Squealing noise in GTX285

[GTSRboy]

My XFX GTX285 makes a high pitched squealing noise when under load...it is extremly irritating and it makes folding with it impossible. I cant have headace inducing noise all day and night...

Does anyone know of a way to fix the noise? If i cant get it fixed i aint foldin w/ it

[GTSRboy]

so everyones going to pretend their cards to make a loud whinning noise. Oh well. Ill just deal with it

[Sparky]

Some do, some don't... just how some cards are I guess :shrug:
My GSO squeals like a stuck pig. Don't know if the 8800GS does or not, its fan is too loud to tell :lol2:

[Skakruk]

Mine does it. It drives me insane.

It's called coil whine, and there are plenty of threads on this topic.

The squealing noise is related to the framerate your card is pushing - the higher the framerate, the louder (and more high-pitched) the squeal is.

Here are a couple of solutions:

1) Cap your framerate. For example, use v-sync. V-sync will lock your framerate at your monitors refresh rate (likely somewhere between 60 and 120), which should be low enough to prevent the squealing sound.

2) Coat the power management section of your card's circuitry in nail varnish.

Use Google to find out more.


Some do, some don't... just how some cards are I guess :shrug:

I think it's to do with what PSU being used, rather than the card. Granted, if the card was built properly, you should be able to pair it with any PSU and not have to worry about squealing, but I guess Nvidia like to cut as many corners as possible.

[GTSRboy]

the whinning is noticable, but drowned out mostly by my fans and noise. Ill have to see if i can sleep with the whine or not. If it drives me crazy, ill consider getting out the nail polish, i dont think this voids the warrenty, since the XFX lifetime warrenty let you remove the heatsink.

[GTSRboy]

If i slightly over clock the card the whinning gets louder...and if i underclock it it almost goes away. The noise is extremly high pitched, people over 30 cant even hear it. Im not sure if i can sleep with whinning...im gonna go insannnneeee!!!!

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Maybe if i overclock it enough the noise will be so high pitched it will be outside of human hearing? At 648hmz its really annoying, and at 672mhz it gets much higher pitched almost to the point of not being autible. Im not sure how far i can push the OC, ill see if 694mhz or somthing can be stable and make the whine less noticable

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Ok at 700mhz its still annoying me... but at about 738mhz the noise goes away on my card. If i hold it at 738 and then 'reset' back to 648 i can defiantly hear the ring come back

[Skakruk]

I'm still trying to decide whether to return my GTX 285 or not.

The noise really is unbearable with v-sync off. It's audible above everything else in my system, my speakers can't drown it out, and I can even hear it through my headphones.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who RMA'd a squealing card and received a non-squealing replacement (without any other alteration to the PC during the process).

[dan7777]

nothing worry about been told i get same on my gtx260-216 its when mainly on crysis wars i get it when the cards being worked to the hilt! lol

[Hondacity]

i have 3 of those, 2 were noisy, but i don't mind, only way of reducing the noise is underclock abit...

[GTSRboy]

I'm still trying to decide whether to return my GTX 285 or not.

The noise really is unbearable with v-sync off. It's audible above everything else in my system, my speakers can't drown it out, and I can even hear it through my headphones.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who RMA'd a squealing card and received a non-squealing replacement (without any other alteration to the PC during the process).

I decided to RMA mine. Ill tell you if my new one whines. Should be about a week+ before i have the new one

If my new one whines, then ill do the nail polish mod

[HeXploiT]

Good'ol coil whine. Dumping a MB at the moment because she won't OC without crying.

[clayton]

GTX 280, 285 and 295 all whine for me. I suggest using sound dampening materials if it really bothers you.

[GTSRboy]

GTX 280, 285 and 295 all whine for me. I suggest using sound dampening materials if it really bothers you.

What could be used? I guess wax would melt...ive never taken apart a card before im not sure what or what not to use. Nail polish sounds like a mess. Plus, will that void my XFX warrenty? Its a lifetime warrenty, and they let you remove the heatsink..so if i used some kind of sound dampaning material that could be removed i could still send it in if it breaks

[Skakruk]

What could be used? I guess wax would melt...ive never taken apart a card before im not sure what or what not to use. Nail polish sounds like a mess. Plus, will that void my XFX warrenty? Its a lifetime warrenty, and they let you remove the heatsink..so if i used some kind of sound dampaning material that could be removed i could still send it in if it breaks

I think he's suggesting the use of sound dampening material externally. If he is, then I really don't think that would help much anyway, because of the nature of the sound. It's a very high pitch, and that kind of sound is hard to suppress.

[Defratos]

I know this might not be an option, but I'd say get it WC'd, mine's sure silent not to mention a big temp drop as well :up:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v241/Defratos/WC4.jpg

[GTSRboy]

Does water cooling it make capacitor whine go away?

Is it safe to drop hot glue from a hot gluegun around the power components of your card? Is it safe to soak them in nail polish? I dont know whether to take apart the card and try to make the noise go away or RMA it and see if i get lucky with a quiet one.

Im just trying to find out whether this is a mainstream problem that affects like 50% of 285's, or if its an isolated case and i should return it

[Skakruk]

Does water cooling it make capacitor whine go away?

I don't see how it could make the slightest bit of difference.

(by the way, it's the coils that whine, not the caps)



Is it safe to drop hot glue from a hot gluegun around the power components of your card? Is it safe to soak them in nail polish? I dont know whether to take apart the card and try to make the noise go away or RMA it and see if i get lucky with a quiet one.

Im just trying to find out whether this is a mainstream problem that affects like 50% of 285's, or if its an isolated case and i should return it

I think hot glue and nail varnish would probably void your warranty.

