My old graphics card died, so I purchased a new EVGA GTX 960. I was attracted in part by the promise of whisper-silent cooling (I designed my computer to be as quiet as possible). Everything went well at first, but it wasn't long before I noticed a strange new sound: a rhythmic squeak-squeak-squeak, repeated at intervals of about six or seven seconds, which would persist for a while and then stop, then return hours later.
It took me a while to pin down the source of the noise, in part because I had to buy a power supply at the same time and thought it might be the culprit, but mostly because it was faint and somewhat rare. It did seem to increase, both in volume and frequency, over time, and eventually I found it. One of the fans on the new video card was trying to turn, but failing. It would budge a tiny bit, then fall back to its previous position, and do this three times, then pause, then three times, then pause, etc.
I contacted Newegg and was told to RMA the card. Because I have no backup, I bought a new card (same model) and sent the old one back. The new one has been in place for a couple of days... and I'm hearing the SAME SOUND again.
I think this is an issue with the driver or BIOS or something, rather than the hardware itself. The fans aren't supposed to be turning at all when the card is mostly idle, as it is when this noise appears. Is there any way to correct it? Should I get a different card? Is it common to all EVGA cards with silent cooling, or was I just unlucky twice in a row?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
It took me a while to pin down the source of the noise, in part because I had to buy a power supply at the same time and thought it might be the culprit, but mostly because it was faint and somewhat rare. It did seem to increase, both in volume and frequency, over time, and eventually I found it. One of the fans on the new video card was trying to turn, but failing. It would budge a tiny bit, then fall back to its previous position, and do this three times, then pause, then three times, then pause, etc.
I contacted Newegg and was told to RMA the card. Because I have no backup, I bought a new card (same model) and sent the old one back. The new one has been in place for a couple of days... and I'm hearing the SAME SOUND again.
I think this is an issue with the driver or BIOS or something, rather than the hardware itself. The fans aren't supposed to be turning at all when the card is mostly idle, as it is when this noise appears. Is there any way to correct it? Should I get a different card? Is it common to all EVGA cards with silent cooling, or was I just unlucky twice in a row?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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