Nasty sound from gpu

[Guest]

This sound happens when I start any game.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ffiVAp7UHGQTLqLr9

It's a Sapphire Nitro+ rx vega 64

[CommanderAlex]

I would think its either poor power delivery or really bad coil whine...nothing you can do to resolve it. 

[Bombastinator]

I dunno.  Doesn’t sound like coil whine to me.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t though.  Might be some sort of fan issue but it doesn’t really sound like that either.  It’s got the cadence of coil whine but the squeak of rubbing parts.   Might be stethoscope time to figure out specifically what part of the gpu it is coming from.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

I dunno.  Doesn’t sound like coil whine to me.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t though.  Might be some sort of fan issue but it doesn’t really sound like that either.  It’s got the cadence of coil whine but the squeak of rubbing parts.   Might be stethoscope time to figure out specifically what part of the gpu it is coming from.

It starts before the fans ramp up

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

I would think its either poor power delivery or really bad coil whine...nothing you can do to resolve it. 

I tried lowering the maximum power the card uses to 50% and it was still there

[CommanderAlex]

Just now, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

It starts before the fans ramp up

Are you sure you pin pointed the sound to the graphics card itself? Do you have any HDD's in your system?

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

It starts before the fans ramp up

Which could still be either.  A diy stethoscope can be a miniature funnel on a rubber hose or even a rolled up paper tube. If it’s specifically coming from a fan sticking a finger in that fan to stop it rotating could positively identify it.   If it’s not coming from the fans it’s not a fan.

[Guest]

Just now, CommanderAlex said:

Are you sure you pin pointed the sound to the graphics card itself? Do you have any HDD's in your system?

No, I dont. And it's not from the Cpu fan

[Guest]

Just now, Bombastinator said:

Which could still be either.  A diy stethoscope can be a miniature funnel on a rubber hose or even a rolled up paper tube. 

Ok, Ill try to pinpoint where its coming from

[Bombastinator]

6 minutes ago, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

Ok, Ill try to pinpoint where its coming from

I appended that reply with a way to check fans if it helps.  The thing about finger stopping is if the problem is a connection between the fan and the motor the squeak would still happen.  It would change in character though and you might be able to feel something with your finger.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

I appended that reply with a way to check fans if it helps.  The thing about finger stopping is if the problem is a connection between the fan and the motor the squeak would still happen.  It would change in character though and you might be able to feel something with your finger.

Does it not damage the card when I do that?

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I appended that reply with a way to check fans if it helps.  The thing about finger stopping is if the problem is a connection between the fan and the motor the squeak would still happen.  It would change in character though and you might be able to feel something with your finger.

I stopped each fan it heard no difference and couldnt feel anything either

[Bombastinator]

Just now, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

Does it not damage the card when I do that?

Not really.  Especially if you only do it for a second or two. The connection between the fan hub and the fan motor is magnetic but not mechanical.  If you did it for more than a few seconds heat or a charge might build up.  

[Bombastinator]

Just now, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

I stopped each fan it heard no difference and couldnt feel anything either

Argh.  Not the fans then.  That can suck.  Are you still inside some sort of returns window? 

[akio123008]

To me it sounds pretty similar to:

at ~1:50

 

A video from the olden times 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Argh.  Not the fans then.  That can suck.  Are you still inside some sort of returns window? 

Well, kind of, bought it from a french seller on ebay, I messaged them already about it, havent got an answer yet.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, akio123008 said:

To me it sounds pretty similar to:

at ~1:50

 

A video from the olden times 

And there's nothing I could do against coil whine?

[akio123008]

Just now, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

And there's nothing I could do against coil whine?

Nope. Well actually this morning I told someone else there might be a chance if you'd track down the coil that produces the sound and covered that in hot glue. I've not tried it myself, and I would not recommend doing it, but in theory it may work.

[Bombastinator]

7 minutes ago, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

And there's nothing I could do against coil whine?

There isn’t anything sure thing.  There are some tricks but they’re not reliable.  Kind of like aftermarket gas or oil additives for cars.  Might do something, most often do nothing, might make it worse.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, akio123008 said:

Nope. Well actually this morning I told someone else there might be a chance if you'd track down the coil that produces the sound and covered that in hot glue. I've not tried it myself, and I would not recommend doing it, but in theory it may work.

Swapping out the power cable or anything similar wont help?

 

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

Swapping out the power cable or anything similar wont help?

 

Unlikely but one never knows.  What is happening with coil whine is a coil cracks and then vibrates.  The vibration can produce either audible or inaudible sound.  If you know which coil it specifically is painting it with clear nail polish can arrest vibration (but not infrequently doesn’t). If you don’t know, changing electrical input won’t reduce the actual vibration but it can drive it outside human hearing range.  Or farther into it and make it worse.  This can be done with a minor undervolt or overvolt.  Direction is less important than the change. The change does not need to be large.  It also frequently doesn’t work though.

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Unlikely but one never knows.  What is happening with coil whine is a coil cracks and then vibrates.  The vibration can produce either audible or inaudible sound.  If you know which coil it specifically is painting it with clear nail polish can arrest vibration (but not infrequently doesn’t). If you don’t know, changing electrical input won’t reduce the actual vibration but it can drive it outside human hearing range.  Or farther into it and make it worse.  This can be done with a minor undervolt or overvolt.  Direction is less important than the change. The change does not need to be large.  It also frequently doesn’t work though.

Undervolting did nothing, neither did different power cables. I wont take thr card apart, before I know if I can return it or not.

[Bombastinator]

3 minutes ago, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

Undervolting did nothing, neither did different power cables. I wont take thr card apart, before I know if I can return it or not.

Yeah.  I’m guessing the former owner was like “crap.  Coil whine.  Maybe flip it onto some unsuspecting victim.  Maybe they won’t notice or care”

 

The idea with the voltage change is to try and mess with the harmonic, so some settings won’t work some settings might.  Or might not. It’s also possible it’s some other component or the coil in question isn’t affected by gpu clock or a host of other things.  Very much a sometimes thing.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

Yeah.  I’m guessing the former owner was like “crap.  Coil whine.  Maybe flip it onto some unsuspecting victim.  Maybe they won’t notice or care”

It says in the description it would still have 11 months of warranty left from sapphire, I havent gotten a receipt or anything with it though.

 

However, in another forum post someone suggested running a gpu stresstest overnight and coil whine would get quieter. That doesnt sound like it would work, what do you think

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, rebmem rehtona yb esu ni said:

It says in the description it would still have 11 months of warranty left from sapphire, I havent gotten a receipt or anything with it though.

 

However, in another forum post someone suggested running a gpu stresstest overnight and coil whine would get quieter. That doesnt sound like it would work, what do you think

Who knows.  Might vibrate the thing enough something changes.  Coil whine fixes are like hangover cures.  If there was actually a really good one everyone would have known about it a long time ago.