Ineresting (if not old) discovery, that I'd like some input on...

DanteCoal · May 31, 2023

So, I've had a 1080 FE on an EK Waterblock for a few years. To it's credit, it was a great card, OC'd far more than I'd have expected, and lasted longer than I could've hoped for.

That being said, it had coil whine. Badly, and it doesn't help that my hearing is super sensitive. I got the thing used, put it on the water block instantly, and OH BOY, even playing someone as simply as Diablo 3 produced coil whine, and I couldn't get rid of it without tuning the card down FAR below it's specs, limiting FPS, etc, so I just learned to deal with it and accept that sound as everything working as intended.

Recently, I upgraded my entire system, keeping only some of my components the same (CPU block, PSU, pump, fittings), and rebuilt my old system into a fairly standard system for my Fiancé who just needs a very basic rig for college. Ryzen 1700X with a Cooler Master 240 AIO, the 1080FE on the stock cooler, in a mid tower with a balanced pressure fan layout.

The big thing here is that... the coil whine is *gone*. I tried Timespy, Haeven, Diablo 3, and a few others that 100% gave coil whine every time. 0 coil whine, even when I take panels off and put my ear to the GPU. Nothing.

So, my big question is... is this an issue of the PSU being different? Could the difference between the stock cooler and water block change something? It's killing me, especially since my new 6950XT on a water block has coil whine that's a little worse than the 1080 was.

jaslion · May 31, 2023

29 minutes ago, DanteCoal said:

is this an issue of the PSU being different?

Probably. Quite a common thing to happen really

DanteCoal · May 31, 2023

17 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Probably. Quite a common thing to happen really

Do you possibly have anything substantial to support that? All I've seen is some circumstantial evidence on reddit the such, but nothing concrete that a different PSU has that big of a change on coil whine. I'd LOVE to have an answer here, because my ears want a break, and I'd be willing to pay for a new PSU if that's going to fix it.

DarkWaterSong · May 31, 2023

1 hour ago, DanteCoal said:

Do you possibly have anything substantial to support that? All I've seen is some circumstantial evidence on reddit the such, but nothing concrete that a different PSU has that big of a change on coil whine. I'd LOVE to have an answer here, because my ears want a break, and I'd be willing to pay for a new PSU if that's going to fix it.

Its not a bad thing to have a backup power supply, and try a different brand. Also I always go at least 400 watts above what I need for a system, so like a 1,000 watts for modern system or 1200. I also always go as energy efficient as I can (normally platinum spec) and have never had coil wine on my PCs. However on older Dells I have worked on....yep they have coil whine.

Also ALWAYS spend money getting the best power supply you can. I lost a system to Roswell one from Newegg, and will never buy a cheap power supply again.

porina · May 31, 2023

Was the coil whine from the GPU in the first place? PSUs can do it too, although I don't think I've noticed on decent ones. Only cheap unbranded ones.

Think about what coil whine is. You're converting power from one voltage to another, and how much you convert depends on how much is in use. Slight variations in output voltage on a PSU could affect the switching rate in the converter, and change the sound that way. Perhaps pushing it above or below the range the whine is active at. Maybe it could be something to do with ripple from PSU too. These are possible mechanisms but can't tell without actually measuring it.