GPU Stuttering with Squealing Noise

[RickyRozay]

Sorry I listed the system I'm currently using in my first post of this thread, but I'll change it in my specs cos it keeps causing confusion

EDIT: Done

 

[RickyRozay]

interesting and I am correct in remembering that one of the cards only has 1 6 pin and the other has two? Are they a loop system? Like does it have a 6+2 and Another 6+2 head comming off of the same set of wires? or are you using different rails from the PSU box itself?

Each PCI-E cable is it's own cable, so none of them are looped together or connected together.

The first 2 emerge from the default set of cables that come out of the PSU as standard, and the one running the 2nd GTX with 1PCI-E connector is a modular cable, connected to a 12V2 socket on the PSU. I have also tried 12V1, makes no difference.

(For those who may or may not be aware, the HX1000 is 2 500W PSU's put together, so it does literally have 2 separate 12V rails. And I've tried both).

 

[Solaris17]

Oh ok I also had an HX1000 Now its comming together. Have you tried both cards with modular cable sets instead of doing one and then the other (v2) Also was I correct do one of these cards have a diffirent power draw than the other (connectors?)

 

[RickyRozay]

Oh ok I also had an HX1000 Now its comming together. Have you tried both cards with modular cable sets instead of doing one and then the other (v2) Also was I correct do one of these cards have a diffirent power draw than the other (connectors?)

Which rails do you propose I use to attach the modular cables for both cards?

I've no idea about power draw I'm afraid

These are the 1st and 2nd GPU's in chronological order (the Palit is the top image)

 

[Solaris17]

Sorry its possible im confusing this with another thread. I was asking if one of these cards had only 1 power connector on it. As for the Rails I was wondering if you tried using just modular for both cards yet instead of splitting it with the ones that are hard lined into the unit as well.

 

[RickyRozay]

Sorry its possible im confusing this with another thread. I was asking if one of these cards had only 1 power connector on it. As for the Rails I was wondering if you tried using just modular for both cards yet instead of splitting it with the ones that are hard lined into the unit as well.

Yes the OEM GTX 460 (2nd image) only has 1 power connector. I have tried using that card as the master and it makes no difference. I'll try the modular cables now, on 12V1 or 12V2?

 

[Solaris17]

Try doing both on 12v1 and then try both on 12v2 and then split them both between 12v1 and 12v2 (load balance) just try not to use the hard lined ones for now.

 

[RickyRozay]

Done, no change. Still squealing and stuttering...

 

[Solaris17]

Do you have this unit plugged into a UPS or some other type of power item like a surge protector?

 

[thebluebumblebee]

To find the source of the squeal, take a non-conductive tube, and being careful with regards to fans, hold it over item(s) that you think might be the source and hold your ear to the other end.

I wonder if the stuttering has to do with the fact that you only have SATA2? Which SATA ports are you using?

 

[RickyRozay]

I have 6 SATA ports, and I am using the one labelled SATA_0 for the primary SSD, and SATA_1 for the secondary.

SATA_2, SATA_3, SATA_4 and SATA_5 are all empty, as I disconnect my DVD drive when not needed.

I can tell 100% the squealing comes from the PSU, as when I tried a single GPU setup which got the 2nd card out of the way (tried both cards as singles) so I could get my ear close to the PSU, it was soooooo loud putting my ear next to the giant PSU fan, you can hear it is definitely coming from inside.

It's very quiet at desktop etc, but under load such as loading games (not just Battlefield 4 - for those of you who are suspicious, also Call of Duty etc) it gets a very loud squeal. But it only seems to be graphical load. If I run Prime95 for example or something like that, it won't squeal.

While the game is making it squeal, if I minimise to desktop it stops immediately, even if the game is open, so long as the game Window is minimised. If it is running in windowed mode, it will continue squealing.

