GPU coil whine question :: Hardware and Operating Systems

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Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 9:31am

GPU coil whine question

Good evening everyone.

My old PSU had having stability issues so I replaced it roughly a week ago. Power stability (old PSU used to cause random reboots) is back to normal but today I've noticed another "problem". Whenever I play a game that is heavy on GPU, I can hear a distinct coil whine (sounds exactly like any coil whine audio sample online) when I put my hear closer to the case. Sound is distinctly coming from the 8pin connector of the GPU and immediately goes away when I alt +f4 out of the game. Sound is not extremely loud.

My question is: is this normal for separate GPU/PSU combos to cause or not to cause coil whine? Despite issues, coil whine was 100% not the thing on my old PSU.

This new PSU is on the level with my old one. My system is fairly simple so I had 600W but replaced it with 550 because 600W was way too much (R3 3100, GTX 1660, DDR4 16)

GPU fan is just loud enough to drown out the whine so if it's not a problem then it's case closed, it doesn't bother me too much, just want to be sure.

Thanks in advance!

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Showing 1-15 of 15 comments

ˢᵈˣ FatCat 4 Oct @ 9:49am

what kind of 600w psu

Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 9:52am

Originally posted by ˢᵈˣ FatCat:
what kind of 600w psu

Zalman MegaMax ZM600-TXII, nothing special

Tiberius 4 Oct @ 9:53am

Originally posted by Mr_Purple:
Whenever I play a game that is heavy on GPU, I can hear a distinct coil whine (sounds exactly like any coil whine audio sample online) when I put my hear closer to the case. Sound is distinctly coming from the 8pin connector of the GPU and immediately goes away when I alt +f4 out of the game. Sound is not extremely loud.

This is normal

Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 10:15am

Originally posted by Tiberius:
Originally posted by Mr_Purple:
Whenever I play a game that is heavy on GPU, I can hear a distinct coil whine (sounds exactly like any coil whine audio sample online) when I put my hear closer to the case. Sound is distinctly coming from the 8pin connector of the GPU and immediately goes away when I alt +f4 out of the game. Sound is not extremely loud.

This is normal

Better safe than sorry, thank you! Case closed.

Bad 💀 Motha 4 Oct @ 2:37pm

Try enforcing a FPS Max Limit. This can help lower the coil whine pitch. As it tends to get louder with higher FPS

But yea it happens. All GPUs do this it's just jot always audible to human hearing.

If it bothers you that much sell the GPU and buy a different brand / model.

_I_ 4 Oct @ 2:51pm

what brand/model psu do you have now?

changing visual settings or capping fps (vsync, gsync/freesync) can help change coil whine frequency/volume

if the gpu fans drown the coil whine noise, then the case should mute most of it

Bad 💀 Motha 4 Oct @ 2:54pm

Better sound dampening Case and getting the PC Case well away from your Desk or sitting area where you generally use it helps too.

Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 2:54pm

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:
Try enforcing a FPS Max Limit. This can help lower the coil whine pitch. As it tends to get louder with higher FPS

But yea it happens. All GPUs do this it's just jot always audible to human hearing.

If it bothers you that much sell the GPU and buy a different brand / model.

Nah, I can live with this. I haven't noticed it for a week of stress testing and only heard by accident when GPU fan wasn't spinning much. As long as it's fine and it's harmless, I can live with it

Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 2:58pm

Originally posted by _I_:
what brand/model psu do you have now?

changing visual settings or capping fps (vsync, gsync/freesync) can help change coil whine frequency/volume

if the gpu fans drown the coil whine noise, then the case should mute most of it

Gigabyte P550SS 550W. I know, nothing crazy, but my system is not S tier either. It'll do. Yeah like I mentioned, to actually hear it I have to stick my head in my case. GPU fan cancels the whine out completely.

Edit: Oh and yeah, I already noticed that the whine becomes quieter with load. In Stalker 2 for example it's more noticable, but in Shin Megami Tensei V it's 65% quieter compared to Stalker 2, that is fully depends on GPU load. My only concern is whether whine is fine or not. I'm not bothered by the noise itself. If it's fine, then we're balling. It's just weird that it started to whine when it never did before. But I guess different PSUs, different way it works and so on.

Last edited by Mr_Purple; 4 Oct @ 3:04pm

Bad 💀 Motha 4 Oct @ 3:13pm

It shouldn't be doing when just idle... which the GPU generally is idle and zero dB fan RPMs when juat using OS and Web Browser.

What Display Refresh Rate are you using?

Last edited by Bad 💀 Motha; 4 Oct @ 3:14pm

#10

Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 3:16pm

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:
It shouldn't be doing when just idle... which the GPU generally is idle and zero dB fan RPMs when juat using OS and Web Browser.

What Display Refresh Rate are you using?

When did I said that it does when idle? It doesn't. As long as I'm doing anything but playing games there's no whine

#11

Bad 💀 Motha 4 Oct @ 3:52pm

Oh ok no problem.

First thing to try for Games would be use VSync... such as NVIDIA VSync = Fast

And / or an FPS Max Limit such as 60, 72, 90

Last edited by Bad 💀 Motha; 4 Oct @ 3:52pm

#12

Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 4:06pm

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:
Oh ok no problem.

First thing to try for Games would be use VSync... such as NVIDIA VSync = Fast

And / or an FPS Max Limit such as 60, 72, 90

I don't think you understand what I'm asking here, bro. I'm FINE with whine since it's not very audible. All I need to know whether it's bad for my machine or not since I've never encountered it myself before. Internet says it's fine but I want to be sure. I am aware that the whine is tied directly to GPU load and I do know what to do to lessen it.
GPU never whined before, PSU is brand new, this is why I need a second opinion.

Last edited by Mr_Purple; 4 Oct @ 4:07pm

#13

Bad 💀 Motha 4 Oct @ 4:11pm

No it's not bad or harmful or means anything is technically wrong with your hardware.

I would return the PSU and buy a good quality one from Corsair, BeQuiet, FSP Group, ASUS, MSI that's Gold or Platinum ATX 3.1

Last edited by Bad 💀 Motha; 4 Oct @ 4:12pm

#14

Mr_Purple 4 Oct @ 4:12pm

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:
No it's not bad or harmful or means anything is technically wrong with your hardware

Now this what I was looking for. Thank you! I would've went with something better but my budget is... tight to say the least. As long as it's not causing any critical issues, I'm fine with it. Still got that warranty anyway.

Last edited by Mr_Purple; 4 Oct @ 4:14pm

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Date Posted: 4 Oct @ 9:31am

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