GPU is loud

[RubyDupy]

Hey guys,

 

A few months ago i built my first gaming pc. However, I didn't have a big budget  and with all the GPU craziness going on I wasn't able to get what I wanted (an RTX 2060, 3060 or maybe a 3060 ti). So for the time being I was able to snatch an AMD Radeon R9 290 for a relatively low price. It's amazing what an old card like that can do, even though it's starting to show it's age in more demanding games. However, the fan tends to be very loud and a lot of the time it makes a buzzing/rattling sound where it goes brrrng, brrrng, brrrng once every second or so, as if someone's using an electric razor next to me. I've already checked on the fans, but when just looking at the card there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it. While I'm gaming with headphones on it doesn't matter but people on Discord calls sometimes get annoyed by it and it's annoying when I'm doing anything but gaming. Does anybody know what I can do to fix such a problem?

 

Regards,

Ruben

[dizmo]

What's the rest of your system? If you have an iGPU you can try running off that when you need to do important calls. But the 290 was just a loud card. So. You'll have to live with it. IIRC there were also some ghetto liquid coolers you could get that used AIOs bracketed to the card.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, RubyDupy said:

Hey guys,

 

A few months ago i built my first gaming pc. However, I didn't have a big budget  and with all the GPU craziness going on I wasn't able to get what I wanted (an RTX 2060, 3060 or maybe a 3060 ti). So for the time being I was able to snatch an AMD Radeon R9 290 for a relatively low price. It's amazing what an old card like that can do, even though it's starting to show it's age in more demanding games. However, the fan tends to be very loud and a lot of the time it makes a buzzing/rattling sound where it goes brrrng, brrrng, brrrng once every second or so, as if someone's using an electric razor next to me. I've already checked on the fans, but when just looking at the card there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it. While I'm gaming with headphones on it doesn't matter but people on Discord calls sometimes get annoyed by it and it's annoying when I'm doing anything but gaming. Does anybody know what I can do to fix such a problem?

 

Regards,

Ruben

Discord has a Noise Suppression setting that you can turn on, it gets rid of keyboard sounds and stuff, and it might get rid of that. 

 

[Pixelfie]

What are your temps? If they're not to high you can change the fan curve. And what case & intake/exhaust fans do you have?

[Sorenson]

If you don't mind going a bit janky you can remove the fan shroud and fans then zip tie two 120mm fans (arctic p12's are a good option) to the heatsink. Plenty of people do this with SFF PCs on things as high end as 3080s.

[RubyDupy]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

What's the rest of your system? If you have an iGPU you can try running off that when you need to do important calls. But the 290 was just a loud card. So. You'll have to live with it. IIRC there were also some ghetto liquid coolers you could get that used AIOs bracketed to the card.

Ryzen 5 1600 AF + stock cooler (so no iGPU)

MSI B450 Tomahawk Max

G-Skill Trident Z RGB 3600 MHz (16 GB)

1 TB WD Blue SN550 M.2 NVMe drive + 2 TB Seagate Barracuda

Corsair CX750F RGB

 

The card is too old for me to put lots of money into installing AIO's and the sorts. I'm primarily focused on solving the stupid buzzing sounds. Also important calls rarely happen while gaming and then it's not nearly as loud

[RubyDupy]

3 minutes ago, Cool_Evlo said:

Discord has a Noise Suppression setting that you can turn on, it gets rid of keyboard sounds and stuff, and it might get rid of that. 

 

Thanks I will use that but it still doesn't solve the problem even if it's less annoying now.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, RubyDupy said:

Ryzen 5 1600 AF + stock cooler (so no iGPU)

MSI B450 Tomahawk Max

G-Skill Trident Z RGB 3600 MHz (16 GB)

1 TB WD Blue SN550 M.2 NVMe drive + 2 TB Seagate Barracuda

Corsair CX750F RGB

 

The card is too old for me to put lots of money into installing AIO's and the sorts. I'm primarily focused on solving the stupid buzzing sounds. Also important calls rarely happen while gaming and then it's not nearly as loud

AIOs aren't expensive, neither are the GPU brackets. It eliminates the fans on the GPU, and likely the sounds unless it's coil whine, in which case you need a new card to remedy that.

[RubyDupy]

7 minutes ago, Pixelfie said:

What are your temps? If they're not to high you can change the fan curve. And what case & intake/exhaust fans do you have?

They're on the high side. My case is a Aerocool Bolt which has plenty of airflow from the front, top and bottom but I only use the exhaust that came with it. I should probably invest in better ones but I don't have a lot of money at the moment. GPU at like 60-70 while in rest and over 80 when gaming.

[Pixelfie]

4 minutes ago, RubyDupy said:

They're on the high side. My case is a Aerocool Bolt which has plenty of airflow from the front, top and bottom but I only use the exhaust that came with it. I should probably invest in better ones but I don't have a lot of money at the moment. GPU at like 60-70 while in rest and over 80 when gaming.

If you add 1 intake it would already drop you 5-10c. If you are comfortable with it, take off the GPU cooler and replace the thermal paste. It's probably dried as the card is pretty old.

[RubyDupy]

 

5 minutes ago, dizmo said:

AIOs aren't expensive, neither are the GPU brackets. It eliminates the fans on the GPU, and likely the sounds unless it's coil whine, in which case you need a new card to remedy that.

Yeah it might be a good idea. I am actually starting on my new job fairly soon. When I get the first paycheck I will see if I an afford scalper/lucky on time pre ordering stock prices on a new GPU or if it's better to fix this one.

[RubyDupy]

1 minute ago, Pixelfie said:

If you add 1 intake it would already drop you 5-10c. If you are comfortable with it, take off the GPU cooler and replace the thermal paste. It's probably dried as the card is pretty old.

I actuallly ordered new thermal paste for another project of mine so I might just do that.

[YoungBlade]

Do the fans make that noise all the time, or only sometimes?

 

I ask because my card has two weird points in the fan curve where the fan makes an odd "brrr" sound between about 10-30% and 70-90% speed, but otherwise it sounds normal. I fixed the issue by adjusting the curve in Afterburner to jump past those points, so the curve has two straight vertical lines from 0-30% at 45C and then 70-90% at 60C.

 

 

[CerealExperimentsLain]

Which model of 290 is it?  The third party ones have a lot of fan arrangements and it could be failing, or it's a blower model and those blowers are always loud.

[RubyDupy]

7 hours ago, YoungBlade said:

Do the fans make that noise all the time, or only sometimes?

 

I ask because my card has two weird points in the fan curve where the fan makes an odd "brrr" sound between about 10-30% and 70-90% speed, but otherwise it sounds normal. I fixed the issue by adjusting the curve in Afterburner to jump past those points, so the curve has two straight vertical lines from 0-30% at 45C and then 70-90% at 60C.

 

 

Oh maybe I'll take a look and edit the curves that way. That might well be a good solution.

[RubyDupy]

7 hours ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

Which model of 290 is it?  The third party ones have a lot of fan arrangements and it could be failing, or it's a blower model and those blowers are always loud.

The gigantic black yellow Tri X model from sapphire.

[CrazyFactory]

Firstly check the temperatures. GPU fans usually being set up so they change speed based on GPU temperature.
Also some manufacturers provide software that allows user to customise this behaviour.
The sound you describe still seems strange to me. I've set up fans on my GTX 1070 ti to 100% all the time due to my paranoia, and it is not that loud.