Founders Edition Coil-whine - RMA experiances

[xPETEZx]

I have had my 3090FE for about 8 months, and it coil-whines. An under-volt helps, but its still very noticeable to me.

Yesterday I finally 'cracked' and chatted to nvidia support, asking what can be done?
They asked for a video of the whine, which I provided.

They then almost straight away issued me with an RMA and return instructions.

Having had 2x FE cards, both of which whine, and seeing lots of reports of people also having it, I am curious how many have gone through with an RMA and if you got a better example back?

Its also unclear if I should send the original box? (Id like to have the box if I ever sold it in future) Again, they say not to send anything with the card. Suggesting I wont get back a new retail unit. (Which is fine, as long as it does not whine!)

So, asking if anybody has returned an FE card to nvidia for coil-whine? What was you experience?

 

[ToOo]

I honestly think every GPU I've owned in the last 15 years has exhibited some form of coil whine, you can mitigate it with undervolting and under clocking but ultimately still there if you run furmark or something very high framerate.

In regards to the 3090fe, I've had two (first one died after 2 weeks) and they both had coil whine.
RMA process for the failure was pretty easy, but they did have to wait for stock to arrive before they could send the replacement so it was about a 3 week turnaround.

I'm doubtful you will see a massive change with the new card. The 3090 is pulling an insane ammount of current and so I think they basically have to use inductors which are a bit more vulnerable to coil whine to achieve the best electrical performance.

 

[varkanoid]

Limiting the frame rate to the same value as the maximum hz on the monitor also works often too. Its also subjective with regards to location of your case. If you are one of these people who likes it to be on your desk at ear height then its going to seem louder than under your desk tucked away to one side.

 

[SkodaMart]

I will give you £200 for it, not just that but I will include my classic GTX 960

 

[xPETEZx]

I honestly think every GPU I've owned in the last 15 years has exhibited some form of coil whine, you can mitigate it with undervolting and under clocking but ultimately still there if you run furmark or something very high framerate.

In regards to the 3090fe, I've had two (first one died after 2 weeks) and they both had coil whine.
RMA process for the failure was pretty easy, but they did have to wait for stock to arrive before they could send the replacement so it was about a 3 week turnaround.

I'm doubtful you will see a massive change with the new card. The 3090 is pulling an insane ammount of current and so I think they basically have to use inductors which are a bit more vulnerable to coil whine to achieve the best electrical performance.

What I find baffling is that SOME cards don't whine at all, some a little and others unbearably. How does that happen? Surely if they all have the same components they should either all whine or none of them.

In the last 15 years, I haven't ever had a card that whines at normal game FPS. Only ever at menus that push really high.

Did you send yours to Hong Kong?

Limiting the frame rate to the same value as the maximum hz on the monitor also works often too. Its also subjective with regards to location of your case. If you are one of these people who likes it to be on your desk at ear height then its going to seem louder than under your desk tucked away to one side.

I had a 3080fe before, which also whined. That I could fix by limiting frames. I had a 2K60Hz monitor, so limited to 60 the card was never fully loaded.
Now I have a 3840x1600@144hz screen, I can barely ever hit 144FPS as it is, so cant limit anything here to try and reduce the whine.

I do have my PC on the desk. I did place it under the desk to see if I could hear the whine less, but still bothered me all the same. My PC is very quiet, and I sometimes even game with sound off... so I can hear the whine clearly anywhere in the room really.

 

[varkanoid]

The 3080FE had very little coil whine that I had you could hardly here any even with the case open and listening. Also helps if you use headphones and dont use speakers

Its also sometimes dependant on your PSU too.

 

[xPETEZx]

The 3080FE had very little coil whine that I had you could hardly here any even with the case open and listening. Also helps if you use headphones and dont use speakers

Its also sometimes dependant on your PSU too.

Using headphones just masks the issue...
I personally find headphones uncomfortable after even an hours use. So I prefer using my speakers, or even no sound. Sometimes silence is bliss.

I thought about PSU, but went through 4 different ones due to an unrelated issue. Card whined the exact same on each one.

 

[uscool]

I sent back 3080fe for coil whine I had it for around 1 week to see if I could live with it but couldnt , I did the RMA with the retailer not nvidia they asked to provide video proof I received sealed replacement within 1 week it also has coil whine but not near as much and gets drowned out when the fans kick in

yeah for some its not big issue but not for me when I can still hear it even when the fans kick in thats not good enough for me and why should I have to live with it when it becomes lottery and you get different levels of coil whine,

 

[TT158]

There was discussion about removing specific thermal pads to solve coil whine on this thread:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/34507344/

I didn't have the guts to try it out.

