I feel that I am done with the 7870

[HopelessNoob]

I built my computer and put in an xfx 7870 and ever since have had this horrible coil whining sound that even is transmitted through the audio ports. I got a replacement to no avail. I've also tried replacing the motherboard and power supply but the problem still persists. So I have requested a refund for this graphics card because I do not get the same problem when I used the onboard DVI port. Now I am looking into NVidia because I kind of feel like other than the 7870 problem I'm having, AMD in itself is kind of falling apart. So since it's getting pretty close to black friday and cyber monday I was wondering what graphics card I should be looking into. Would the 660 and 670 be worth looking at during those big sales? Or would anyone else recommend any other NVidia cards? And if anyone has anything to say to try to sway me back into trying AMD again I'd like some advice on that as well. (As you can tell I am pretty frustrated right now because the sound makes my computer unusable especially at night when my roommate's trying to sleep and I have my headphones on real soft)

Thanks,

Mark

 

[mclovits]

Sorry to hear about that issue. I haven't had any issues with coil whine from a graphics card myself, but it seems pretty rare. Is this the Double Dissipation card? I just built a Gaming rig for a friend and used one of those 7870's and it worked like a gem. Maybe try a different type of card? If you still intend to upgrade, I would recommend an Asus GTX 670 Direct CUII TOP (unless you want to overclock it) as I have been using mine since May with no problems and ~75-80 FPS average in BF3 on Ultra. Best of luck,
-Justin

 

[HopelessNoob]

Thanks for the reply yea I was leaning towards a 670 card simply because I helped build my cousin's computer and got him a 670. It worked flawlessly and had no issues that I know of. But I'm not 100% sure yet if I should check out other cards that may be something to consider too

 

[smorizio]

have you tried the card in another system to see if it the card?? a lot of times on new builds if you place rubber spaces or use the wrong screws on the mb stand off you can have a bad earth ground in your case. under load the bad earth gound can sound like coil wine.

 

[HopelessNoob]

no one not even my roommate is willing to let me try it in their computer college kids don't understand -_- but I'm only getting the horrible sound when I'm using the 7870 not when I'm using onboard so I think I can eliminate that possibility but I'll check it in the morning thanks for the reply

 

[mclovits]

Again, if you think it's the card and you don't want to try another one, a 670 or 660 Ti would be a beastly performance gain.

 

[HopelessNoob]

Should I take into consider other cards? Or are the 660 and 670 the best cards without a doubt out there?

 

[HopelessNoob]

and sorry if this is a dumb question but what's the big difference between a 660 and a 660 ti?

 

[photonboy]

*The problem has nothing to do with the GPU. It is a design flaw on the card. Most HD7850's, especially quality brands from Sapphire Tech or Asus should have no issues.

**Note that if you can RETURN that card for a refund the best value, by far, is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

This HD7950 3GB card is $285 after MIR and comes with $170 in games (coupon). Here is the free game details:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16800995140

If XFX won't refund you then you can ask them to upgrade you to a different model and see if that helps.

Note that other people have the same problem:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/374044-33-7850-coil-whine-startup

SUMMARY:
Return your card if possible and get the HD7950 I linked as the games package is incredible. Note that qualified HD7850's only get one game so it's actually CHEAPER to get the better card if you want those games!

 

[majestic1805]

Have you tried using a different sound card? It could be a failure in your current audio setup.

 

[wanderer11]

I have a 7870 and the only time I had coil whine was when I was at a menu getting 2000 fps. I have been using an fps limiter for a while and haven't heard it again. I have had a lot of tearing issues, but that's a whole different problem.

 

[dish_moose]

Limit the fps to 60 - I assume you are using a standard monitor.
-Bruce

 

[wanderer11]

Limit the fps to 60 - I assume you are using a standard monitor.
-Bruce

That's what I did. It mostly fixed everything. In Metro I had to force on vsync/triple buffering with d3d. Skyrim is flickering and I have tried other drivers and settings but it seems a lot of people have that problem.

 

[renz496]

i read at TPU that sapphire 7870 have some problem on it. for those who interested with sapphire 7870 might want to hold on until sapphire fix the problem or simply go for another card such as 7950

http://www.techpowerup.com/174858/Some-Sapphire-Radeon-HD-7870-Cards-Affected-by-quot-Black-Screen-quot-Issue.html

 

[wanderer11]

I got a Sapphire and hadn't seen this article before. I seen people complaining about Skyrim in there. I wonder in Sapphire would let me return it for a 7950?

 

[HopelessNoob]

I get the coil whining sound that I can hear through any audio port when I start my machine all the way to shut down. I move my mouse and can hear that sound. It just really bugs me and I really can't figure out what exactly is wrong with my computer