Odd sound on GPU load

Mattr · 3 Sep 2021 at 16:16

Hey all,

Have my side panels off whilst waiting for some parts from OCUK and noticed a slightly odd sound when GPU is under load. Tried to record it for you but unable to pick it up on phone or headset microphone.

It sounds like a mixture of white noise and that classic disc HDD whirring sound. For reference I have an M2 SSD and SATA SSD, other components listed below.

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 @stock with EKWB velocity block
MB: Asus Prime B450m-a
RAM: 4*gb Corsair DDR4 *2800mhz
GPU: MSI Mech OC RX 5700XT with Bykski A-SP5700XT-X block
PSU: Corsair RM750X
Pump/res: Corsair XD5 RGB
Rads: 1*alphacool 240mm 1*EKWB 360mm with 5*thermaltake pure A12 120mm fans @700rpm

The sound is either directly from the GPU or the PSU and I'm not sure if I ought to be concerned. I've had coil whine before from a PSU but it doesn't sound like that. I'm not exactly sure how the GPU could make such a sound? I normally play with a headset on and so I've never heard this sound before - it may be exaggerated because of how quiet the overall build is plus the side panels are both off.

CPU temps rarely over 60c and GPU around 50c.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

Steampunk · 3 Sep 2021 at 16:35

Probably coil whine from the GPU or PSU. If it stops when you limit the output of whatever game you are playing to 60 fps (either in game or in the GPU's control panel, or enabling vsyinc), then it's coil whine.

Mattr · 3 Sep 2021 at 16:49

Steampunk said:
Probably coil whine from the GPU or PSU. If it stops when you limit the output of whatever game you are playing to 60 fps (either in game or in the GPU's control panel, or enabling vsyinc), then it's coil whine.

Hey. It does seem to be related to load. Is this something you'd be looking to RMA?

Joxeon · 3 Sep 2021 at 18:28

Mattr said:
Hey. It does seem to be related to load. Is this something you'd be looking to RMA?

Only if it bothers you and it depends how bad it is as they may just send the same GPU back unless it's really bad.

mickyflinn · 3 Sep 2021 at 18:33

Could it be the motherboard vrm.

Mattr · 3 Sep 2021 at 18:53

Joxeon said:
Only if it bothers you and it depends how bad it is as they may just send the same GPU back unless it's really bad.

I think it only bothered me in the sense of not knowing the significance. I’m pretty sure some noise is expected, and it’s not blaringly loud. GPU can’t be RMA’d anyway as it’s from a pre build and I slapped a GPU block on it. Maybe if it got worse I’d consider the RMA on the PSU.

mickyflinn said:
Could it be the motherboard vrm.

I have heard my vrms are pretty awful on this MB from someone on here. I will do stress testing on CPU then GPU to isolate where the whine is from. I suppose if the whine is present on both then that points to PSU or VRMs on MB?

Steampunk · 3 Sep 2021 at 19:03

Mattr said:
Hey. It does seem to be related to load. Is this something you'd be looking to RMA?

Only if it's absurdly bad, but I tend to like vsync, so it isn't a problem for me. You could try changing PSU (if it's an interaction with the PSU components and the demands of the GPU at high power), and making sure you have a separate cable for each GPU power socket, but its really a design/manufacturing issue that mostly isn't considered a fault. The components and circuit design are vibrating at high frequency. Sometimes you can fix or lessen this by running the components in, or if the manufacturer has physically padded to components (such as with glue). You could just limit the FPS to the maximum of you monitor refresh rate and that might be enough.

Mattr · 3 Sep 2021 at 19:35

Steampunk said:
Only if it's absurdly bad, but I tend to like vsync, so it isn't a problem for me. You could try changing PSU (if it's an interaction with the PSU components and the demands of the GPU at high power), and making sure you have a separate cable for each GPU power socket, but its really a design/manufacturing issue that mostly isn't considered a fault. The components and circuit design are vibrating at high frequency. Sometimes you can fix or lessen this by running the components in, or if the manufacturer has physically padded to components (such as with glue). You could just limit the FPS to the maximum of you monitor refresh rate and that might be enough.

