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My video card is making a REALLY annoying squealing noise!!

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - My video card is making a REALLY annoying squealing noise!!

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When ever i start crysis demo (Only game installed ATM, new build) I hear this really really annoying noise that is coming from the PC, I think it is the GPU. My specs

ASUS Maximus II Formula
4 gigs of ram
500gb HD
750watt corsair PSU
ATi HD 4870x2
intel core 2 quad

I really don't know whats wrong..

I've heard people say that these can cause the problems

The computer being plugged into a UPS.. (idk)
The Capacitors having problems?
The sound card being too close to the GPU? (idk how this would affect anything..)
other things..

Well my computer IS plugged into a UPS
I DO have a looseish capacitor next to my 8 pin power connector..
and my sound card is right ontop of the GPU..

Aww great..

What can i do to fix this? Will visiontek take the GPU back if it has this problem? What are some other things that can be causing this?

IMPORTANT: If i click on another screen (Task manager) Or alt-Tab out of the game the noise goes away. If you have any questions just ask me plz..

PS: When i move my mouse on a button like (Options or like singleplayer) The noise seems to correspond to the movement. This is weird.

Message edited by marka47 on 09-17-2008 at 02:09:43 PM

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first, try going to direct into the wall for power. If it stops, its UPS, if it doesnt, youve elimanated that much. If that doesnt do it, try to isolate the noise. Caps are flat one the top, and straight on their sides, look for bulges in them, it could be mobo,psu or your card

------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
Reply to jaydeejohn

This may sound odd, but go into your controlpanel for the
gfx card and select so that VSync is forced on, if it isnt allready.
and see if that fixes the squeal.

my 8800GT can squeal too, especially in very high framerates.
forcing vsync on my card takes care of the squealing,
dont know if that will fix it for the ATI card though!

Reply to Strobeflux

this is normal, during the startup screens of games my own card squeals too. many other people have reported it. nothing to worry about although i am not sure if there is a fix.

------------------------------ I'm a git, deal with it.

Antec 1200,PC Power & Cooling 750,Gigabyte DS4-x48,Intel Q9550@3.4 W/Xigmatek S1283,8GB OCZ DDR2 800,ATI 4870X2,X-FI>CA 640C amp>Tannoy R300/Senn 595's
Reply to strangestranger

I've heard such squeals before when my PSU would run out of juice or was about to give. I know your PCU is good but you never know...

------------------------------ They mostly come at night. Mostly...
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Reply to blashyrkh

There is a good chance that it is either:

1) A loose / disconnected connection. Reseat / reconnect
2) Insufficient power from your PSU. Try a different PSU or test with a PSU checker to make sure your Voltages are right.
3) Clear plastic coating from your video card is peeling off and making contact with a fan or exhaust vent. Remove and visually inspect your card.
4) Your vid card is not seated properly in its PCI slot. You should reseat.
5) Something on the video card has gone out. Remove the card and visually inspect for burn marks, funny smells, debri, abnormal looking caps (usually round and smooth), blown resistors.
6) Card could be overheating. Check the fan on the card to make sure it is spinning normally and that the case is providing good airflow. Double check temps with RivaTuner or whatever you like best. Personally I don't trust NTune.

I have had all of these happen to me during normal operation of several different machines all using video cards from both ATI and Nvidia.

Message edited by garpizzle on 09-17-2008 at 03:15:00 PM

------------------------------ CPU: E8500 @ 3.16
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Reply to garpizzle

Maybe you should have went Nvidia? [/fanboy]

Sorry, I have never heard of any squealing before. Sorry I couldn't help.

Reply to LunaticWolf

I have heard it quite a few times. Usually it's a card that was not seated properly / bad PSU / poorly connected power cable.

Reply to garpizzle

Is this a very loud noise or low to moderate? The fan on the video card would ramp up rpms when playing a game like crysis so this could be the source of the noise. That may be a normal problem everyone is experiencing but to me a noisy fan is a fan that has a shorter life so I would either get an aftermarket cooling setup or RMA it.

Like jaydeejohn said, disconnect the ups first and go directly into the wall to eliminate that question. I use a ups too and dont have this issue but its a different setup too.

That "loosish" capacitor concerns me. You mean it wiggles loosely on the motherboard? I wouldnt move it anymore if thats the case, it would only get worse.

Reply to englandr753

Just to add something else into the pile of suggestions.

If you're not 100% certain that the sound is coming from the GPU, Are you by any chance using a CRT monitor at all?

CRT Monitors when they get old can have a fit when they go into certain resolutions or refresh rate (usually whatever it has been used in for the longest) and will make a high pitched squealing sound that is hard to pin point the exact location of.

Try changing the refresh rate or resolution on your monitor (only if your using a CRT) and see if the noise stops.

Message edited by Ascadia on 09-17-2008 at 05:39:46 PM

Reply to Ascadia

It's loose on the GPU, not the mobo. It doesn't dangle or anything, but you can rock it around w/ your finger.

Reply to marka47

yes it sounds like a old capacitor and ati use solid-state capacitor's on there cards
so that leads me to believe its ur PSU they still use the old one's
probably a bad capacitor in the corsair PSU, but if it is ur card i would RMA it

Reply to rangers

hmmm open casing operations... tough to tell without confirming the source

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Powercolor ATI Radeon HD3870 PCS 512MB DDR4

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Reply to goonting

How can i make sure that the PSU is the problem?

Oh and i plugged it into the wall and it made no difference.. The monitor is also LCD.

So how do i tell that the PSU is the problem?

Oh yeah and it's more like a electronic Buzzing sound.

Message edited by marka47 on 09-17-2008 at 09:04:09 PM

Reply to marka47

the only way i know of is to try the card in a friends PC and play crysis, see if it makes the noise, plus i think the caps on ur motherboard are solid-state as well so i dont think it could be coming from there

or maybe get a loan of a PSU and test it with that

Message edited by rangers on 09-17-2008 at 09:21:57 PM

Reply to rangers

Ok, so my GPU makes noise and when ever the crysis level starts the computer crashes and a red screen that has white text (looks like blue screen of death) and says something about a memory dump then restarts the computer.

This is really a turn off, i really wish this get fixed. Any suggestions?

Reply to marka47

Can you see what error message code it gives you? Write it down and google it or post it here once it does it again...

Reply to englandr753

mmm, sounds like a psu problem

Reply to marshmellow1991

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