Had my Asus Rog Strix 5700XT for just over a month and today i noticed a coil whine when under load, when i come out of a game it disappears. Is this a basis for a return? Thought i would ask here first so i dont sound stupid on the phone to customer support.
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Can you return a card for coil whine?
- Thread starter Huffski
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- 17 Sep 2018
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Ideally you find out issues within distance selling regulations return rules. Not sure on OCUKs policy here but I'm pretty sure it's not legally enforcible, ie it still does the job intended. I bought a B Card that had been returned for loud coil whine. Doesn't bother me.
Soldato
I think you can, but I once had to a RMA a card (another etailer) because the PSU took it out (which was also on RMA). I laughed as the test engineer notes for the GPU had "excessive coil whine" even though there were other issues with it - hence sending the components back! 
So anyway, thats my take on returning due to coil whine, it seemed to be accepted back then and must be a criteria reason.
So anyway, thats my take on returning due to coil whine, it seemed to be accepted back then and must be a criteria reason.
Unlikely. You can return it for any reason within 14 days, and I have returned cards for coil whine in the past during that window, but you're pretty much boned after that unless you bought from somewhere with a stated longer no-reason returns policy. Most retailers aren't going to take back anything they're not legally required to and coil whine isn't a "fault" as such.
I don't think you would sound stupid calling customer services and saying that you're concerned about the coil whine on your card and the potential for it to get worse over time. At least you've registered the issue with them and given them the chance to help you. They may suggest you try a different / better quality PSU so you could see if they would be willing to come to some arrangement with you that would make this practical in terms of returning it if it doesn't resolve the issue.
You could always post in the customer service section of the forum if you don’t call which is here and someone will get back to you.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forums/ocuk-customer-service.116/
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forums/ocuk-customer-service.116/
Soldato
I believe the policy with OCUK is that as long as you have a decent PSU - 80+ gold, then Coil whine is a valid reason for returning a graphics card.
Surprised it took you so long to notice - or are you claiming it's only just started doing it? Did you test the card when you first got it?
What does "under load" mean? All cards whine to some extent if the framerate is very high - even my very quiet MSI Twin Frozer card. Which games have you tested with, and what were the framerates? Again, using stress-test software - i.e. Heaven, etc. - is likely to produce some whine on all cards to a certain degree. I'm only mentioning all this as it will be those criteria a retailer assesses the card against - not "has it got zero coil whine under all circumstances"
Maybe you could post more detail, including a video to show just what it's actually doing. Impossible for people to judge otherwise (see my comment below about a card I returned.)
This^
I have returned a card in the past for coil whine, but within 14 days. I found it whined in all games, quite noticeably, even when limiting the framerate (I was also using a high wattage quality PSU.) The retailer - not OCUK - claimed the card tested just fine; they still processed my refund however, although I was charged return postage.
This^
I've had so many issues with graphics cards - and especially monitors - I will buy them from nowhere else except the Rain Forest. That's the only way to guarantee a hassle-free return process and peace-of-mind.
I have had the card for just over a month and it has been working silently all i have heard is fan noise and a slight whir from the NZXT Z62 AIO pump. I took my headset off the other day to hear a high pitch screech, after investigating its dedinitely the GPU, ive tested it throughout various games. When in a menu and its sat at 30fps on Hell Let Loose its silent as soon as the fps ramps up and the wattage goes up so does the whine. In the menus on COD sat at 60fps there is a whine and in game at 100 plus fps the frequency of whine varies. I do have a video but im unsure how to upload it. My PSU is a Corsair RM750i 80 plus gold. Seems strange that just over a month this noise has occured, i thought coil whine would be there from new.
Yeah, if that's the case then it's best to try and get it swapped out. Keep any evidence you have, though, as the retailer may well attempt to refuse. Probably worth testing it in another machine if you can, just to be sure it's the card, and not just a "clash" with some other component in your machine - I've had even "quality" PSUs cause issues with some graphics cards.
Best of luck.
Yeah report it and see what happens. Coil whine isn't anything new, GPU manufacturers need to take note that this bothers people and do what they can to prevent it. My Powercolour 5700 XT has some, but mostly its in menus when the GPU is belting out over 144Hz, rest of the time I don't notice it. My 670 and 1070 before it didn't have any (in comparison), I was surprised when I heard it tbh, thought it had been fixed years ago, but I was wrong I guess!