8800 GTX buzzing issues - Update

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
Hey Guys,

So bout a month ago I posted a message about a buzzing noise coming from the back of my 8800 GTX when it ran 3D apps.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=33&post=243936&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0

After being slightly obsessive about getting a perfect 8800 GTX i followed many forum topics to find out that it was something to do with a component on the card, namely a incorrect resistor on the circuit board.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=357007&sid


Since then I have sent my card back to the place i bought it twice and to BFG directly (Who totally rock at tech Support and RMA's btw) once. After all this the card still makes the noise even tho I have went through 3 cards in total.

Its at times like this where i begin to question is it the card or is it something else in my system causing it like the PSU(Corsair 520w)? The card runs so good its unreal i get 11700 on 3dmark06 with my setup and plays games with zero problems and stability issues so thats why i never thought it would be a power issue. Also ive tried unplugging everything from the power pack and just booting the comp up with the HDD and GTX connected, no cd drive, fans etc and still it makes this damn noise.

At this point i think im just gonna try and move on and deal with it, annoying as the sound is. After going through 3 cards it makes u kinda loose the hope that a card out there exists that doesn%u2019t exhibit this problem.

Any advice, comments or sympathy lol, as always are welcome guys.

Regards,

James

PS Full System Stats just for info:

E6750 OC'd to 3.2GHZ
2GB Corsair TwinX XMS2, 4-4-4-12
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R
BFG 8800 GTX OC
Corsair 520W
74 Gb Western Digital Raptor
500 Gb Seagate Barracuda
 
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
Could it be that? I mean if the PSU is struggling or something is wrong with it then would that make the card make that noise? Wish i had a spare 600W lying about to test this out lol
 
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
I'm tempted to buy a 600W Psu just to test the theory of this.

Can anyone with good knowledge on this whole subject advise me on if it is possible that this noise is being caused by my 520W Corsair not doing as well as it should? Or is it deffo 100% the card
 
altazi

altazi

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2007
264
0
18,810
It is very possible that a stressed power supply could make a high-pitched whining or buzzing sound. The magnetic components in the PSU are typically driven at frequencies beyond the range of human hearing. When the supply is heavily loaded it is possible for the switching frequency to drop, or to develop an audible harmonic.

Also, the ceramic chip capacitors used can exhibit piezoelectric effects (convert electrical impulses into sound), but I don't think this would be too likely.

Regards,

Altazi
 
altazi

altazi

Distinguished
Jan 23, 2007
264
0
18,810
There are small switching power supplies on the graphics card as well, that convert the massive +12V into lower voltages that the GPU & memory chips use. These should also be operating above the range of human hearing. Of course, the operation of these sub-supplies are highly dependent upon the +12V from the main PSU. Can you swap in a different, larger PSU, and see what (if anything) changes?

Regards,

Altazi
 
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
Unfortunately I don’t have a PSU kicking about that’s got a higher wattage rating. Only thing i have is a 400W PSU but I’m not sure if that is an accurate testing method. My only way of getting a higher PSU is either forking out cash for a higher rating one or get a 2nd hand one off ebay.
Thing is I thought corsair was like an extremely good make of PSU and the chances of any of these problems stemming from a corsair supply were unlikely.

But as you can guess 3 Cards and still the problem exists i really dunno if its the card anymore, because i was so sure at first.


PS: Anyone else out there with a 8800 GTX experiencing this problem and found the cause / solution?
 
nukemaster

nukemaster

Titan
Nov 23, 2004
19,626
6
74,965
My 8800GTX does it too...but its still quieter then my X1900(that sucker screamed on some games) that did it as well...

Please note i ONLY noticed this when i went from my Sonata II to my 900. This is due to the fact that there is NO noise dampening on the 900.

Its all in the power conversion circuits as mentioned above. i have also mentioned it in some threads here.

Also note some boards make this noise as well. it will NOT hurt the card in any way. if it bugs u i suggest you try to get a case with more noise dampening. I recommend the Antec P180 as its side panels will absorb allot of sound and the door will keep the rest in.

Or.....u can use my method turn up the game. all gone :)
 
Mousemonkey

Mousemonkey

Titan
Sep 3, 2006
59,466
17
92,965
If you know or can find the buzzing resistor then stick a lump of blue tac on it and if it gets too hot as most resistors do it will become a fire hazard at which point you will no longer be concerned about the buzzing. [:mousemonkey]
 
G

Guest

Guest
Hi -- I have been following your issue since you posted it. Just wanted to say that I bought a BFG 8800GTXOC in Feb and have never experienced any noise/buzz coming from it. Here is some info on my build:

Gigabyte 965P-DS3 Rev3.3
OCZ GameXtream 600w Power Supply
C2D E5850 (OC 3.6GHz @ 1600FSB)
Corsair XMS PC2-6400C4 2GB TwinX Kit
BFG 8800GTXOC 768MB (BIOS 60.80.0e.00.05)
Soundblaster Audigy2 ZS PCI

Been thoroughly happy with this build except for a couple of quirks. Originally when I put this together, I got a E4300 and OC'd it to 3GHz with an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro.

