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Radeon VEGA 64 Nitro+ Coil Whine and odd GPU usage

xMesa

xMesa

xMesa

Associate
Joined
22 Nov 2018
Posts
21
Hey guys,

I think i might be paranoid, but i just bought a Vega64 from Overclockers UK and have been running it on my rig. I am getting odd stuff with it. First there is a bit of a coil whine. It sounds as loud as it gets on higher % GPU usage. Second i get odd stuff in games. For example: https://imgur.com/a/X2qkNaM

Don't get me wrong. Games run perfectly. But the coil whine and the random usage is kinda worrying. Is this card a bad sample? It's the first time i've bought a flagship GPU and i'm kinda worried. One thing to add. I have 2 Samsung monitors with freesync. I run Freesync on the main one.

I googled a lot and there were suggestions that 600W is not enough for this GPU. And coil whine is also a PSU reaction. I tried getting a separate 750W PSU and run it solely on the GPU (connected the 2x8 power connectors and jump started the 2nd PSU with only the GPU connected). Coil whine still present. GPU usage in Frostpunk still 99%.

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Computer Type: Desktop - custom build

GPU: RADEON RX VEGA 64 NITRO+ 8GB HBM2 [link]
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz - not overclocked
Motherboard: MSI B350 TOMAHAWK
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue LED 16GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 Dual Channel Kit
PSU: PSU Segotep GP Series 600W, 80 PLUS GOLD
Operating System & Version: Windows 10
GPU Drivers: Radeon Software Version - 18.11.2 Radeon Software Edition
 
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Things i tried:

- Samsung monitor freesync set to Normal from Ultimate freesync mode.
- 750 W (Corsair RM750x) directly to the GPU, leaving old 600W PSU for the rest of computer.


Coil whine still present, very loud at 99% GPU usage.
 
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Better usage means nothing. If you're capping frame rate in some way (such as using Freesync with Vsync on) then utilisation will only reach as high as it needs to. Basically the GPU is getting a bit bored. For 100% utilisation you'd have to turn vsync off, make sure FRTC is off, no Radeon Chill, nothing capping frame rates.

About coil whine ... try putting a long-term load on the GPU (such as running Heaven overnight), it may reduce or eliminate the coil whine as the components get to "break in" a bit. There's no guarantee that will help though, and as you've found it can be particular combinations of PSU's/GPU's that produce less or more coil whine.
 
I don't know. It feels like for the same game, a vega64 should not have max utilization in a relatively simple game. And when i compare my 2015 R9 280 to it it doesn't make sense that the R9 280 does not have max utilization while vega64 does have 99% utilization.

Maybe it's a vsync freesync problem. I will try playing with those settings and see what happens. If not i'm going to RMA it on Monday.

Edited for clarity.
 
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xMesa said:
I don't know. It feels like for the same game, a vega64 should not have max utilization in a relatively simple game. And when i compare my 2015 R9 280 to it it doesn't make sense that it does not have max utilization.
Click to expand...

First you say it shouldn't have max utilisation (which is correct, it simply doesn't have enough to do to meet the framerate of that simple menu - it may even drop clocks by going to a lower power state), and then you contradict yourself by saying it doesn't have max utilisation when compared to the 280?

If it's meeting the framerate goal (such as achieving the monitor's max refresh rate) then what exactly is the problem with not getting 100% "utilisation" anyway?
 
Yea my previous sentence is stupid. What i meant is:

With same settings and same game:
Vega64 is full load in game menu and in-game (and has the loud-ish coil whine).
R9 280 is not in full load in game menu and in-game.

It feels odd that a vega64 would reach 99% usage and 240w power in a game which is basically a city builder.

https://i.imgur.com/QtrH3YI.jpg vs https://i.imgur.com/pCVV90w.png

My concern is that there is a bad sample of a vega64 because of these symptoms.
I wanted to investigate as much as possible before sending it back for RMA.
I will try anything safe this weekend, then sending it back on Monday if it doesn't work.
 
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xMesa said:
Yea my previous sentence is stupid. What i meant is:

With same settings and same game:
Vega64 is full load in game menu and in-game (and has the loud-ish coil whine).
R9 280 is not in full load in game menu and in-game.

It feels odd that a vega64 would reach 99% usage and 240w power in a game which is basically a city builder.

https://i.imgur.com/QtrH3YI.jpg vs https://i.imgur.com/pCVV90w.png

My concern is that there is a bad sample of a vega64 because of these symptoms.
I wanted to investigate as much as possible before sending it back for RMA.
I will try anything safe this weekend, then sending it back on Monday if it doesn't work.
Click to expand...

remove drivers, run DDU, install latest drivers.
Run radeon chill in wattman program.
it tells the gpu to lower load based on fps set frame.

Newer cards have more fancy hardware/software interaction so comparing the 280 to vega is an error.
Vega will draw more power based on temps and go lower or higher based on heat and wattage available set by amd driver.
to counteract the default set, radeon chill helps to set a frame rate target allowing a lesser load on games.

coil whine can be elevated if one let the card run under load for a day,(dont always work)

 
Are you *sure* they're the *same* settings? A card shooting to 100% utilisation in a menu generally means vsync is off, and coil whine is often very audible when that happens ... because of a ridiculous frame rate.
 
xMesa said:
I have freesync on, so i disabled vsync.

I will check today.

Thank you all very much for the replies and suggestions :)
Click to expand...
AMD actually recommends enabling both FreeSync and V-Sync, since the latter only kicks in once you're above the monitor's maximum refresh rate anyway. It will only make a difference if you are reaching that limit often though.
 
It's best to limit frame rate just below monitor refresh rate by about 2fps so if 144hz limit it to 142fps when using variable refresh rate. This way vsync (which increases input lag) or tearing never kicks in.
 
z10m said:
It's best to limit frame rate just below monitor refresh rate by about 2fps so if 144hz limit it to 142fps when using variable refresh rate. This way vsync (which increases input lag) or tearing never kicks in.
Click to expand...
Yes you could do that too. Remember though that a frame of lag at 144 Hz is 6.9 ms so much less noticeable than it would be at 60 Hz (16.7 ms).
 
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