I've recorded my phone next to the PSU so you can hear what I'm talking about. Give me a sec to upload it.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

2 different PSU squeal in the same manner. Odd. Does the 24 pin power connector on the motherboard look okay?
As for the stuttering, do you have the most recent firmware on that V300?
Do you happen to have a mechanical HDD that you could try instead to see if it is the SSD's? (or the system's reaction to the SSD's)
You have 2 different controllers on that motherboard and I think it's the difference between the white and the blue. Unfortunately, GB does not have the full user manual on their website in English. The one that I DL'd is a 40 page document with only 4 pages in English.
I don't know what would happen if you moved one or both SSD's to the white connectors.(might even blow up the install)
Have you installed all of the GB drivers for this motherboard?
Are the SSD's in AHCI mode? (think you'd see AHCI or IDE in BIOS) (Changing this might require a new install, although I think there's a way to change it on the fly)

 

[RickyRozay]

2 different PSU squeal in the same manner. Odd. Does the 24 pin power connector on the motherboard look okay?
As for the stuttering, do you have the most recent firmware on that V300?
Do you happen to have a mechanical HDD that you could try instead to see if it is the SSD's? (or the system's reaction to the SSD's)
You have 2 different controllers on that motherboard and I think it's the difference between the white and the blue. Unfortunately, GB does not have the full user manual on their website in English. The one that I DL'd is a 40 page document with only 4 pages in English.
I don't know what would happen if you moved one or both SSD's to the white connectors.(might even blow up the install)
Have you installed all of the GB drivers for this motherboard?
Are the SSD's in AHCI mode? (think you'd see AHCI or IDE in BIOS) (Changing this might require a new install, although I think there's a way to change it on the fly)

Well there was a huge fiasco surrounding the V300's. They were originally made in Taiwan using synchronous NAND or something like that, then they started manufacturing them in China with asynchronous NAND without telling anyone, so the Taiwan version I have is only good until I update the firmware, and then it goes boom performance wayyyy down. So I won't be touching the V300 firmware

I do indeed have a mechanical HDD I can try, but as for installing BF3 on it that's a massive 25GB download just to see if it works which could take a long time and potentially have no benefit. Also the mechanical HDD has some valuable stuff on it, so it runs Windows XP and can't be erased, so I would only be able to install and run the 32bit version of Battlefield 4 so it wouldn't be a fair test. (Although running the 32bit version on my current install still produces the same squeal).

Yes, both my SSD's are in AHCI and AHCI set in BIOS.

The white SATA ports just say GSATA_0 and GSATA_1 whatever that is.

Yes all chipset and audio drivers installed from Gigabyte website since day of install. Ran this system for almost a week playing the same games and same hardware without this squealing issue. Just appeared one day without any change.

24pin looks fine to me!

 

[zsolt_93]

I am sure the squealing sound is "normal" for the loaded PSU state, that is not the problem. The problem should be the PSU dropping de voltage regulation or the 12v rail voltage beyond limits and the cpu throttles down, bogs down the 2 gpus at the same time. Try a PSU from someone who has a similarly powerful system and works okay, i dont trust that OCZ you tested. CPU is overvclocked so it sips a lot of power which might be an issue if on GPU is on the same 12v rail. Have you tried with a single GTX on the 12V2 as the CPU and motherboard is hardwired to 12V1?

 

[thebluebumblebee]

The white SATA ports just say GSATA_0 and GSATA_1 whatever that is.

Found a review that identified that as a Jmicron controller. I'd hook the optical drive to this connector and leave it there. It is slower than the Intel controller.

Edit: do these problems go away with stock clocks?

 

[RickyRozay]

Here is a link to the squealing video.

I started the video at desktop when the squealing is minimal, and as I load battlefield you will hear it go crazy. The initial stage of squealing is as it loads, I presume textures into the GPUs and whatnot is when it starts, then when the game loads into the full game deployment screen that's when it gets at it's loudest.

I'll try a single GPU on the 12v2 rail soon, and reduce CPU to stock clocks. I'm not home right now.

PS. When I tried the OCZ 600W, I only ran one GTX460 as I knew it wouldn't take both and the system all together.

 

[de.das.dude]

that sounds like a dying capacitor.
pretty sure one of the cards are dying. 460s were around quite a long time ago and they werent that well renowned for longevity.


also why on earth is the PCIe a v1.1?

 

[Solaris17]

Here is a link to the squealing video.

I started the video at desktop when the squealing is minimal, and as I load battlefield you will hear it go crazy. The initial stage of squealing is as it loads, I presume textures into the GPUs and whatnot is when it starts, then when the game loads into the full game deployment screen that's when it gets at it's loudest.

I'll try a single GPU on the 12v2 rail soon, and reduce CPU to stock clocks. I'm not home right now.

PS. When I tried the OCZ 600W, I only ran one GTX460 as I knew it wouldn't take both and the system all together.

