nasty noises with my hd3850...

[silentbomb]

HD3850 -> nasty noises...

I just got my hd3850 a few days ago and i noticed a really nasty high pitched noise that appears everytime i start the computer and lasts nearly the whole time I'm working... In other forums some people said that it's normal and these noises come from the voltage transformers or something like that... Did I just got a bad sample or are they all doing these noises? It's really annoying for me cause i made a silent-system...

[WonderingSoul]

It's not the fan? :p

If you do not feel confident in the health of the noise, RMA it.

[JamesXP]

It does come from the coils most of the time, full system specs?

[silentbomb]

ga-p35-ds3r
q6600 @2,4ghz thermalright si-128se
4gb-800mhz MDT ram
sapphire hd3850 256mb
be quiet 450w straight power
cm-690 case
samsung spinpoint 500gb
creative sb x-fi xtreme gamer

and no it isn't the fan... Fans can't do such a noise. It has somethin to do with that what james said, coils...so, can somebody tell me if i got a bad/unlucky sample of that graphic card or is it normal for all of them?

[Albuquerque]

Probably an "unlucky sample", albeit likely not bad. Coils can squawk if they're getting lots of electrical noise at high load. I'd wager the noise changes a bit when you're doing any 3D gaming versus sitting at a desktop.

The noise might be an indication that your PSU is delivering a lot of ripple on your 12V rail. This can happen on old PSU's when capacitors are failing, it can happen on cheap PSU's with shoddy filters and cheap parts, it can happen even on a good PSU if they're under extreme load and are having a hard time sustaining the power draw.

In other words, I'd look into your PSU before returning the card. You've got quite a bit of hardware for that 450W unit... I went looking for reviews of that unit, and while "acceptable", I seriously doubt it's got the true cajones for the rig you're running.

[JamesXP]

AFAIK the Be Quiet! is a FSP PSU, not the worst... but for stock Q6600 and 3850 it shouldn't have a problem.