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Radeon 6970 Buzzing underload

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I got the card from a member here at tpu, and the first day I didn't notice it. I think I have come to the conclusion that the chokes are buzzing, but I'm not sure. It buzzes under load and depending on how heavy the game is, it buzzes more or less. It will do it in chrome too but if I'm at my desktop, its fine..


Is there anything I can do to fix this?
 
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i think is the age of the card, live with it or change the card...

My GTX 285 matrix from asus was doing that buzz too when load and not with all games.
 
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that squeal is an electronic thing, it also happens with motherboards. I read some guy in china or japan is researching the phenomenon. my gfx card is brand new and does it when leaving a certain benchmark.
 
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that squeal is an electronic thing, it also happens with motherboards. I read some guy in china or japan is researching the phenomenon. my gfx card is brand new and does it when leaving a certain benchmark.

This thing does it on any level of load, like browsing the web. could it be dying?
 

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I had Nvidia cards whine out of the box. While it wouldn't do it a lot at desktop, I could hear it while scrolling pages on the net. Card lasted me a few years without issue.
 
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well my asus card is brand new and if you think yours is dying then god help me!! lol
 

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This thing does it on any level of load, like browsing the web. could it be dying?

Hardware acceleration in the browser may cause this - did with my first 7970. Turn that off in your browser if it is on.
 
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This thing does it on any level of load, like browsing the web. could it be dying?

My x850xt PE did it back in a day (2005) still works like a charm :)
 
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The noise comes from the inductors used in the card's switching regulator. I'll be releasing a product soon that smooths the voltages/currents and may help with problems like that.
 
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The noise comes from the inductors used in the card's switching regulator. I'll be releasing a product soon that smooths the voltages/currents and may help with problems like that.

I would like to see something like this. Ive noticed the card runs at .9v when idle and bumps to 1.17v under load. the buzzing will only show up at >.91v so im guessing if i could maybe downclock the card a little or pull the voltage down it would be more tolerable
 

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Normally its just the coils. Nothing to worry about.
 
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Modern voltage regulation circuits composed of MOSFETs switch at high frequencies, which results in vibrations in components in the circuit. It's completely normal for some components to resonate at those frequencies and cause undesired noise. Nothing is wrong with the card.
 
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I had that crap from the original GPU and PSU in current rig!

The GPU went off on a whiny bender under heavy gaming (2 7970's - separately)

And the PSU liked to make an unnerving buzz when I scrolled in a browser -_-

After figuring out what it was and that it wasnt especially harmful, I attempted to put my case under my desk (quickest solution!), but it didnt fit!! So, given it was a new build I just wasnt having this nonsense and I changed the PSU (seriously, the sound was freaky, search AX850 squeal/whine to see vids). After the 2nd 7970 had the same prob I said screw it I'll try something from the other team and Im pleased its over with now and all is nice and quiet.

Basically my advice is move your case ^^
 
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I fixed my 7970 whine by changing the stock clocks from default 300/150 to 500/1500, by creating a 2d profile and the electrical whine while scrolling has been disappeared.
 
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Update!

I overclocked the card up a tad from 880/1375 to 900/1410 (no voltage change) and it took away the buzz when in web browsers and light applications. clocking it down to 800/1300 made the buzz worse. It still goes nuts on the loading screen of minecraft and in game of borderlands 2 but my fan drowns out the sound a bit better than expected.
 
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