GTX 660 Hissing

[Barbarian Roman]

Hi everyone, 

I got a brand new rig, with a new graphics card and psu, an EVGA gtx 660 and and EVGA 500w respectively. I am getting an audible hissing sound when playing games, but not on game menus or desktop. 

Some games it will be worse than others. For example, with COD4, when I cap it to 75 frames (my monitor's refresh rate) the hissing is very minimal, but when left uncapped I get 150+fps and the hissing is noticeable. Similarly, when playing bf3, at 75 fps the hissing will be as loud as an uncapped COD4, since BF3 is much more demanding then COD4. I'm no engineer, but it seems there is a direct correlation between how load the hissing is and the stress on the gpu. It's not the fans because when I stop the fans (not a good idea I know) or run the fans at the same speed via nvidia inspector, the hissing exists in game but doesn't exist at desktop or game menu. 

Anyway, is there something wrong with the card or psu? It doesn't sound as loud or whiny as coil whine, are the capacitors faulty or this is normal/would it harm the card or other components in the long run? The sound doesn't bother me really, just want to make sure nothing is wrong. It would be a pain to RMA it and I hope it doesn't come to that. 

Here are two videos which exactly demonstrate my problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6XOXDo0oog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OohXp_FPAw4

[kwljunky]

Hi everyone, 

I got a brand new rig, with a new graphics card and psu, an EVGA gtx 660 and and EVGA 500w respectively. I am getting an audible hissing sound when playing games, but not on game menus or desktop. 

Some games it will be worse than others. For example, with COD4, when I cap it to 75 frames (my monitor's refresh rate) the hissing is very minimal, but when left uncapped I get 150+fps and the hissing is noticeable. Similarly, when playing bf3, at 75 fps the hissing will be as loud as an uncapped COD4, since BF3 is much more demanding then COD4. I'm no engineer, but it seems there is a direct correlation between how load the hissing is and the stress on the gpu. It's not the fans because when I stop the fans (not a good idea I know) or run the fans at the same speed via nvidia inspector, the hissing exists in game but doesn't exist at desktop or game menu. 

Anyway, is there something wrong with the card or psu? It doesn't sound as loud or whiny as coil whine, are the capacitors faulty or this is normal/would it harm the card or other components in the long run? The sound doesn't bother me really, just want to make sure nothing is wrong. It would be a pain to RMA it and I hope it doesn't come to that. 

Here are two videos which exactly demonstrate my problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6XOXDo0oog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OohXp_FPAw4

 

Brand new? 

 

Or did you buy it off someone? 

 

They still sell 660's? 

[Snickerzz]

Brand new? 

 

Or did you buy it off someone? 

 

They still sell 660's? 

yea they do 

 

OP have you checked to see if theres a baby snake inside your gpu?

No but really, if it is that bad you may want to RMA the card

[Barbarian Roman]

Brand new? 

 

Or did you buy it off someone? 

 

They still sell 660's? 

Yes, it is, I bought it off NCIX and I got my computer about 2 days ago.

GTX 660 is not that old, still plenty in stock everywhere. 

[Barbarian Roman]

Coil whine, put your ear on GPU and PSU, most probably PSU... it isn't important but if it disturbs you RMA the culprit

Yes I did that, sound is clearly coming from the GPU. But the examples of coil whine I've listened to on youtube where much louder with a whining sound rather than a soft hiss. 

[Barbarian Roman]

They don't have to be loud

Oh Ok, I guess it is a slight case of coil whine. Noise doesn't really bother me, its warranty so if it gets a lot worse I'll RMA it before the warranty expires. Thanks everyone for their input. 

[Faceman]

Coil whine, happened to my EVGA GTX 780 SC w/ ACX Cooler.  It went away in 2 months, just needs some break-in time.

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

I don't think it likes you, that's why it's hissing. I'm sure Microcenter has obedience lessons.

[Barbarian Roman]

Coil whine, happened to my EVGA GTX 780 SC w/ ACX Cooler.  It went away in 2 months, just needs some break-in time.

Yeah it doesn't bother me really, as long as it doesn't get worse I can live with it.