Keep: VTX3D 7970 or swap: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X

opethdisciple · 27 Jul 2012 at 17:33

dave_beast said:
Not since the GE/latest drivers 12.6 and onwards it isn't, sorry for your loss

We have only had one WHQL driver since launch. Long time to go.

dave_beast · 27 Jul 2012 at 18:11

opethdisciple said:
We have only had one WHQL driver since launch. Long time to go.

What one WHQL driver is that then? :confused:

tribz · 27 Jul 2012 at 18:16

Chrisoldinho said:
The noise itself goes away if I use my 6850. I was however wondering if the draw from the PSU was involved when I use my 7970 (additional power draw).

FYI I am using an Antec TruPower 750W.
Do PSU's exist which could help with this issue?

The coil wine with my 7970 went away when I swapped my PSU from a OCZ1000w to a Thermaltake Toughpower 875w.

zoomee · 27 Jul 2012 at 19:13

Chrisoldinho said:
Very good, so all settings on Ultra, 2x MSAA. Do you get any inductor buzz?

Compared to my 7970 - no I don't. As I only game in BF3 - Nvidia has the advantage. My game was smoother overall aswell - slightly more FPS at 1440p which was a welcome boost. I'm sure though in other games the AMD card would have been better.

I do miss my 7970 - A)- it was watercooled so no fan noise at all and B)- The colour reproduction is better with AMD cards than with Nvidia (deeper colours on AMD).

HOWEVER - If you are switching JUST for the sake of coil whine - be warned that even an nvidia card may give you that too - its just a matter of chance if you do or don't get it. Sometimes swapping PSU's DOES help as tribz has just mentioned - but theres no guarantee.

ONLY reason I got a 670 (As I was about to give up PC gaming) was because I got an Asus DCU II 670GTX (non-top version) for £210!!!

EDIT: One downside of getting the 670 is darned interference with my X-Fi elite soundcard - I get crackling and popping noises from it now which pee's me right off!!

Chrisoldinho · 27 Jul 2012 at 20:36

On the very subject of PSU's I have seen various manufacturers fit 2200uF capacitors on PCI-E cables, such as Silverstone:

To reduce electrical whine/buzz associated with high performance graphics card’s dynamic loading changes, 2200uF capacitors are attached to PCI-E connectors. This design also helps to maintain better voltage stability and improve ripple & noise performance.

Does anywhere sell PCI-E cables with a capacitor fitted, it's got to be worth trying.

Also, just an update - I have been running Heaven since 7pm. No real change as yet, but this card is certainly quieter, a good 1/3rd, not 10% as I said above. I can certainly live with this now, but would be nice to quieten it further.

borley · 27 Jul 2012 at 20:52

Chrisoldinho said:
On the very subject of PSU's I have seen various manufacturers fit 2200uF capacitors on PCI-E cables, such as Silverstone:

Does anywhere sell PCI-E cables with a capacitor fitted, it's got to be worth trying.

Also, just an update - I have been running Heaven since 7pm. No real change as yet, but this card is certainly quieter, a good 1/3rd, not 10% as I said above. I can certainly live with this now, but would be nice to quieten it further.

When people say they loop the heaven benchmark do they mean they just leave It to run after the first benchmark when it loops in the background or are actually benchmarking every time?
Regards

opethdisciple · 27 Jul 2012 at 22:06

dave_beast said:
What one WHQL driver is that then?

Here.

McNutter · 28 Jul 2012 at 00:57

borley said:
When people say they loop the heaven benchmark do they mean they just leave It to run after the first benchmark when it loops in the background or are actually benchmarking every time?
Regards

No. Don't click the benchmark button at all and just let it run.

tommybhoy · 28 Jul 2012 at 02:37

opethdisciple said:
Here.

Strictly speaking, it's not the 670's second whql, but it's the second 6 series whql with the 301.10whql being the first.

All in all including beta's there have been five 6 series drivers in about four months.

Chrisoldinho · 28 Jul 2012 at 07:56

Ok well I ran heaven from 7pm through to 7.30am.

