Which cards are electric noise-free?

zsero · Post by **zsero** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:35 am

I have a 8800 GTS 512 which I have silenced with an AC S1 Rev 2 an I can say it's the best cooler I tried, but now I could clearly hear the crazy high electric noise coming from the card sometime. It can really drive you crazy if you are working in the night in almost silence and you just get that high electric noise.

My question is that which card's are noise free? I have found the fanless Gigabyte 9600 GT noise free, but I am looking into some more performance. From what I researched, the GTS 250 would be the best choice because it has the same G92 GPU as my 8800 GTS 512 MB, but it is built by 55nm technology and uses less power. But I have no information about which cards make electric noises and which doesn't.

I have found only one brand which had some info on it's website, it's Leadtek. They say they use alloy core, but this diagram is only on the old (v1) version of the card, not on the v2. Do you think that later GTS 250s are noise free from all brands?

http://www.leadtek.com/eng/3d_graphic/o ... 85&check=f

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:50 am

From all brands? I would not count on it.

Closest SPCR has to a Recommended list is the Avoid list at viewtopic.php?t=16658. By default it is of course assumed that peripherals don't have this kind of sound, and manufacturers sure as hell aren't about to tell you if they do due to design, bad assembly, lacking quality control or inferior components.

I have yet to be disappointed by a quality (premium?) brand like EVGA, so my money is on them. I have their stock-cooled 8800 GTS 512 in the PC and it is most definitely silent, fan and electrical noise alike. While gaming it is still classifiable as quiet at 38% fan power. Customer support response was instant and RMAs apparently happen very fast.

I know how annoying that whining can be though - I had an MX510 that made an electrical whine, so I tried a couple others, same thing. Bought a Razer, couldn't be happier.

Even if some brands come at a premium, some do back the extra money up with good quality control and standards.

kittle · Post by **kittle** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:25 pm

where are you hearing this noise from?

im assuming your PC speakers. if thats the case then you will want to look at your soundcard and the speakers themselves. Start by looking for loose connections, and then bent and/or stressed wires.

If your not hearing this electrical noise through your speakers -- where is it comming from?

zsero · Post by **zsero** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:34 am

I hear this noise not from speakers, but from the card itself. I bought a professional sound card which is very well isolated.

A started googling and the internet is full of GPU/PSU noise whining / buzzing. What I hear actually is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4d23F2jehQ

I don't know if it's from the PSU or the card, actually it's a combination of PSU/card which make that noises.

Corsair forum is full of issues, but actually the PSUs are not faulty, they just make this noise with some (mainly nVidia) videocards.

Look here for details (it is not a GTX 280 specific issue).
http://theovalich.wordpress.com/2008/11 ... squealing/

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:54 am

Looks like it's complex, modern and hi-power parts let down by power management from the stone age. What a common issue in these cost-effective bullshit days.

What was the brand of your GTS, again?

You could try all the voodoo tricks suggested in the how-to-fix-it link you posted: change power cable, use a power conditioner (good UPS for example is never a wasted investment, I guarantee it), even apply some nail polish or "PCB lacquer". Obviously it's a matter of dirty power, so either you need to remedy the symptoms (glue! glue! glue!) or try to fix the cause (upgrade power circuitry).

Also, I took great solace in this:

At present, only EVGA makes its own custom design cards with GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 and latest GTX 280 designs. All other partners are forced to use Nvidiaâ€™s reference design and well, squealing may or may not appear on your setup.

For once I bet right on the GPU market after my TNT II Ultra!

zsero · Post by **zsero** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:58 am

On the nail polish page, there is a very important post in the middle of the comments, it is written by an nVidia engineer (probably).

And it seems that Corsair PSU-s are really sensitive to this thing. I have a HX520, it was a Corsair PSU in the youtube video, and the Corsair forum is actually full of noise issues, although only some of them is fixed after trying a different brand of PSU.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:01 am

And Rosewill forums (if they had any) are full of exploding units, Antec forum users are screaming about the first generations dying within months, Seasonic users are complaining about the buzzing Addas...

You can of course try and buy another PSU that is not as "sensitive", but Corsairs are quality stuff, and I'd rather just upgrade to a card - the actual cause of this - that does not use questionable power management (or knows how to control symptoms thereof).

lm · Post by lm » Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:49 am

zsero wrote:On the nail polish page, there is a very important post in the middle of the comments, it is written by an nVidia engineer (probably).

Duh, you might have wanted to mention the nickname or something at least

Searching for a needle in a haystack.

I guess you mean this:

By: Jamynn on February 14, 2009
at 19:27

at http://theovalich.wordpress.com/2008/11 ... squealing/

lemmy · Post by **lemmy** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:57 am

Oh man - Seasonic. I was an early adopter of there PSU's - well before they got big in the states. I had 3 units that all had fan issues - one not working out of the box and 2 that ticked under mild load. Their customer service was great but still it was irritating.

As far as video cards - it is so hit/miss. I really have had great luck with Sapphire - my past 4 have had no issue. I had one Gigabyte (Nvidia) and an ECS (Nvidia) and neither had noise issue. I had 2 Gigabytes (both Nvidia) and one HIS (ATI) that whined to no end though.

zsero · Post by **zsero** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:17 am

It's not that hard, it's written in bold:

[quote]EDIT By Blog owner â€“ A person posted an offending comment and didnâ€™t gave out his e-mail details for private verification, yet offered a good explanation why this case is happening across the Nvidiaâ€™s line-up.
Information given should be considered valid, but probably coming from a person who is a member of the team that should be blamed for this design choice

- PWM power supply controllers have been present in high to low voltage conversion power supplies for almost a decade now. There simply is no other way to convert power efficiently for the required load (GPU current). The statement that NVIDIA isnâ€™t using PWM power supply controllers is 100% wrong, and actually the controller has nothing to do with the high pitched squealing noise heard.
- In fact, what amplifies the writerâ€™s lack of understanding of what a PWM power supply is the fact that he cant recognize the same power supply controller on the GTX280 that exists on the high-end AMD cards. See the black square on the top side of the card, on its bottom right corner (right under the red â€œ1â€

lm · Post by lm » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:33 am

Now if somebody would be able to dig out the actual "root cause" that this post mentions.

alecmg · Post by **alecmg** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:54 pm

Cause? Cause is that all modern videocards consume way too much power
Sometimes you get lucky with a silent one. Mostly you don't

DarkUltra · Post by **DarkUltra** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:06 am

I don't believe in luck. I believe in good quality hardware. I'm here because I just found out my XFX GeForce 285 GTX is unbearably noisy with a single-rail 12v PSU.

I have two PSUs. A Mist 650W rev 3.3 and rev 4.0. The 3.3 have four 20A 12v rails, while the 4.0 have one 50A 12v rail. When I tried the 4.0 version in my computer, my 285 GTX began to squeal much louder when running a 3d application.

Send back you squealing graphics cards and PSUs. Let the manufacturer know this kind of quality is not acceptable.

Audiodude · Post by **Audiodude** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:02 am

Get a Powercolor HD 5750 Go! Green,

very I mean VERY good power circuits. Absolutely no noise.
I had issues like you discribed with my old HD 3850 (but only with ATI tools fur cube).

Greetz Audiodude

Parappaman · Post by **Parappaman** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 11:11 am

So far, all of the nVidia cards I owned/tested had the buzzing problem. Counting: 8400GS, 9600GT, 9800GT, 9800GT Green, 9800GTX+ (though this one was a Gainward, non-reference design) and GTX 260. Even the integrated chip in my Zotac 9300 ITX board squealed.