Squealing nvidia 9800GT - is it really so common?

AZBrandon · Post by **AZBrandon** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:20 am

So to ring in the new year, I decided to replace my 7800GT with a 9800GT. For just over $100 after rebate, I would have a card that's at least twice as fast as my old card and at least according to many of the charts I'd seen, it's not a terribly high power draw (80 watts) and can be cooled with an S1 possibly passively, but almost certainly with a very quiet fan hanging off the S1. That was the idea at least.

My 9800GT arrived, a pretty top of the line model, at least for the non-GTX versions, as it was eVGA's Superclocked edition, which is their top of the line 9800GT. Everything went fine installing it and installing the latest 181.20 driver and it was amazingly quiet at idle for 2D graphics. Unfortunately as soon as I put any kind of 3D load on it, it would make a loud squeal that varied in pitch depending on how heavy the load was on the graphics card and what clockspeed the GPU, shaders, or memory were.

This was being fed by a Seasonic S12 600 watt power supply, which is quiet honestly massive overkill for a system that only draws 160 watts from the plug under full CPU load. With orthos + atitool to load the card it was still only 270 watts peak, which is maybe 225 watts DC or so, which is again, way below the capabilities of the power supply. I tried it with both separate PCI-E power adapters and even from the regular 12v rail using a ponytail adapter to turn two 4-pin power cords into a single 6-pin. None of it made the slightest bit of difference, which again led me to believe it's a video card problem.

I did some checking online and this blog states that not only is it a video card problem, it's been an nvidia problem from the 8xxx series right through even some of the latest 2xx series cards. Needless to say, anyone who has run hardware that "just works" for 3 years and upgrades to something that doesn't work knows it's a huge disappointment. It sounds like the only realistic option is to go ATI instead, where it appears the 4830 uses better power management and offers similar 3D performance for similar money and power draw as the 9800GT.

I'm just curious if anyone else has had a squealing nvidia card. Fan noise can be silenced at least, but squealing power circuitry on the card apparently is a whole different animal. That blog makes it sounds like nvidia just plain chose to use crappy components on the 9k and 2xx series cards even after seeing the problems on the 8k cards. It just makes you kind of lose faith in businesses to make wise decisions when they can go through 3 generations and not fix a known problem.

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:58 pm

i had my Seasonic S12 430W in my computer, i was hearing a squeal from the power supply with the 8600GTS and the 9600GT, i bought a new, more powerful Corsair TX650W and i don't hear the noise anymore. (my S12 430W sleeps in its box right now)

i think you have to check the rails and Amps on each of them, and how much Watts on each power line.

but a 9800GT is not supposed to make much more power than my 9600GT.

Einkoro · Post by **Einkoro** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:37 am

Just picked up a XFX GTX 260 Black Edition and it screams like a pig under 3d load. Very disappointing. My g92 8800gt squealed but the awful stock cooler on it managed to drown it out once it ramped up.

Nik7304 · Post by **Nik7304** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:58 am

Can a squealing card be replaced as defective? Or do they class it as normal?

AZBrandon · Post by **AZBrandon** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:41 am

Nik7304 wrote:Can a squealing card be replaced as defective? Or do they class it as normal?

I guess we'll find out. I purchased through TigerDirect and just got an RMA and shipped it back for return. I asked for refund actually, although their online form was a little ambiguous in a way. If they send me another card in exchange then I guess I'll try it out too.

As for the power supply, it's rated at 36 amps for the 12v rail, and the mobo is on a separate rail from the PCI-e cards. I have a kill-a-watt and max CPU load puts it at 170 watts A/C, and max CPU + 3D puts it at 270 watts AC, which implies the video card is drawing 80 watts. That actually matches SPCR's last review of a 9800GT which drew 80 watts. That's "only" 6.7 amps of draw from the video card, which should be well within the 18 amps per rail, 36 amps total. I'm bummed for sure, I had wanted to use it for folding at home, but the squealing was driving me bonkers!

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:51 am

You had a factory overclocked 9800GT card. Overclocking the graphics card is an easy way to end up with one that buzzes/ squeals/ whines.

My overclocked Nvidia 8800GTS 640mb card squealed louder the more it was overclocked. My current Nvidia GTX260 at stock clock speeds doesn't appear to squeal noticeably at all.

If it is overclocked then putting the card down to stock clock speeds won't get rid of whining altogether but could help a bit.

Graphics cards seem to only whine really badly on specific screens and at high FPS (eg: loading screens of 3D Mark 2006, ATI Tool test and some game menu screens).

AZBrandon · Post by **AZBrandon** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:06 pm

I actually ran it at stock (600/1500/1800) clocks and even underclocked it to 450/??/1200 and it would still squeal under load, just at a different pitch than before. All that changing the clocks seemed to do was change the pitch. Unfortunately, I suddenly put 2+2 together and realized this is just like what was mentioned in the SPCR Review of a 9800GT

SPCR Review of 9800GT wrote:In addition to the usual squealing under load which plagues many modern graphics cards, the card emitted a constant, high-pitched whine when first installed, which did not stop until the drivers were installed and the system rebooted. Furthermore, after a fresh reboot the card occasionally generated an unusual squeal that fluctuated in frequency and tone for about two minutes. It was as if a tiny gremlin had crawled inside the machine and started to play miniature bagpipes. The noise was associated with an increase in GPU temperature to about 58Â°C, suggesting the GPU was under some kind of load that we were not aware of. While we weren't able to track down the cause, we were able to record the noise.

