Sapphire nitro+ RX 5700XT coil whine

[pavlosmelas]

Hello,

Recently I have bought a Sapphire nitro+ RX 5700XT, it seems to perform well, however, when the card goes above around 75 FPS, it starts to make a chirping and buzzing noise. Is this coil whine? If so, is it normal or can I better return the card?
When I enable vsync when playing a game the chirping and buzzing noise seems to be gone (my monitor is 60Hz). But I think it is a bit weird it is making that sound already, just a bit above 60 fps. I can always enable vsync and the problem seems pretty much gone, but on the end I almost paid 480$ for the card.
I also read that the PSU could be the cause of the coil whine? I am not really a specialist so I hope somebody can help me.

Kind regards,
Pavlos

 

[Ex amd fanboy]

Hello,

Recently I have bought a Sapphire nitro+ RX 5700XT, it seems to perform well, however, when the card goes above around 75 FPS, it starts to make a chirping and buzzing noise. Is this coil whine? If so, is it normal or can I better return the card?
When I enable vsync when playing a game the chirping and buzzing noise seems to be gone (my monitor is 60Hz). But I think it is a bit weird it is making that sound already, just a bit above 60 fps. I can always enable vsync and the problem seems pretty much gone, but on the end I almost paid 480$ for the card.
I also read that the PSU could be the cause of the coil whine? I am not really a specialist so I hope somebody can help me.

Kind regards,
Pavlos

You should ask your retailer if it is possible to return it. Also, what PSU are you using?

 

[Regeneration]

What kind of power supply is it? Brand and model.

Some graphic cards produce coil whine under stress (at high TDP). If it's too loud, you should replace it.

 

[pavlosmelas]

Hello, thank you for your reply. I contacted my retailer and he offered me either a 20% discount on the card for the inconvenience, or a complete refund on return.

I tested again and at around 110-120 FPS, it is really loud. The strange thing is that when I play a game at high settings = lower FPS the coil whine is a lot less then when I play the exact game at low settings = high FPS. So the amount of sound almost seems to be like simultaneous with the FPS, and not even how much I stress the card with high settings.

My PSU is Corsair RM650x - 2018 edition.

 

[Regeneration]

Recent Corsair power supplies aren't that good. But a power problem is more likely to crash the entire system rather than coil whine.

High FPS results in high power consumption. Put your ear close to the case and ensure its the graphics card. If so, just ask for a replacement, or go with Nvidia.

 

[Ex amd fanboy]

Hello, thank you for your reply. I contacted my retailer and he offered me either a 20% discount on the card for the inconvenience, or a complete refund on return.

I tested again and at around 110-120 FPS, it is really loud. The strange thing is that when I play a game at high settings = lower FPS the coil whine is a lot less then when I play the exact game at low settings = high FPS. So the amount of sound almost seems to be like simultaneous with the FPS, and not even how much I stress the card with high settings.

My PSU is Corsair RM650x - 2018 edition.

You can return the gpu and get another one. If it won`t help, you should think about replacing your PSU. Corsair ones are poorer quality compared to others in this price point. https://www.overclock.net/forum/31-...hy-you-might-not-want-buy-corsair-rm-psu.html

 

[pavlosmelas]

I am reading some topics now with people having coil whine, which was in fact caused by the Corsair RM series PSU, rather than the graphic card. Tonight I will open up my computer and run a bench mark, and listen where the sound is coming from. I bought the PSU 1 month ago, so I am not so happy with this, if I knew it before I would have bought another brand PSU. I always read about hardware before I buy it, but I didn't think PSU can be bad as well. I keep you guys updated.

Recent Corsair power supplies aren't that good. But a power problem is more likely to crash the entire system rather than coil whine.

High FPS results in high power consumption. Put your ear close to the case and ensure its the graphics card. If so, just ask for a replacement, or go with Nvidia.

You can return the gpu and get another one. If it won`t help, you should think about replacing your PSU. Corsair ones are poorer quality compared to others in this price point. https://www.overclock.net/forum/31-...hy-you-might-not-want-buy-corsair-rm-psu.html

I also forgot to mention I was running a graphic card benchmark test yesterday, and after 10 minutes I got a green screen and my computer shut down. I am not sure if it was overheating or something else? I did the bench mark again, but slightly less extreme, and the graphic card had a temperature of 60-65 degrees only, which is quite low in my opinion. Could this have been a GPU or PSU problem?

 

[Ex amd fanboy]

I am reading some topics now with people having coil whine, which was in fact caused by the Corsair RM series PSU, rather than the graphic card. Tonight I will open up my computer and run a bench mark, and listen where the sound is coming from. I bought the PSU 1 month ago, so I am not so happy with this, if I knew it before I would have bought another brand PSU. I always read about hardware before I buy it, but I didn't think PSU can be bad as well. I keep you guys updated.




