AMD Radeon HD 6850 clicking noise

[mlambros79]

Hello,
For the last few months I have had an issue with a clicking noise coming from my Radeon 6850 graphics card (possibly from the fan) especially when gaming. The issue is very sensitive to the room temperature i.e. when its cool and dry or the AC is on high there is no problem but the warmer and more humid it is the worse the clicking noise. Up until now I could remove the CPU casing and the noise would stop, however, now that the days are getting warmer the noise is more persistent even when not gaming. I have cleaned the inside multiple times and tweaked the aliasing options, however, none of that worked. I have only had this PC for seven months and I would hate to have to buy a new graphics card. Would could be causing this? Would it be worth installing some extra fan/cooling unit near the card?

 

[AlienTechGod]

What are your temps on the card

 

[ilysaml]

Hello & welcome.
First check the GPU temperature with GPU-Z.

 

[mlambros79]

Last week the noise was especially loud and I was able to more closely pinpoint where it is coming from.
It is actually coming from the fan that is mounted on the processor heat sink. This is right under the graphics card area and that is why I believed the noise was from there. I've attached a link below that has a sideview pic of my open cabinet (need to scroll down a little).

http://computershopper.com/desktops/reviews/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-170t

The fan which is making the noise is bottom-center.

As a temporary fix I have installed an additional fan and placed it right under the clicking fan blowing upwards in order to get better cooling.
So far, after several gaming sessions and even with warmer room temps I have not heard any clicking noise.

I am afraid, however, that is may just be a "band-aid" fix.

Is there any reason for alarm when clicking noises are coming from that area?

As a reminder, I have had this issue for a least 3 months now.

 

[ilysaml]

Take a screenshot of GPU-Z when you are playing hardcore gaming and the GPU in full load.

 

[mlambros79]

In hardcore gaming my GPU load is 99%,
GPU temp 84 C,
GPU Temp 1,2,3: 84, 85.5 & 85 C,
fan speed 1932 rpm / 52%,
core clock 775 MHz, memory clock 1000MHz

 

[ilysaml]

That's should be normal for a card inserted in a prebuilt machine without a proper cooling.

 

[mlambros79]

So my band-aid fix stopped working. My heatsink fan started clicking again when the CPU is loaded.

What I've done now is directly mount the extra fan onto the heatsink fan and so far no issue.
I did notice that the heatsink fan is blowing into the heatsink instead of away and I mounted the extra fan the same way.
Is that the normal direction for this? Am I endangering my system by adding this fan?

On another issue, my sound and video occasionally (every 30 minutes or so) stall with a loud buzzing noise if I'm in the middle of something. Could this be related to my above issue?

Again, my system is a HP Pavilion Elite h8-1050