The sound is worse, it's back to exactly as it was with my other card.
Do custom PCB versions like the MSI Lightning 7970 / Gigabyte 7970 have the same problem or is this a reference board issue?

Cheers,
Chris.

greenpanda · 28 Jul 2012 at 08:58

My friend have the MSI Lightning and it also have the coil while. So, it really is a lottery whether you get it or not.

dave_beast · 28 Jul 2012 at 13:35

Chrisoldinho said:
Ok well I ran heaven from 7pm through to 7.30am.

The sound is worse, it's back to exactly as it was with my other card.
Do custom PCB versions like the MSI Lightning 7970 / Gigabyte 7970 have the same problem or is this a reference board issue?

Cheers,
Chris.

Tbh, if it did it on your first card, i'd be looking towards the PSU being the culprit. Is there anyway you can borrow another PSU from someone and try that?

Chrisoldinho · 28 Jul 2012 at 18:11

dave_beast said:
Tbh, if it did it on your first card, i'd be looking towards the PSU being the culprit. Is there anyway you can borrow another PSU from someone and try that?

I'm going to take my card tomorrow to my brothers and test it there (he has an 850W Corsair AX).

Have to say, since turning it off, leaving it for a 4 hours then playing a bit of BF3, the noise has definitely quietened back off. I'd go as far as to say it is ever so slightly better than before the heaven burn in.

I'll keep this thread updated with my progress, in the hope others might find it useful.

Regards,
Chris.

old gamer · 28 Jul 2012 at 18:30

Intrested to know how you get on useing it with your brothers psu, i have a corsair hx850 and ref xfx 7970 and no problems with buzzing or coil whine

tribz · 28 Jul 2012 at 19:00

I hope trying a different PSU fixes it for you, it certainly did for me.

Broken Hope · 28 Jul 2012 at 19:14

dave_beast said:
Not since the GE/latest drivers 12.6 and onwards it isn't, sorry for your loss

Oh?

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/25/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_670_oc_video_card_review/9

tribz · 28 Jul 2012 at 19:38

Broken Hope said:
Oh?

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/07/25/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_670_oc_video_card_review/9

I think you missed Daves point. That comparison only shows a stock 7970 against an OC'd 670.

Do you have a comparison between the 1GHz edition 7970?

dave_beast · 29 Jul 2012 at 05:03

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7970-ghz-edition-review-benchmark,3232-19.html

No longer is Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 670 faster than the Radeon HD 7970. And, in fact, these new drivers are largely responsible for the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition card outmaneuvering GeForce GTX 680 in most of the tests we ran

Chrisoldinho · 31 Jul 2012 at 14:45

old gamer said:
Intrested to know how you get on useing it with your brothers psu, i have a corsair hx850 and ref xfx 7970 and no problems with buzzing or coil whine

tribz said:
I hope trying a different PSU fixes it for you, it certainly did for me.

Just wanted to update this thread, tried it in a different PC. It made no difference, in fact i'd argue it was worse, tried a few heaven overnight runs to see if it made any difference, but again nothing.

I have raised sent the card back to OCuK today for a refund, and have purchased a Gigabyte 7970 Windforce 3X from OCuK. Hopefully the change of brand, solid caps and custom PCB might help, time will tell I guess.

Yaayuh! · 31 Jul 2012 at 14:53

Chrisoldinho said:
Just wanted to update this thread, tried it in a different PC. It made no difference, in fact i'd argue it was worse, tried a few heaven overnight runs to see if it made any difference, but again nothing.

I have raised sent the card back to OCuK today for a refund, and have purchased a Gigabyte 7970 Windforce 3X from OCuK. Hopefully the change of brand, solid caps and custom PCB might help, time will tell I guess.

Solid caps won't make a difference.

It does seem to be luck tbh. I have the Asus GTX 580 Matrix Platinum, which is/was a very high tier card at the time, very expensive. Horrible coil whine.... I just managed to get used to it after a couple of months.