I also forgot to mention I was running a graphic card benchmark test yesterday, and after 10 minutes I got a green screen and my computer shut down. I am not sure if it was overheating or something else? I did the bench mark again, but slightly less extreme, and the graphic card had a temperature of 60-65 degrees only, which is quite low in my opinion. Could this have been a GPU or PSU problem?

Green screen is most likely to be GPU driver problem. What is the version you are currently running?

 

[pavlosmelas]

Green screen is most likely to be GPU driver problem. What is the version you are currently running?

The latest, version 20.4.1.

 

[Ex amd fanboy]

The latest, version 20.4.1.

Tip for next time - do not install beta/optional versions. Recommended (WHQL) is a way to go. I experienced a lot of troubles with optional versions with my 5700xt, but 20.2.2 WHQL is running perfectly. You should uninstall your current version with DDU and install the latest WHQL.

 

[Vya Domus]

Hello,

Recently I have bought a Sapphire nitro+ RX 5700XT, it seems to perform well, however, when the card goes above around 75 FPS, it starts to make a chirping and buzzing noise. Is this coil whine? If so, is it normal or can I better return the card?
When I enable vsync when playing a game the chirping and buzzing noise seems to be gone (my monitor is 60Hz). But I think it is a bit weird it is making that sound already, just a bit above 60 fps. I can always enable vsync and the problem seems pretty much gone, but on the end I almost paid 480$ for the card.
I also read that the PSU could be the cause of the coil whine? I am not really a specialist so I hope somebody can help me.

Kind regards,
Pavlos

Yes, it's normal. It's unlikely you'll gain anything by returning it in hopes you'll get one who doesn't have coil whine because that's pretty much a universal issue with all cards. It's probably not the PSU as that would whine all the time not just when the fps is high, it's almost 99% because of the GPU.

When a frame has finished rendering for a couple of microseconds/nanoseconds the GPU goes from high power to a low power state which causes inductors to oscillate and make sound , the more frequent this happens i.e the higher the frame rate goes, the higher pitched the sound becomes. Coil whine is basically unavoidable.

 

[Regeneration]

Almost all high-end graphics cards have coil whine when stressed. Some loud than others. Depends on the VRM quality.

 

[pavlosmelas]

Tip for next time - do not install beta/optional versions. Recommended (WHQL) is a way to go. I experienced a lot of troubles with optional versions with my 5700xt, but 20.2.2 WHQL is running perfectly. You should uninstall your current version with DDU and install the latest WHQL.

Alright will do. Do you have coil whine issues with your 5700xt? What PSU do you use?

Yes, it's normal. It's unlikely you'll gain anything by returning it in hopes you'll get one who doesn't have coil whine because that's pretty much a universal issue with all cards. It's probably not the PSU as that would whine all the time not just when the fps is high, it's almost 99% because of the GPU.

When a frame has finished rendering for a couple of microseconds/nanoseconds the GPU goes from high power to a low power state which causes inductors to oscillate and make sound , the more frequent this happens i.e the higher the frame rate goes, the higher pitched the sound becomes. Coil whine is basically unavoidable.

Almost all high-end graphics cards have coil whine when stressed. Some loud than others. Depends on the VRM quality.

I only do not understand why some people do have coil whine, while others have not, when they both have the exact same model and brand graphic card? Then it must be some production error or another variable is playing?

 

[Vya Domus]

I only do not understand why some people do have coil whine, while others have not, when they both have the exact same model and brand graphic card? Then it must be some production error or another variable is playing?

They have varying levels of coil whine, plus some people play games with v-sync/g-sync/freesync or use very high settings which limits the frame rate anyway. You can give it a shot in getting another one if you really want to.

Inductors oscillate, that's not a defect.

 

[Ex amd fanboy]

Alright will do. Do you have coil whine issues with your 5700xt? What PSU do you use?




I only do not understand why some people do have coil whine, while others have not, when they both have the exact same model and brand graphic card? Then it must be some production error or another variable is playing?

I have coil whine in main menus or during loading screens, when FPS is really high. It`s not loud nor distracting though. My PSU is Be Quiet System Power 9 600w.

 

[Regeneration]

I only do not understand why some people do have coil whine, while others have not, when they both have the exact same model and brand graphic card? Then it must be some production error or another variable is playing?

Quality of VRMs. Some vendors have high standards and some don't.

 

[pavlosmelas]

Thank you for replies all.
I will check when I am home again, to be sure where the sound is coming from. I perhaps can switch PSU and/or GPU with a friend of mine and see what happens.

Otherwise, I will just grab the 100$ compensation from the retailer and leave vsync on when playing games, I do not think I will ever buy a 144 Hz monitor.

 

[pavlosmelas]

An update, I checked and the sound is coming from my graphics cards.
Now I connected another PSU, an EVGA 1000 GQ, the coil whine is gone from my graphics card now, but is now coming from my PSU! Unbelievable, I am clueless