Squealing gainward GTX280

[icedbullet]

Hey everyone. Ive noticed that under heavy gaming loads (and the vista performance test) my Gainward GTX280 squeals, its so annoying!

I looked it up and people have recommended some kind of "nail polish" mod on certain transistors? Has anyone tried this or should I just return it?

Not sure if I can return it as the cards performance isnt really affected

 

['Wes]

You have a similar system to mine and i've never had that problem with my GTX 280.

 

[_ST]

I had the same problem with mine. Whether or not the performance is up to scratch is besides the point. It is annoying and should be returned if it is bugging you.

 

[alex24]

Mine does this, but over time it has lessened. Some manufacturers might accept RMA for it, but most won't in my opinion, and since it doesn't affect the performance of the card, it's not too big an issue. It's a problem relating the the voltage regulation circuitry and is very common with these cards, meaning if they did send you a new one and you kept the same PSU etc, there's a good chance it'd have the same problem. I wouldn't try any crazy mods unless you don't mind voiding the warranty, imagine if the card failed naturally in the warranty period but you couldn't claim as it was covered in nail polish!

 

[PureAlpha]

I have this 'coil noise' on my HIS 4890 Turbo under any GPU load. I've read a lot of posts here about how it is normal and most manufacturers won't RMA. But it is quite loud and very annoying - maybe my ears are very sensitive!

If an RMA is obtained, is it likely that a replacement would be maybe half as noisy or is the case that the overall combination of components dictates that this state will exist however many replacements are tried?