3090 FE thermals and fan noise

WolfHauser · 4 Jun 2021 at 12:05

An update to the update. I think I was a bit too eager before. Although better - memory temps still would push 104 after prolonged use. I took the plunge and re-did the thermal pads and paste. Well, the difference is night and day. Fans never go above 1200rpm even with my case fans on low and temps seem to max at 92 in Quake RTX which really stressed the card before. Rendering in Blender - the card doesn't even break a sweat - just wish it had been like this by default.

newuser · 4 Jun 2021 at 21:57

WolfHauser said:
An update to the update. I think I was a bit too eager before. Although better - memory temps still would push 104 after prolonged use. I took the plunge and re-did the thermal pads and paste. Well, the difference is night and day. Fans never go above 1200rpm even with my case fans on low and temps seem to max at 92 in Quake RTX which really stressed the card before. Rendering in Blender - the card doesn't even break a sweat - just wish it had been like this by default.

Glad you've got it working to your satisfaction. Shame you had to mod the card to do it. Sorry if I came across as an arse in the other thread you posted in, wasn't watching this one.

Purgatory · 4 Jun 2021 at 23:25

Grim5 said:
It does seem only miners are hitting temps where it throttles but some gamers come close just not enough to throttle - maybe after a couple years of dust buildup up they will throttle too

Remember it's been pretty warm in UK last week too. I think the OP should post a picture of his case with his setup. So can see exactly what is going on, it still sounds too high to me and maybe some fan adjustments or new case fans are needed or to create more positive pressure in the case to force the heat out quicker.

@WolfHauser add some pictures of your setup with the panel off and show the fans in the case.

Edit: NVM see he's redone the paste and thermal pads now, but stick some pics up of the setup.

WolfHauser · 5 Jun 2021 at 13:16

@newuser - unforgiveable! No worries mate, I didn't take any offence from your other post - I knew you were trying to help but appreciate the apology anyway.

@Purgatory - sure here's some pics of how it is now.

CuriousTomCat · 5 Jun 2021 at 13:51

It's quite fitting that a GPU aimed at hardcore enthusiasts/experts/professionals needs re-pasting while the lower-end noob GPUs don't need touching. It's obviously unintentional but it would be much worse if a novice had to re-paste an entry level GPU like the future 3050ti.

I'm pleased you sorted it.

Purgatory · 5 Jun 2021 at 14:06

WolfHauser said:
@newuser - unforgiveable! No worries mate, I didn't take any offence from your other post - I knew you were trying to help but appreciate the apology anyway.

@Purgatory - sure here's some pics of how it is now.

It looks really good , nice neat work. More than enough fans and you have them all facing the right way for correct air flow. Happy you finally found the cause of the issue and saved yourself an RMA and may have ended up with a card that has fan rattle or bad whine. The FE models as I know from the many we had at work are a pain sometimes with whine and fan issues.

WolfHauser · 7 Jun 2021 at 16:59

@Purgatory @CuriousTomCat Thanks mate. Even though it was stressful - I feel really proud of it and feel like I have a much better understanding of how my computer and GPU work. It was nice to spend time trying to make it neat and quite addictive. Sometimes I think I'd quite like to build people PCs and then I think about the inevitable technical support and shudder so best to stay away.

There's so many awesome resources online (not least overclockers) now with tips that I didn't really have/know about when I built my last pc 5 years ago.

I'd like the fans to be black but they didn't have any in stock at the time so white it is!

xPETEZx · 7 Jun 2021 at 17:09

How is the coil-whine on your card?

I re-did the thermal pads on the rear of my card only, and it worked well. Temps dropped from a max of 104, to a max of 96.
Enough to stop the fans ever going above 1400, and usually around 1300. Which is quiet enough... but the coil whine is just irritating.

WolfHauser · 7 Jun 2021 at 17:24

@xPETEZx Yeah totally - same for me. Feel for you. Not sure if the coil whine was there before and just covered by the fans but it is noticeable if I'm under my desk. When I'm sat up though I can't really hear it. I do have a Define R6 case which I think filters out some of the noise once the panels back on. Sounds a bit like my machine's come out of Chernobyl. But I'll take it over those redic temps and jet engine. Pretty solid 91 and the fans never go over 1200rpm now.

WolfHauser · 7 Jun 2021 at 17:26

Will try and do a video if I can - it won't be very scientific though

xPETEZx · 7 Jun 2021 at 19:30

I think I probably need to move my case further away. Right now its up on the desk right next to me.
Likewise I think before I just couldnt hear it over the jet-engines... Now its quiet, I hear it all the time.
Unlike pervious cards I have had, its not linked to framerate. My GTX970 would whine when the FPS went to like 400+ at a menu or something.
This card just whines as soon as load gets near 100% regardless of FPS.

