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Do they seriously not make a GTX980 without coil whine?!?!

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raventy

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2002
Location
NJ
So I've gone through two Asus STRIX GTX980s and my god, the coil whine is awful! RMA'd the first, second one arrived with the same obnoxious screeching! Running apps like 3dmark make it sound like Skrillex is inside my pc creating a new mix!

Enabling v-sync cuts it down quite a bit, but I'm concerned that future games which stress the card out will cause the noise to come back.
With v-sync enabled, only 36% of my GPU is actually being used. With v-sync off, it'll jump to 90%. So does this mean that anything in the future that stresses this card out (even with v-sync on) is going to make it screech like this!? I mean how did anyone in QA think this is acceptable?!

Did any manufacturers seem to resolve this crappy issue? Or is it still a crap shoot with getting a good card? Because I'm wondering if I should RMA my card a 2nd time and get something else...

Would urinating on the inductors help reduce the noise???
 
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Peeing on the inductors would stop the coil whine! --but only because the entire card dies from it.

:D

Ahem.

Anyway, I get the feeling that the 3rd party who makes these reference designs for all the card makers messed up part of the board power delivery design, and nobody caught it until now. I can't see any other explanation for the absurdly wide-spread nature of the problem. Everywhere I look, no matter whom the manufacturer, I see people experiencing coil whine.

My current thoughts are: This run of cards is a bust. Wait until revision 2 cards show up, or maybe even wait for next gen.
 
Actually more stress = lower noise. Lower FPS = lower noise. All GTX900 cards have that and ASUS actually supposed to be quiet comparing to most other brands. I can't say how it really is as I had no chance to compare more of these cards so my knowledge in this matter base only on what I've read in some reviews and forum comments from various users.

I doubt that new revision will change much and new graphics chips will be probably in 1 year+. I expect we will be seeing only refreshed GTX900 series for next 2 years anyway. Till then I think we won't see anything better except 980Ti and new Titan.
Manufacturers are already cutting costs switching to Hynix memory chips. I don't know if Elpida is still in production but looking at GTX700, next step will be Elpida and probably worse memory OC.
 
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That's funny I haven't noticed any real coil whine to speak of on mine. I have the Strix as well. I've had it on a bench setup and it's now in a box gaming and as I said it's nice and quiet. I have a HD6970 here that squeals like a pig so I do know what I'm listening for.
 
Haven't noticed any whine from my EVGA SuperClocked 980.

What PSU are you using?
 
any of you guys try running the latest 3dmark *without* v-sync on? (it's off by default) Specifically the cloud gate test?

I've tried 4 different PSUs (Corsair HX 850W, Corsair RM 750W, Seasonic X 850W, and finally the one I'm going to use in this rig which is a Rosewill Silent night 500W)....so it's not that.

When playing a game with v-sync on like BF4 it just makes a nice "boiling" sound... not that I'd exactly call that delightful but it's better than the high pitched screech when 3dmark is cooking. My main concern is down the road when this thing is getting maxed out if the increased power draw is gonna cause it to screech...
 
I must be lucky, I have had an EVGA GTX570, an EVGA GTX 670 4GB, a Zotac GTX 670 4GB, a Gigabyte GTX 770 2GB Windforce and now ( 2) Gigabyte Windforce GTX 970 4GB and I have never heard coil whine. Mine are also running at 5760 x 1080. Im certainly thankful :D
 
any of you guys try running the latest 3dmark *without* v-sync on? (it's off by default) Specifically the cloud gate test?

I've tried 4 different PSUs (Corsair HX 850W, Corsair RM 750W, Seasonic X 850W, and finally the one I'm going to use in this rig which is a Rosewill Silent night 500W)....so it's not that.

When playing a game with v-sync on like BF4 it just makes a nice "boiling" sound... not that I'd exactly call that delightful but it's better than the high pitched screech when 3dmark is cooking. My main concern is down the road when this thing is getting maxed out if the increased power draw is gonna cause it to screech...

Yep http://www.3dmark.com/sd/2498754 and no squealing. If it really is that bad then try sending it back again. They probably sent you back your own card.
 
I run many benchmarks and 99% of my games without vsync, I dabble in overclocking the GPU's as well and never any noise. If I was getting any of that noise I would RMA in a heartbeat :)
 
Put some headphones on :p
You haven't heard my 7850 and 270x have you? <-- That's coil whine :rofl:


Not a helluva lot you can do about coil whine, other than headphones, ear plug, or removing the card from the system.
 
Ran some benchmarks yesterday and my EVGA screams like a bashee when running Catzilla.

Never heard something so strong, but it's also the first time all other components are nearly silent.
 
If every GPU seems to be noisy, it could be some interaction with the PSU or it might be the PSU itself making the noise. (Use a piece of plastic tubing or even a paper towel tube to check.) You can try adding a 10000uF capacitor to the 12V rail to "stiffen" it.
 
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