From what I've seen, this problem is pretty widespread.

[Alex Suraci]

My GTX 285 had a very noticeable squeal when I first got it. I stopped noticing within the first day. My case is a Cosmos 1000, which has sound dampening material on the side panel, but I think it just straight-up stopped doing it after a while. No idea. All I know is I can't hear it at all, one way or another. Even in menu screens.

[GTSRboy]

well i RMAed it, hopefully the new one doesnt do it. If it does, ill try waiting it our for a week or so..sortof like a break in period. If it doesnt go away ill just void my warrenty and nail polish it, i cant stand that kind of noise 24/7, nvidia should address this in their next batch of cards

[Nanometer]

some do.. some do in certain games.. it's weird..

[Skakruk]

...Nvidia should address this in their next batch of cards

Yeah, the idiots should be using digital PWM by now.

[Carfax]

some do.. some do in certain games.. it's weird..

The only game my card whines in is Crysis LOL!

And, that is only on start up. Once I'm in game, it goes away.

[Skakruk]

And, that is only on start up. Once I'm in game, it goes away.

That's because when you're in the startup movies and menu, your framerate is in the thousands. High framerates cause the coil whine. Once you load a map, the framerate drops, and with it the noise.

EDIT: I found one of the other XS threads on the issue: 'GTX285 and Buzzing' (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=219112)

EDIT2: It seems that whether you experience squealing or not can be based purely on the individual card. In this (http://www.tweakguides.com/Hardcon09_6.html) article, Koroush Ghazi managed to get a mostly squeal free card after two returns:


With the generous assistance of Arthur from MTech Computers, the retailer where I'd purchased the Palit card, I managed to get a replacement Palit GTX 285, but sadly, it also suffered from the exact same issue, so I returned that too. My PSU is both a high quality unit, and at 700W and with 56A on the +12V rail is more than enough for the card and my system as I demonstrated under the Power Supply section. The fact that the GPU would emit this noise even at very light load and at low temperatures also made it clear it wasn't a lack of power, heat or a fan-related issue. Given the GTX 285s are all based on the Nvidia reference design, I was in a bit of a dilemma as to which card to choose as a replacement. I did some more research and eventually ordered a third card, this time a Leadtek GTX 285. After installing it, I notice that the Leadtek card also exhibits some buzzing, but fortunately it is far, far less than the Palit card, and the only time it can be heard so far is in the main menu in Crysis Warhead - in every other game or situation it is thankfully completely silent.

I think I'm going to return my card.

[GTSRboy]

my card wasnt just buzzing under load or in menus, even when i was idle and with vsync on it sqeuled very loud...so if my new card is at least better than that ill be happy. XFX said theyll work with em and try to stop the sqeualing if my new card does it...so basiclly they better put some physical material on the card to quiet it


...anyone think some WD40 would do anythng??? just a thought! :up:

also ive heard many people say thier 4850's and 4870's sqeual also, just not as often and severe

EDIT: the sound is at the 10khz frequency btw, so if your wondering what it sounds liek go find a audio clip of 10khz online

[GAR]

ATI squeal's too, but not as bad as nvidia, i can confirm the 4890's squeal.

[Masterrer]

My 4870 squeals as a pig also when pushing high FPS...

[Skakruk]

I've just spent 15 minutes trying to locate exactly where the coil whine is coming from, and I'm pretty sure my PSU is doing it too. I'm not 100% sure, as this kind of frequency can be deceptive to the ear, but the squealing is extremely loud when I put my ear over the outlet at the back of the PSU. In fact, I think the PSU may be the primary source of the squealing (say, 70% of the total coil whine present). When I put my ear closer to the video card, I can hear some reasonably loud buzzing, but not so much squealing.

HOWEVER, the PSU's coil whine is still being caused by the GTX 285. The squealing from the PSU definitely changes depending on the framerate the GTX is pushing.

Now I don't know whether to return the PSU, card, or both... What a nightmare! :confused:

[Efekkt]

Hmm, in general I don't really get any squealing on my Asus GTX 285, but I did get a little bit while in the Crysis menu the other day. Doesn't happen while I'm actually in-game, though. Weird, huh? =/

[GTSRboy]

Update: My new GTX285 is finally here and...this one DOESNT have any coil whine...thank god! I havent tried a high frame rate test, but im not really worried if it does it at high framerate, i just want it to shutup while folding. I ran 3DMark06 @ 1680x1050 + 8xAA + Anisotropic filtering to push it hard, and no noise coming from it at all. Ill have to see if it does it while folding, once i get my wifi adapter for my desktop ill try that.

[GAR]

Update: My new GTX285 is finally here and...this one DOESNT have any coil whine...thank god! I havent tried a high frame rate test, but im not really worried if it does it at high framerate, i just want it to shutup while folding. I ran 3DMark06 @ 1680x1050 + 8xAA + Anisotropic filtering to push it hard, and no noise coming from it at all. Ill have to see if it does it while folding, once i get my wifi adapter for my desktop ill try that.

try running crysis.

[GTSRboy]

try running crysis.

Ok im in Crysis, and its making a low pitched quiet buzzing noise (not the headace inducing screeching noise my last one made) only when im at 750fps in the menus. Ill try running at max settings...ok im running 16080x1050, Very high, 4xAA, and no noise at all:up:

[largon]

My HD4890 squeals for a short time when entering 3D load, but the sound fades away within 5-10 seconds.

[GTSRboy]

I guess my last one was a rare case, it SCREECHED the second the computer went on. If anyone has the iPhone app "sound gernade" then thats what it sounded like

also, im getting about 20fps in lifesis mod