And yes... the noise is almost fitting while playing metro exodus :cry:

WolfHauser · 9 Jun 2021 at 09:52

Haha. Yeah, my card whines similarly when under any sort of load. I have to say under the desk it's not noticeable but yeah I can imagine on the desk it would be really annoying. I guess it's on your desk for a reason?

xPETEZx · 9 Jun 2021 at 10:12

WolfHauser said:
Haha. Yeah, my card whines similarly when under any sort of load. I have to say under the desk it's not noticeable but yeah I can imagine on the desk it would be really annoying. I guess it's on your desk for a reason?

Under my desk is the sub from the Z-5500s, so not a whole lot of space.
Also do like having PC on the desk with the RGB and window.

I did put it under the desk briefly, but kept banging legs into the sub. Funny enough even my wife went "now you cant see all the lights" :cry:

Need to find a home for the sub, or a place bit further away for the PC.

Tried gaming with headphones on (over-the head ones) , which did completely eliminate the noise. But I find headphones really annoying for anymore than 45m - 1hr.

Tempted to try in-ear buds, as those I can "suffer" much longer. All just plasters for a problem tho.... wish I could get a card without whine as before.

WolfHauser · 9 Jun 2021 at 11:35

I get ya. I have a pair of noise cancelling Sony in ear headphones and just tried putting my head next to the machine and couldn't hear anything - especially over the in game audio. To be honest mine is barely audible with the panel on - even with my head right next to the machine. Can definitely hear it with the panel off though. Here's a video;

https://youtu.be/veR8S7QSAKM

wunkley · 9 Jun 2021 at 12:10

Undervolt undervolt undervolt. I really can't stress it enough, so I'll say it again. Undervolt.

Depending on the curves you make you can basically have minimal peformance loss, the same or even better performance using less power and therefore less heat = lower temps and less noise. And coil whine is directly proportional to power draw on my 3090FE, so it really helps with that too.

Ravenger · 9 Jun 2021 at 12:45

wunkley said:
Undervolt undervolt undervolt. I really can't stress it enough, so I'll say it again. Undervolt.

Depending on the curves you make you can basically have minimal peformance loss, the same or even better performance using less power and therefore less heat = lower temps and less noise. And coil whine is directly proportional to power draw on my 3090FE, so it really helps with that too.

It's amazing how much difference this makes. My 3090FE isn't that noisy anyway, but the fan can kick in enough to be heard when playing VR. When I undervolt I never hear the fan spin up where it's really loud, and the performance doesn't seem affected, at least not in any perceptible way in normal gameplay.

I'm also lucky in that my FE doesn't have any audible coil-whine.

tyler_jrb · 9 Jun 2021 at 12:52

WolfHauser said:
I get ya. I have a pair of noise cancelling Sony in ear headphones and just tried putting my head next to the machine and couldn't hear anything - especially over the in game audio. To be honest mine is barely audible with the panel on - even with my head right next to the machine. Can definitely hear it with the panel off though. Here's a video;

https://youtu.be/veR8S7QSAKM

Pretty common with any high power card these days, they all have it. Just a few factors such as
GPU usage/framerate and of course case design, distance of case from user, Gpu fan speed and case fan speed depend on how truly audible it is.

One thing is though that on a well enclosed card such as the FE it will generally be far less audible than an open AIB card from experience. The design does a good job at blocking things like coil whine.

WolfHauser · 9 Jun 2021 at 12:58

Cool yeah, I should probably say I'm fine with the noise as I can hardly hear it - was just posting to help xPETEZx.

Aretak · 9 Jun 2021 at 13:07

tyler_jrb said:
One thing is though that on a well enclosed card such as the FE it will generally be far less audible than an open AIB card from experience. The design does a good job at blocking things like coil whine.

I don't know about that. My 3080 FE had the loudest coil whine I've heard on any card, ever. And I've had some pretty bad ones in the past, like my R9 Fury Nitro. It was so bad that I didn't even want the card and let my brother have it.

tyler_jrb · 9 Jun 2021 at 14:47

Aretak said:
I don't know about that. My 3080 FE had the loudest coil whine I've heard on any card, ever. And I've had some pretty bad ones in the past, like my R9 Fury Nitro. It was so bad that I didn't even want the card and let my brother have it.

I had a 2080Ti FE which was a pretty enclosed design like the 30 series. Coil whine was there but it wasnt crazy, audible but not too bad. Fitted waterblock and it was like a coffee grinder because the chokes were far more exposed.

Most of the AIB cards were pretty bad also, worse than the FE anyway. Must have gone through 10 cards hoping for a silent one but it just isnt possible and i accepted it in the end. Undervolting did help a tonne but in the end just moved my pc away. Was driving me crazy to the point of buying a console crazy. Now pure silence what ever the situation. Best decision ever.