Buzzing/static/white noise when running a specific game? HALP

[ZeroSix]

So... Let me start off by saying I am 100% certain this belongs in one of the hardware sections but I have NOT SURE which part is generating the noise. I am assuming it is the GPU as I eliminated the only other moving part in my rig as a test and I still experienced the symptom initially noticed. OKAY, now that I got that out of the way...

I have a 2 week old EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked (with the reference pcb) and I have been happy with it so far, okay with the average amount of noise that the blower fan generates, everything was normal, performance was (and is) very good. Today however, I started up Elite: Dangerous after they updated their client from Gamma 2.03 to 2.04, and noticed immediately that once I reached the title screen and the game began to load, there was a weird noise coming from my PC. It was audible above the quiet ambient noise coming from the four nzxt stock fans in my h440, the one 970 blower fan and the Western Digital Blue hard drive that were all spinning up in my system, heard despite the noise cancelling neoprene in the case. I pulled the windowed panel off and put my ear to the 970 which I thought was the culprit, then to the WD blue, and I couldn't discern which was causing the noise. it was like a weird constant line of bzzzz like you would get from a powerful speaker that had the volume cranked to 11 but no sound coming out, only with a little more whine, or twang? But I knew it wasn't whine from the blower fan. When I shut the game down, the noise stopped instantly.

 

Just to be absolutely sure it wasn't a really awful hardware problem experienced under load, I went through games that I play on a regular basis. I played The Crew, did a couple missions, no weird noise. I played Ultra Street Fighter IV, Metro Last Light, etc etc etc and no noise at all. I started up Elite again, and the noise came back. It was definitely only that game. And it wasn't doing that before the update. Strange.

 

I shut down my system and unplugged the fans (except the stock i5 cooler) and my HDD so that only the necessary components installed were the GPU, CPU, and SSD. I booted up and tried playing Elite:Dangerous again, and the noise was still there. So it's not the hard drive then, seeing as it isn't even powered up. It isn't the gpu fan. Then what the F#&% is it!? 

 

Should I be worried? That's a rhetorical question I am going to worry, this isn't normal at all.

 

What is this noise and what is causing it?

 

My Specs are in my signature below. All these parts are 2 weeks removed from the packaging, practically brand spankin' new.

[OrangeFlavoured]

Could be coil whine. 

[OrangeFlavoured]

-snip-

No need to be so harsh m8

But yeah @ZeroSix, its coil whine and there is nothing you can do about it. You could try getting an RMA, but companies don't usually accept coil whine as a valid reason for an RMA. Weird that it is with only 1 game though.

[askmax]

No need to be so harsh m8

But yeah @ZeroSix, its coil whine and there is nothing you can do about it. You could try getting an RMA, but companies don't usually accept coil whine as a valid reason for an RMA. Weird that it is with only 1 game though.

It generally only happens when the gpu is pushing more than 300 frames per second.

[OrangeFlavoured]

It generally only happens when the gpu is pushing more than 300 frames per second.

Ahhh k, I don't have any experience with Coil Whine luckily

 

Probs cause I don't have a gpu powerful enough to get any coil whine.

AMD 5450 masterrace.

[ZeroSix]

Ahhh k, I don't have any experience with Coil Whine luckily

 

Probs cause I don't have a gpu powerful enough to get any coil whine.

AMD 5450 masterrace.

 

This is my first time even experiencing this noise and I'm on my 3rd nvidia card, and it's in one game only, running at around 100fps I believe, so I dunno

[OrangeFlavoured]

This is my first time even experiencing this noise and I'm on my 3rd nvidia card, and it's in one game only, running at around 100fps I believe, so I dunno

Does the game have a built in fps reader? That would help alot

[i_build_nanosuits]

snip!

try to cap your FPS at 60 or 75FPS with evga precision X or msi afterburner and see if that helps...also try with VSYNC on to see if it get rid of the noise.

[Prestonification]

Just note rude responses to someones questions get reported so yea.

[4b33r]

Does it happen in synthetic benchmarks like furmark?

[Köhvwezd]

Sounds like coil whine to me.

[ZeroSix]

So I did all of what was suggested, and noticed that at in Elite when I capped it at 60fps It was still occurring, though it was far less obvious. It still bothered me enough that I went to microcenter and exchanged the card. Came back and ran some benchmarks, ran elite, all seems well. The mystery was solved.

 

But like I said this was a first for me because that was my 3rd nvidia card and the very first time I ran into coil whine in any degree, so I wanted to be sure about what was happening before I boxed it up and exchanged it. I believe in the scientific method approach.

 

Thanks for the replies (and the moderation). 

[Doughnutnator]

Hi! Glad to hear that you solved it. How bad it was? My G1 Gaming makes a buzzing sound while gaming (like a fridge). It isn't high pitched but like I said, it sounds like a fridge.

Should I try to RMA it? I can achieve a stable OC of 1500/8000 without extra voltage, I don't know if I won silicon lottery with this card or if I should RMA it.

Thanks

[ZeroSix]

Hi! Glad to hear that you solved it. How bad it was? My G1 Gaming makes a buzzing sound while gaming (like a fridge). It isn't high pitched but like I said, it sounds like a fridge.

Should I try to RMA it? I can achieve a stable OC of 1500/8000 without extra voltage, I don't know if I won silicon lottery with this card or if I should RMA it.

Thanks

It's all about perception and perspective. I want my machine as quiet as possible, so coil whine is an absolute no go for me, since even after I put my water loop in my machine it will not dampen that kind of noise. 

 

For me, it was kind of higher pitched whirring while playing, very noticeable. It was a LOT easier for me to replace because of Microcenter's 30-day return policy though. I don't know how pleasant Gigabyte's customer support is, but if I were to speak for myself, I would RMA it.