I do also like vsync however I did just buy a 144hz monitor and 144fps is enough to cause the whine. Can I ask a really stupid question? You mentioned having a separate cable for each GPU socket - my current config is one GPU cable from PSU to the 2 GPU sockets. Are you suggesting I ought to use 2 GPU sockets in the PSU and one to each GPU socket on the GPU?

Steampunk · 3 Sep 2021 at 19:44

Mattr said:
I do also like vsync however I did just buy a 144hz monitor and 144fps is enough to cause the whine. Can I ask a really stupid question? You mentioned having a separate cable for each GPU socket - my current config is one GPU cable from PSU to the 2 GPU sockets. Are you suggesting I ought to use 2 GPU sockets in the PSU and one to each GPU socket on the GPU?

Yes. You should use two separate power cables from two separate sockets on your PSU to the two power sockets on your GPU. This may have an impact on coil whine, though no promises here.

If that doesn't work and you have any other PSUs to test, it might be worth trying those to see if the culprit is the PSU or the GPU. It can often be an interaction between the GPU and PSU and changing the PSU might solve the issue

Mattr · 4 Sep 2021 at 19:46

Steampunk said:
Yes. You should use two separate power cables from two separate sockets on your PSU to the two power sockets on your GPU. This may have an impact on coil whine, though no promises here.

If that doesn't work and you have any other PSUs to test, it might be worth trying those to see if the culprit is the PSU or the GPU. It can often be an interaction between the GPU and PSU and changing the PSU might solve the issue

Thanks for this. Unfortunately my only other PSU should have been RMA'd but I never got around to it. It's a CV550 who's fan makes an absolute noise.

So it appears that the noise is present at a very low level at all times. Under Prime95 there is no difference. Under Furmark there is an instant increase in the noise. Still none the wiser GPU vs GFX card but I think I can rule out MB VRMs. It's an incredibly low level until under load, to anyone else I doubt they'd notice it but I've obviously spent a lot of time in this room with the ambient noise of my PC.

Given the noise is present at all times I'm leaning towards PSU here. No difference with two cables plugged in, however, is there a possibility that 6 months of running on one cable has caused some PSU damage?

Steampunk · 4 Sep 2021 at 19:57

Mattr said:
Thanks for this. Unfortunately my only other PSU should have been RMA'd but I never got around to it. It's a CV550 who's fan makes an absolute noise.

So it appears that the noise is present at a very low level at all times. Under Prime95 there is no difference. Under Furmark there is an instant increase in the noise. Still none the wiser GPU vs GFX card but I think I can rule out MB VRMs. It's an incredibly low level until under load, to anyone else I doubt they'd notice it but I've obviously spent a lot of time in this room with the ambient noise of my PC.

Given the noise is present at all times I'm leaning towards PSU here. No difference with two cables plugged in, however, is there a possibility that 6 months of running on one cable has caused some PSU damage?

Not likely. Coil whine is just an electrical harmonic either in the PSU or GPU when under high load, purely down to circuit design and/or component choice. Using a single power cable with a splitter to your GPU is a different issue that may load your PSU in a certain way that may exacerbate the issue, hence my suggestion to try changing it. It's also bad practice as you can get issues with being able to deal with the GPU load or even overheating the GPU power cables.

mickyflinn · 4 Sep 2021 at 19:57

Mattr said:
Given the noise is present at all times I'm leaning towards PSU here. No difference with two cables plugged in, however, is there a possibility that 6 months of running on one cable has caused 4some PSU damage?

Theres always a slight posibilty but the cable would be rated at 300w with dual 8 pin connetors so more than enough power. Unfortunately problems develop over time 6 months is just unlucky but corsair do an advanced rma service.