Only quirks I've had with this system have to do with booting. Since I don't leave my system running all the time, I usually hibernate and power off when I walk away for an extended time. When I boot up again, I *always* get cold boot issues that makes me have to power cycle 4 to 6 times before it will boot which pisses me off to no end but I have learned to live with it. Doesn't matter if I manually set voltages or set it to Auto either so I'm not sure what causes this. Also sometimes on a successful boot it will go as far as the PCI Device List and just hang there before booting to XP. No idea about that but usually a CTRL-ALT-DEL and it boots up after a few power cycles. At first I thought it might have to do with my Audigy2 ZS but removing the card and testing revealed that it was not.

I concur with the fact that it may be your power supply struggling as I too almost got the 520HX Corsair PS but then when I calculated approximate wattage found out that 500 watts was about bare minimum so I opted for a little higher wattage power supply. Those Corsair power supplies are really made by Fortron (FSP) as is the OCZ GameXtream 600 that I have.
 
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
Was reading some more threads there and there are laods of people who have this issue. Funnily enough i stumbled upon one thread that the guy thought it was his PSU even tho it sounded like it came from his graphics card. He removed his PSU from the case and sat it a little bit away from it. In turn with his ear up to the PSU he found the sound coming from there.

After reading that i did the same and unreal after a month of this problem up and down sending cards back etc it turns out to be the PSu thats making the noise not the card.

So i guess now after all this what i could use is advice on a rock solid high wattage PSU that is ideal for the GTX. Timinator would you recommend a OCZ one? I still cant believe its been the PSU making the noise all this time.
 
G

Guest

Guest
That's not what a Corsair rep told me... But lets not debate this.. Anyway I can firmly recommend the OCZ GameXtreme 600w as it is very solid on it's power readings. My voltages don't vary more than .3 volts on the 5V or 12V side which is pretty good though I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it is plugged into an APC Battery Backup which cleans the input voltage up before it gets to the power supply...

I'm actually kind of curious if you called Corsair and told them your findings what they would tell you. I would try to see if they would RMA you a different or possibly upgrade you to the 600w version. Modular power supplies are quite nice..
 
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
Thanks for the advice Tim, i'll try giving them a ring and maybe they'll let me switch to a 620W one. Still cant believe it was the PSU all this time lol
 
Mousemonkey

Mousemonkey

Titan
Sep 3, 2006
59,466
17
92,965


This power supply is really manufactured by Seasonic, as we found out reading its UL number. Taking a look at Seasonic’s website, we couldn’t find any model that matched HX620W, however it seems that HX620W is actually a model from Seasonic S12 series.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to debate something that is common knowledge, You might find the entire article of interest, it can be found here :-http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/371
 
G

Guest

Guest


Cool, I'll give that a read though we were talking about it's 520w sibling. I was going on what a Corsair guy told me when I was asking about specifics on what rails were shared etc. He told me that the guts were simiar to the Fortron GLN "Epsilon" power supply so I assumed it was made by Fortron. My bad if I was mistaken..

Charnondall, when I was looking for a good power supply I found this page helpful. You might give it a look over and see if it may help with your power supply choice. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088
 
nukemaster

nukemaster

Titan
Nov 23, 2004
19,626
6
74,965
hmmmmm, maybe its time to rip out my psu and see if its that too...its not going to hurt it as it's nothing but vibrations(coils buzz, not everyone can hear it either) of a component, you may see that some have them encased in a hard plastic(or what ever it is) to stop such noise.

But its worth a look since my psu is close to my video card.
 
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
I was the same nuke i was so convinced it was my graphics card i really was then after 3 RMA's i put my ear up to the PSU and hello there is the noise ive been hearing.

Keep me updated and lemme know if u have the same experience.
 
C

Charnondall

Distinguished
Jun 22, 2007
72
0
18,630
Thought id keep u guys appraised of the final update in this whole situation thats lasted 2 months.

I finally got a new PSU namely a Enermax INFINITI 720w, after plugging everything in i noticed that the PSU/Card still makes the noise but it is very very faint now and cant be heard over the fans.

Tbh i kinda came to a conclusion why this is happening, i think its the idea that the card cant get the amps or the power it needs over a triple rails etc. With Corsair and its 18A rails it squealed like a bitch, with this one it has 30A rails and its very very faint.

So to sum up for any of you guys out there thinking of getting a GTX id recommend a high wattage PSU with high Amps over rails (or even a beefy single rail PSU from silverstone ;).
 
No1sFanboy

No1sFanboy

Distinguished
Mar 9, 2006
633
0
18,980
I have a seasonic s12 600 that makes a high pitch noise on shutdown; it has never caused me any concern. I'd seen your previous thread and you seemed certain it was your GPU so I never commented.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom