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NVIDIA 4000 Series

Soldato
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Ok, after someone posted a video of their Zotac bearing issue I thought I'd listen to mine. To me, it sounded pretty much the same. Can someone who isn't as deaf as I tell me if this is a bearing issue or expected behaviour? I'd rather not send it back if it's expected, as the card has been good as gold. This is the fans going from 0% to 30%.

Yup, that sounds exactly the same as mine that I posted.
I’m 100% it’s the ball bearing fans making that noise, and they really shouldn’t imo.
Whether they were designed that way or whether It’ll cause long term problems I don’t know.
It’s almost like they forgot to lubricate them and they’re running dry.
My 3rd Airo will be here in a few hours, so I’ll be interested to see if it’s the same.
 
Soldato
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Thanks. And that noise is present at any fan speed above 30%, does it get worse the higher it goes?
Yea' I don't think the card goes below 30% fan speed, it's either 0 or 30 lol.

Yea' I think it does get worse, my ears aren't what they used to be due to loud music but this is a clip of it at 30/50/75 and 100, does it sound worse to you the higher it gets?


Yup, that sounds exactly the same as mine that I posted.
I’m 100% it’s the ball bearing fans making that noise, and they really shouldn’t imo.
Whether they were designed that way or whether It’ll cause long term problems I don’t know.
It’s almost like they forgot to lubricate them and they’re running dry.
My 3rd Airo will be here in a few hours, so I’ll be interested to see if it’s the same.

let me know how it goes mate, I've asked for a refund in my RMA but if you get a good one I might buy it again as I do really like this card.
 
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Caporegime
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Yea' I don't think the card goes below 30% fan speed, it's either 0 or 30 lol.

Yea' I think it does get worse, my ears aren't what they used to be due to loud music but this is a clip of it at 30/50/75 and 100, does it sound worse to you the higher it gets?




let me know how it goes mate, I've asked for a refund in my RMA but if you get a good one I might buy it again as I do really like this card.
That doesn't sound bad in terms of annoying bearing or grinding noise, that just sounds like a fan whoosh. Did you record that sound next to the case or from where you are sitting? If the recording device was next to the case you could record the sound from where your ears are that would be much appreciated. :)
 
Soldato
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That doesn't sound bad in terms of annoying bearing or grinding noise, that just sounds like a fan whoosh. Did you record that sound next to the case or from where you are sitting? If the recording device was next to the case you could record the sound from where your ears are that would be much appreciated. :)
Here you go mate, this is the fans at 30% from where I sit (my PC is on my desk for reference) https://imgur.com/a/46CrG9F. All this time I thought it was my AIO pump that has been making this noise lol.

When idle regardless of which bios it uses it's completely silent.
 
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Soldato
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let me know how it goes mate, I've asked for a refund in my RMA but if you get a good one I might buy it again as I do really like this card.
Will do.
Same here about really liking the card, hence why I’m giving it a 3rd go.
Half my problem is that I know a ball bearing fan/wheel bearing or any other shouldn’t sound like that.
Tbh, if it’s the same I’ll probably keep it as I’m sure after the amount of cards that have been RMA’d, Zotac will do something about it eventually.
 
Soldato
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Will do.
Same here about really liking the card, hence why I’m giving it a 3rd go.
Half my problem is that I know a ball bearing fan/wheel bearing or any other shouldn’t sound like that.
Tbh, if it’s the same I’ll probably keep it as I’m sure after the amount of cards that have been RMA’d, Zotac will do something about it eventually.
I did have a quick google and I've found a fair few videos and posts with the same issue as you and me. So it seems pretty common/wide spread. I think I'm on my 29th day - if I do send it back I'm just not sure if OcUK will think there's an issue or if they will say it's working as intended, I don't want to waste postage money etc.

Again my ears ain't what they used to be but the card has no coil whine to my ears.
 
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Soldato
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They replaced my first and were in the process of testing the 2nd, when I asked for a refund (I was at the end of the refund window) presumably because they agreed it shouldn’t be like that?
I then ended up buying another as I just don’t like the look of the other cards.
 
Associate
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I would have got another Zotac had i not been lucky and got an FE ( has its own issues :cry: ) , can confirm at idle the Zotac was completely silent due to the 0% fan mode which seem to only activate after it goes over 40 deg c.
 
Soldato
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I would have got another Zotac had i not been lucky and got an FE ( has its own issues :cry: ) , can confirm at idle the Zotac was completely silent due to the 0% fan mode which seem to only activate after it goes over 40 deg c.
Yea' that's the thing, in my RMA I said I'd pay the extra to get a MSI Suprim X but then I've heard that has mad coil whine, the FE like you said has issues... Might just try another Zotac AMP AIRO, god knows what to do lol.
 
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Yea' that's the thing, in my RMA I said I'd pay the extra to get a MSI Suprim X but then I've heard that has mad coil whine, the FE like you said has issues... Might just try another Zotac AMP AIRO, god knows what to do lol.
from what i can work out ( no idea if this is true ! ) but the cards that are of a higher quality pcb using more components than the cheaper version seem to have coil whine and as the MSI Suprim X has one of if not the best pcb can understand why it squeals like a pig :cry: my FE has a bit of coil whine and be all account is also a good made pcb , the Zotac had zero coil whine and on the OC model is 100% one of the cheaper versions with less components but was silent as a mouse ( apart from fans at 100% ). Bit of a lottery this 4090 game at the minute it seems:rolleyes:
 
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whine at all, but the fans aren't very quiet. I'm not sure, but I think there's a quiet bios on it? There's some button next to the 12pin socket, which I assume the the quiet bios. Any knows if this is the case?
For context I was using 3090 FE before, which has super quiet fans but noticeable coil whine.
My zotak also has no coil whine and very quiet fans
Which Zotak 4090 did you get?
 
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