Have you tried with Vsync on and off? and what power settings are set in windows?

 

[RickyRozay]

that sounds like a dying capacitor.
pretty sure one of the cards are dying. 460s were around quite a long time ago and they werent that well renowned for longevity.


also why on earth is the PCIe a v1.1?

The PCI-E is 2.0 when you do anything that requires GPU power. I think GPU-Z just reported it incorrectly cos if you push the '?' next to it and run the test, it goes back to 2.0.

Windows has High Performance power setting chosen, but I only did that today to see if it would fix the problem but it doesn't, so it started before that.

I will try the cards separately when I get home, and on the 12V2 rail as well to see what happens.

I hope we're all close to solving this It's driving me crazy and I'm really disappointed after spending almost £450 on all the new components and it can't even play the one thing I upgraded for!

£5 in PayPal to whoever comes up with the winning answer! (If there is one)

I should be home in about 30 minutes and I'll keep trying all the suggestions -.-

I haven't tried VSync yet but I'll do that too. However I don't think it's high FPS making it squeal, cos I doubt my frames in 64player BF4 are that high.

And just so everyone knows, it's not the squealing that causes me irritation. I've had squealing systems in the past and it doesn't bother me at all. It's the fact it's stuttering at the same time in perfect synchronisation with the squeals that's bumming me out.

 

[de.das.dude]

ahh you took it while not playing games. lol my bad.

 

[Solaris17]

The PCI-E is 2.0 when you do anything that requires GPU power. I think GPU-Z just reported it incorrectly cos if you push the '?' next to it and run the test, it goes back to 2.0.

Windows has High Performance power setting chosen, but I only did that today to see if it would fix the problem but it doesn't, so it started before that.

I will try the cards separately when I get home, and on the 12V2 rail as well to see what happens.

I hope we're all close to solving this It's driving me crazy and I'm really disappointed after spending almost £450 on all the new components and it can't even play the one thing I upgraded for!

£5 in PayPal to whoever comes up with the winning answer! (If there is one)

I should be home in about 30 minutes and I'll keep trying all the suggestions -.-

I haven't tried VSync yet but I'll do that too. However I don't think it's high FPS making it squeal, cos I doubt my frames in 64player BF4 are that high.

And just so everyone knows, it's not the squealing that causes me irritation. I've had squealing systems in the past and it doesn't bother me at all. It's the fact it's stuttering at the same time in perfect synchronisation with the squeals that's bumming me out.

dont worry just try the things suggested I havent forgotten about your stuttering all in good time.

 

[RickyRozay]

Update so far...

I have set all BIOS settings back to stock. No overclock, no overvolt. =Squealing and stuttering.

I tried using just 1 GTX 460 with hard wired PCI-E connectors = squeal and stutter

I tried using just 1 GTX 460 with only modular PCI-E connectors in 12V2 = squeal and stutter

Unfortunately I can't continue testing with BF4 as EA's terrible servers seem to keep telling me "No contact with EA online. Try again later". Sooooo... I will continue with CoD4 instead.

So in CoD4, squeal as usual. If I enable VSync, the squeal is reduced, but that's it. And depending on what is displayed on the screen i.e. thick smoke from a smoke grenade, the squeal will get louder. It seems like the whenever the PSU needs to give power to the GPUs or something, it squeals and the game stutters, maybe from some kind of power issue?

I'm going to try the OCZ again just to make double sure it's not the PSU. Standby :/

 

[eidairaman1]

Your cards are pretty long in the tooth...

 

[Solaris17]

Are you behind a UPS or power strip?

 

[RickyRozay]

Okay so next update:

Changed over to the OCZ StealthXStream 600W, still squealing and stuttering.

I assume you all watched the video I posted of the PSU CLEARLY squealing, the phone was right next to it and it was having a mad one...

Now with the OCZ, the squealing has moved. The PSU is not making any squealing at all, and now it is coming from the GPU area. I have to be honest, it sounds more like it is coming from behind the GPU than from the GPU itself.

I have indicated on the technical drawing where I believe the sound to be coming from. Is that some kind of power regulator or anything that could potentially make these noises?

I'm going to be swapping the GPU's over again and make sure it's not coming from this specific GPU. Standby again... URghhhhhhhfqfqfq9pfuhqaf;b;ff 2t