Buzzing from GTX 970

TerryS · 30 Nov 2015 at 17:57

I just bought a Gigabyte GTX 970 OC edition for my sons PC to replace his 580 GTX. Even when idle it makes a really annoying buzzing sound. The temps are ok and the fan is not obstructed although the buzzing gets louder as the fan speed increases. Is this normal for this particular card? I have a Titan X in my own PC which is totally silent.

rtho782 · 30 Nov 2015 at 18:15

Coil Whine I guess. Goes up with fan speed as fan speed goes up with load, and current draw also goes up with load.

Does it buzz still if you stop the fan turning? That would mean definitely coil whine.

Sencha · 30 Nov 2015 at 18:16

Sounds like coil whine.

TerryS · 30 Nov 2015 at 19:14

Is coil whine a good enough reason for an RMA / exchange for a different 970? This one's only a couple of days old and I had it delivered.

Mr Jack · 30 Nov 2015 at 19:21

The white ASUS one? I just got the same card and I think it's the source of a really annoying buzz from my new build

Uther · 30 Nov 2015 at 19:33

If it is from OcUK you can return it as 'unwanted' within 14 days. You would still need to contact them and get an RMA number though.

humbug · 30 Nov 2015 at 19:35

is it this one? https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...graphics-card-gv-n970wf3oc-4gd-gx-149-gi.html

I have the same card, it buzzes a bit under load but its really not bad at all.

if you have had it for less than 2 weeks you should be able to return it under DSR http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/distance-selling-regulations

MooMoo444 · 30 Nov 2015 at 20:18

Returning it just means some other poor sap will end up with an arguably faulty card. Better to contact the customer services and see if a replacement is possible.

Uther · 30 Nov 2015 at 21:04

MooMoo444 said:
Returning it just means some other poor sap will end up with an arguably faulty card. Better to contact the customer services and see if a replacement is possible.

True.

TerryS · 30 Nov 2015 at 21:08

It's the GeForce GTX 970 Twin Turbo OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N970TTOC-4GD) It's buzzing away even at idle. It's definitely coil whine as I've listened to a few on YouTube now. The card itself works well, it's just the buzzing which can be heard above everything else in the PC. I've read that it can be caused by an unlucky PSU / GPU combination or a dirty power supply although I tried a 580 and 760 GTX and they were fine. I'll give OC a call tomorrow.

Simon Belmont · 30 Nov 2015 at 22:03

Isn't coil whine do to the PSU?

Borealis · 30 Nov 2015 at 22:19

Simon Belmont said:
Isn't coil whine do to the PSU?

I believe it's a characteristic of all cards/electronics that use inductors (which are basically coils). Its just that some are way more prone to it than others. Using a good quality PSU can reduce or eliminate it but some particular cards just whine.

This is the sticky in the PSUs section about it:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18642494

Gigabyte-Gaming · 1 Dec 2015 at 13:22

TerryS said:
I just bought a Gigabyte GTX 970 OC edition for my sons PC to replace his 580 GTX. Even when idle it makes a really annoying buzzing sound. The temps are ok and the fan is not obstructed although the buzzing gets louder as the fan speed increases. Is this normal for this particular card? I have a Titan X in my own PC which is totally silent.

Please give it a shot and try overclocking it or underclocking it 1 Mhz, I know this has solved it for many people not with just our cards but for all brands and different models.

PieEater · 1 Dec 2015 at 13:27

MooMoo444 said:
Returning it just means some other poor sap will end up with an arguably faulty card. Better to contact the customer services and see if a replacement is possible.

It's not the consumers responsibility to prevent potentially faulty products from being resold !! If it were me I would return the card under the 14 day returns policy with a note attached saying that I found it to have excessive coil whine.

Mr Jack · 1 Dec 2015 at 16:38

PieEater said:
It's not the consumers responsibility to prevent potentially faulty products from being resold !! If it were me I would return the card under the 14 day returns policy with a note attached saying that I found it to have excessive coil whine.

Overclockers will pay postage for a fault return but not a DSR return.

PieEater · 1 Dec 2015 at 18:31

Mr Jack said:
Overclockers will pay postage for a fault return but not a DSR return.

And from monitoring these forums the likely outcome of a fault return for coil whine is the card being sent back as no fault found, at which point your 14 days are up and your stuck with the card.

/Edit: OCUK have previously said that they don't class coil whine as a fault - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=28458976&postcount=16

murah · 1 Dec 2015 at 21:33

Speak to Bailey! legend sorts these problems out he is the true Fixer

Dervious · 1 Dec 2015 at 22:56

PieEater said:
And from monitoring these forums the likely outcome of a fault return for coil whine is the card being sent back as no fault found, at which point your 14 days are up and your stuck with the card.

/Edit: OCUK have previously said that they don't class coil whine as a fault - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=28458976&postcount=16

If coil whine is not classed as a fault, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect this to be pointed out by the retailer, either on the item's description, and/or on the invoice at the time of ordering ? Any customer who doesn't know about coil whine (and I suspect there are quite a few) will then know they are playing "coil whine lotto".

PieEater · 2 Dec 2015 at 07:34

murah said:
Speak to Bailey! legend sorts these problems out he is the true Fixer

You evidently did not click on the link I provided on the post above yours where Bailey told a customer that coil whine is not classed as a fault !!!

Dervious said:
If coil whine is not classed as a fault, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect this to be pointed out by the retailer, either on the item's description, and/or on the invoice at the time of ordering ? Any customer who doesn't know about coil whine (and I suspect there are quite a few) will then know they are playing "coil whine lotto".

I think this would be hard to do without implying the cards are defective which would not make the suppliers happy which would be bad for business. OCUK have doubled the returns period from what they are legally obliged to honour from 7 to 14 days so if anyone is unhappy with their purchase they have more than sufficient time to return it. They have acknowledged that coil whine is an issue with the 970 / 980 by designing their own versions of these cards with improved components specifically to eliminate the issue. I don't know of any other retailer that has gone that far........