At least I can take comfort in knowing I'm not crazy, and other test reviewers who are sensitive to odd noises found the same problem as I did.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:03 pm

Well, you could always track down the inductor coil that is the problem and RTV or epoxy it silent.

antivenom · Post by **antivenom** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:06 pm

Hmm odd, I myself have an XFX 9800GT at stock clock speeds and mine doesn't emit any kind of whines or squeals.

When I was trying to silence my conputer, the 9800GT fan was one of the biggest contributors to noise, and I've now replaced that with the Accelero Twin Turbo and still can't hear any kind of whine, maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones

aristide1 · Post by **aristide1** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:18 pm

I have 3 8800GS cards with overclocked shaders. None squeal.

Yet.

Eyedolon · Post by **Eyedolon** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:48 pm

I have an EVGA superclocked GTX260 and a stock GTX260 Core 216. Neither squeal. Could be brands using reference vs brands modifying. No idea.

XFX isn't a bottom tier brand either.

Dr Prozac · Post by **Dr Prozac** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 4:41 am

CA_Steve wrote:Well, you could always track down the inductor coil that is the problem and RTV or epoxy it silent.

Will such treatment really help reduce whining of these modern coils used nowadays ?

Unfortunately my HD4850 has a big coil whining problem while under heavy load in 3D profile. It's not really annoying with headphones on or music playing. This whining depends on what is causing GPU load. It's quite odd because Furmark doesn't make it whine nearly as bad as for example GRID which puts much less stress on the card. In STALKER for example the whining only occurs while in game menu..
This problem can probably be dealt with at the cost of performance by creating clever underclocked game profiles.
Anyway any modern graphics card can have this problem

antivenom · Post by **antivenom** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:20 am

To be honest, this is why I'd much rather spend out a little more cash for a reliable manufacturer.

My cards an XFX which tend to be one of the priciest manufacturers but they're one of the most reliable too. A company I used to work for only ever built customer's computers with XFX cards as they never went wrong.

Dr Prozac · Post by **Dr Prozac** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:15 am

antivenom wrote:To be honest, this is why I'd much rather spend out a little more cash for a reliable manufacturer.

Is PowerColor (PCS+ version) unreliable?

mdchaser · Post by **mdchaser** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:00 pm

Hi, I just RMA'd an evga GTX260 55nm for the same whine you are describing. I called their tech support and was told that it was probably defective and that was not a common problem. The replacement card I received is completely quiet. You should hear the card whine for a second or two during the load of each 3dmark06 test, any noise after that means a bad card. Definately return it if they will let you.

antivenom · Post by **antivenom** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:49 am

Dr Prozac wrote:
antivenom wrote:To be honest, this is why I'd much rather spend out a little more cash for a reliable manufacturer.
Is PowerColor (PCS+ version) unreliable?

TBH I've haven't heard much about PowerColor and therefore they must be a rarely used brand, and possibly an unreliable brand but don't do anything silly like mistake me for someone who knows stuff

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:36 am

PowerColour and Club 3D seems to have same cards. PowerColor's HD 4850 PCS is Identical with Club 3D HD 4850 OC Edition. Both use red slightly modified PCB with copper pushping mounting on VRMS and 2-pin connector for copper heatpipe cooler manufactured by Zerotherm.

I've been using Club 3D for years. And their quality is no more or less than is Asus', Sapphire, His, Gigabyte's card I've owned so far. They have been spartan, reliable and worth of every penny.

Dr Prozac · Post by **Dr Prozac** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:49 pm

thejamppa wrote:PowerColour and Club 3D seems to have same cards. PowerColor's HD 4850 PCS is Identical with Club 3D HD 4850 OC Edition. Both use red slightly modified PCB with copper pushping mounting on VRMS and 2-pin connector for copper heatpipe cooler manufactured by Zerotherm.

PowerColor PCS+ has an referential PCB

Photos

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:25 pm

Dr Prozac wrote:
thejamppa wrote:PowerColour and Club 3D seems to have same cards. PowerColor's HD 4850 PCS is Identical with Club 3D HD 4850 OC Edition. Both use red slightly modified PCB with copper pushping mounting on VRMS and 2-pin connector for copper heatpipe cooler manufactured by Zerotherm.
PowerColor PCS+ has an referential PCB
Photos

True in here this is same slightly modified PCB as Club 3D uses now:
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php? ... gb_pci-e/2

Dr Prozac · Post by **Dr Prozac** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:21 am

Hmm the VRMS looks different:
viewtopic.php?t=51736
But enough on this subject, the topic is about squealing 9800GT

I wonder if PowerColor would replace a card due to squealing. But I would probably had to RMA it to the store in which I've bought it.

BTW PowerColor PCS+ sold now has a small heatsink on memory VRM.

Edit:
Strange, my PCS has the same PCB (but better heatinks) as the one reviewed by TechPowerUp!
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powe ... PCS/3.html

Squealing nvidia 9800GT - is it really so common?

Squealing nvidia 9800GT - is it really so common?

If it whines... return it