I'm confused.
What the hell is that noise? Where does it come from? Why could I almost eliminate it with a PSU upgrade once? Something something electricity?
TL;DR: GTX970 makes weird buzzing noise, wat do?