GTX 280 high pitched whine

NightmareXX · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:09

Just recently my GTX 280 has been emitting a high-pitched whine when doing nothing. It's a very high frequency and not terribly noticeable but it's doing my head in as I can hear it really clearly. When I bought the card, there wasn't any whine until I started playing a game but it's doing it no matter what the card is doing now

Any solutions?

Musty Pie · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:16

No solutions unfortunately. However make sure its your gfx card and not your PSU that is causing the issue. my previous (now RMA'd) gtx 280 and PSU combo squealed (well the PSU did) and now after getting a diff PSU and replacement GTX 280 it doesn't happen anymore.

However Some of the higher end cards whine also. Its just luck of the draw mate (think its due to caps/resistors charging and discharging fast)

You could RMA it and hope you get a non squealer.

NightmareXX · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:17

Well as long as I'm playing music or a game, I don't tend to notice it but when I'm not doing either of these things, it's driving me crazy. I'm not going to RMA it over this as that'd leave me without a PC for 4-7 days which isn't nice. I'll make sure it's the graphics now.

Musty Pie · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:21

Yeah put your head near the GFX card or the PSU to help diagnose the sound. I know how you feel the noise drove me crazy.

Does the sound get worse when running gfx intense programs? turn of speakers etc? Mine did this and it was 100% the PSU.

Let me know how it goes.

jvowles · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:27

Exactly. Run a graphics intensive program and see if the noise significantly increases. Also, if you can remove anything that may be taking excess power out of the PSU, and see if the problem goes away.

I am lucky enough not to have this issue...but it is luck of the draw i believe. It might be related to the strength of the PSU...?

Musty Pie · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:37

Its not usually PSU strength that is the issue. Its down to the cheap components inside the PSU (caps etc) that some manufacturers use to cut the costs

I had a tagan BZ pipe rock (nice looking PSU) that whined so much i wanted to punch it to pieces. (check youtube for tagan pipe rock 8800) someone has same issue with PSU that i suffered with.

boosfuk · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:51

This might be relevant, according to today's BFG 285 review on bit-tech:
"It’s worth noting that the whistling problems we encountered during our original review were still apparent on the two BFG Tech GeForce GTX 285s we’ve got (we’ll be looking at GTX 285 SLI performance very soon). According to Nvidia, the problem is only apparent on 220V mains connections and there will be a fix for this – in the form of a cable attachment – coming soon, but we don’t have an official ETA for it yet."

Sipha · 30 Jan 2009 at 13:58

This has been covered, its the capacitors etc in the pwm squeling under load.

http://theovalich.wordpress.com/200...w-and-how-to-fix-it-no-more-gtx280-squealing/

jvowles · 30 Jan 2009 at 14:00

boosfuk said:
This might be relevant, according to today's BFG 285 review on bit-tech:
"It’s worth noting that the whistling problems we encountered during our original review were still apparent on the two BFG Tech GeForce GTX 285s we’ve got (we’ll be looking at GTX 285 SLI performance very soon). According to Nvidia, the problem is only apparent on 220V mains connections and there will be a fix for this – in the form of a cable attachment – coming soon, but we don’t have an official ETA for it yet."

I wonder what a cable could do. Maybe change resistance, but i am not how it would solve a Cap problem

NightmareXX · 30 Jan 2009 at 17:13

I was hoping it'd be something I could fix but it would appear not without voiding my warranty. The cable might work although UK mains voltage is 240V so it might not.

As far as under load goes, the whine gets a little higher in frequency but no louder

wombraider · 30 Jan 2009 at 18:13

NightmareXX said:
Well as long as I'm playing music or a game, I don't tend to notice it but when I'm not doing either of these things, it's driving me crazy. I'm not going to RMA it over this as that'd leave me without a PC for 4-7 days which isn't nice. I'll make sure it's the graphics now.

4-7 days would be nice , OCuk took my gtx280 RMA over 2 weeks tp process ....

Bubo · 30 Jan 2009 at 18:54

Has anyone tried putting a couple of those iron chokes around the two power leads that feed the card? I told a guy at work who is an electrical boffin about this squealing problem and he said this might help. I explained how much power these modern graphics cards require and he seemed to think it was probably more to do the power supplies ability to supply a stable rectified supply. Basically he said if the capacitors in the psu are not able to maintain a fully smooth dc supply after the incoming ac supply is rectified you end up with harmonics on the dc supply which can make compnents oscillate.

jvowles · 30 Jan 2009 at 20:53

that sounds sensible....not sure what the iron chokes would do.

Jakus · 31 Jan 2009 at 01:48

Bubo said:
Has anyone tried putting a couple of those iron chokes around the two power leads that feed the card? I told a guy at work who is an electrical boffin about this squealing problem and he said this might help. I explained how much power these modern graphics cards require and he seemed to think it was probably more to do the power supplies ability to supply a stable rectified supply. Basically he said if the capacitors in the psu are not able to maintain a fully smooth dc supply after the incoming ac supply is rectified you end up with harmonics on the dc supply which can make compnents oscillate.

Electrical noise on the output of a Power supply is generally referred to as "ripple" , a good PSU should have very little.
Generally in-line filters are ferrite rings, but You should not need anything like that...If You have a "dirty" PSU best replace it not try to fix it externally

NightmareXX · 31 Jan 2009 at 01:59

I don't think it's my PSU. It's 700W and I think it's rate for 5% ripple on the 12V line.

Is there an easy way to check it? There isn't another PSU in the house that I'd want to wire my system up to without it going bang.

MrMoses · 31 Jan 2009 at 02:00

How many amps per 12v rail does your PSU have?

What are the temps of the Card under load?

NightmareXX · 31 Jan 2009 at 13:11

15A per rail and it's got 4 rails. 1 is for the CPU, 2 for the 2x 6pin PCI-E connections it has and 1 for the molex/SATA power.

In total, my 280 has an easy 40A all to itself. Temps are around 45C idle and ~75C load.

MrMoses · 31 Jan 2009 at 14:24

NightmareXX said:
15A per rail and it's got 4 rails. 1 is for the CPU, 2 for the 2x 6pin PCI-E connections it has and 1 for the molex/SATA power.

In total, my 280 has an easy 40A all to itself. Temps are around 45C idle and ~75C load.

I will guess that is a "no name" PSU?

That is the cause of your problem, your PSU cannot supply the card enough power!

You need a Quality more Powerful PSU like Corsair,Jean tech Storm, .................

Greenboi · 31 Jan 2009 at 15:46

Ive got this problem, onl when running 3d apps though.. seems im the only person who can hear it, though..

Took the PC to OcUK today and was told it was the grill that was the problem.. got it home and it still does the same thing

Have a coolermaster 700w psu, and a gainward gtx280...think ill just learn to live with it..already RMA'd the first psu with the same problem..

NightmareXX · 31 Jan 2009 at 19:40

Heh no, it's a well branded PSU, I'm just sick of writing the model number.

FSP FX700-GLN, Google it for specifications. I know it can provide enough power because if it couldn't, the card would slow down in games and I can assure you, it doesn't.