Maybe original poster of the above comment, @Razor Time, might be able to provide an update on whether or not all has continued to work fine?

 

[xPETEZx]

I did wonder if adding/removing pads could affect coil-whine. But when I searched I found nobody posting anything about success on 3090FEs.
I think somebody on here did find that once they water-blocked there FE cards coil-whine went away...

Are the coils which whine on the front or the back of a card generally? It sounds from that thread like the back-plate pads where the biggest cause of issue?

 

[TT158]

I did wonder if adding/removing pads could affect coil-whine. But when I searched I found nobody posting anything about success on 3090FEs.
I think somebody on here did find that once they water-blocked there FE cards coil-whine went away...

Are the coils which whine on the front or the back of a card generally? It sounds from that thread like the back-plate pads where the biggest cause of issue?

Yeah I think that the poster found success with removing pads from the backplate.

From my own experience, my 3090 FE's coil whine has gotten worse over time. I felt it initially got better after some use, but lately has really gotten to me, and this is on a PC behind the TV, and with fans audible, so I'm pretty keen to try something when I next do maintenance on my system.

I've got a Corsair block on it now, and I think it got worse with that vs the stock air cooler, which was very quiet itself, so I don't think it's just relative to the fan noise.

 

[uscool]

changed pads on 3080fe much improved temps but didnt do anything for coil whine

 

[RavenXXX2]

I have had my 3090FE for about 8 months, and it coil-whines. An under-volt helps, but its still very noticeable to me.

Yesterday I finally 'cracked' and chatted to nvidia support, asking what can be done?
They asked for a video of the whine, which I provided.

They then almost straight away issued me with an RMA and return instructions.

Where do you have to return the card to?

 

[varkanoid]

Using headphones just masks the issue...
I personally find headphones uncomfortable after even an hours use. So I prefer using my speakers, or even no sound. Sometimes silence is bliss.

I thought about PSU, but went through 4 different ones due to an unrelated issue. Card whined the exact same on each one.

Sometimes when you have a couple of kids a comfy headset is bliss. I've not used speakers for about 12 years.

 

[xPETEZx]

Where do you have to return the card to?

Its going to Hong Kong. Direct to nVidida. Via Fedex. They have provided all the shipping and customs labels.

Sometimes when you have a couple of kids a comfy headset is bliss. I've not used speakers for about 12 years.

I just wish headphones didnt bother me. Literally after an hour, I want them off my head. Tried so many over the years...

 

[Szydero]

I have had my 3090FE for about 8 months, and it coil-whines. An under-volt helps, but its still very noticeable to me.

Yesterday I finally 'cracked' and chatted to nvidia support, asking what can be done?
They asked for a video of the whine, which I provided.

They then almost straight away issued me with an RMA and return instructions.

Having had 2x FE cards, both of which whine, and seeing lots of reports of people also having it, I am curious how many have gone through with an RMA and if you got a better example back?

Its also unclear if I should send the original box? (Id like to have the box if I ever sold it in future) Again, they say not to send anything with the card. Suggesting I wont get back a new retail unit. (Which is fine, as long as it does not whine!)

So, asking if anybody has returned an FE card to nvidia for coil-whine? What was you experience?

Headsets on = problem solved

 

[uscool]

Headsets on = problem solved

So it's fine that someone else may have one that hasn't or has much less whine ? So pay the same but hope for the best

When the coil whine gets drowned out by the fans I don't mind but when I can hear it over the fans it isn't

Sometimes depending on game I like to play without needing to use headphones

 

[Szydero]

So it's fine that someone else may have one that hasn't or has much less whine ? So pay the same but hope for the best

When the coil whine gets drowned out by the fans I don't mind but when I can hear it over the fans it isn't

Sometimes depending on game I like to play without needing to use headphones

It's still not a reason for warranty claim, you will most likely get a money back lol

 

[Freddie1980]

@Gibbo and maybe 8pack done some research on this years ago and they concluded that having a PSU that can deliver clean power to your GPU goes a long way to solving the coil whine issue.

 

[Quixote]

Current card never whines. Worst I had for it was a 970GTX, although it was tolerable. I always try to buy decent quality Gold power supplies, not sure if that makes a difference in reality or not.