Random coil whine, even when idle

C

Cyalume

New Member
Card: Sapphire 7970 HD


An audible whining noise that lasts for a few seconds at a time is produced every few minutes or so, even when no games are being played. How do I fix it?
 
I'm also trying to use integrated graphics to disable the card entirely and check that way, but my Asus Sabertooth z87 board isn't letting me do it. I swap, the screen stays black. No signal. I havn't had this problem until after I got my new motherboard.

EDIT: Unplugged fans. Noise is still happening.
 
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Cyalume said:
EDIT: Unplugged fans. Noise is still happening.
Click to expand...

Then you have coil whine. How long have you had the card? I bought a used GTX 570 a year ago and it had some coil whine at first. But after using it for a while the whine went away. You could always RMA it.
 
I swapped PCI slots and updated the BIOS and it seems to have gone away. Could the motherboard be causing it?

EDIT: Nevermind. Its still there.

I've had the card since June. It JUST started doing this whining today, though.
 
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I've already RMA'd 3-4 parts now, all from Newegg. Seriously considering not doing business with them anymore. Is there a very cheap/free method of shipping? RMAing all these parts is starting to get expensive. Is there a possibility this issue is being caused by a faulty motherboard? I never had this happen before I received my new Sabertooth board.
 
It's possible it could be your board if you had no previous issues before.

And it's not Newegg's fault. It just happens.
 
^^Yup. You could also try going through Sapphire, seeing if they can send a prepaid shipping label, but I doubt it. Such is the way of computer parts.
 
The area around the PCI slots was hit by the head of my modular cooling unit (It swung down, I had it resting atop the case and forgot about it). Could that have done it? This is an armored/protected board, and you can't even see any evidence of the hit on the protective shell/etc itself.

The GPU is the only thing giving me all these problems. Though the BIOS does report that its running my RAM under its advertised speeds.

Picture of board:
1374481410XfFy9jYHtb_1_9_l.jpg



Its advertised to be durable.
 
Use your finger to stop the northbridge (small fan on mobo) fan when the whine kicks in. It may be electrical noise associated with that.
 
Okedokey said:
Use your finger to stop the northbridge (small fan on mobo) fan when the whine kicks in. It may be electrical noise associated with that.
Click to expand...

I haven't installed that fan yet. (Manual said it was optional)

It definitely wouldn't be the cooler head though, right? (as in the quote below)

The area around the PCI slots was hit by the head of my modular cooling unit (It swung down, I had it resting atop the case and forgot about it). Could that have done it? This is an armored/protected board, and you can't even see any evidence of the hit on the protective shell/etc itself.
Click to expand...
 
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