Noisy Video Card!

[dybmowst]

I have the most incredibly noisy video card, not fan noisy but a processing noise, It is an NVidia GTS8000 card in a DELL INSPIRON 5100 desktop (not laptop), tho i think this doesnt neccessarily matter as i have heard the noise before in a home built computer with an Nvidia motherboard and vid card!! Does anyone know what on earth this processing buzzy noise could be??

Paul

[123456]

My nVidia video card is a little noisy, but only for a few minutes when I turn on the computer. Is yours always noisy or just for a few minutes?

[dybmowst]

Noisy most of the time, particulaly when being stressed i.e. with a game or photo editing

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Is it a possibility that your power supply is not up to the task? The way both of you describe the problem, it sounds as if it (they) may be struggling with the load.

[saphalline]

not fan noisy but a processing noiseUmmm... huh?? :confused:

Please explain further. The fan is the only moving part on a vid card. If that's not making the noise, then what is??

[LadyGrey]

I had an older FX Nvidia card, made an awful noise. I replaced the fan and to this day not a peep from it and it's still running strong in another computer. Just make sure the fan you get specifies that it will fit your card. I think I got an IceBerg? Fit great and had the added attraction of lighting up blue! Wheeee:D
LG;)

[Spearball]

I have the most incredibly noisy video card, not fan noisy but a processing noise, It is an NVidia GTS8000 card in a DELL INSPIRON 5100 desktop (not laptop), tho i think this doesnt neccessarily matter as i have heard the noise before in a home built computer with an Nvidia motherboard and vid card!! Does anyone know what on earth this processing buzzy noise could be??

Paul

You say it isn't the fan making noise? What do you mean by processing noise? Like saphalline said the fan is the only moving part. Unless maybe a component on your video card is going..... Is it a very high pitched sound?

[Ajmukon]

I have heard the Noise before on other computers (usually from the CPU)

Gateways are notorious for it

it sounds like a bee buzzing around inside the Case; with some "clicking" noises thrown in. It is only there when the CPU is very busy.

I think the problem is the same (just a different chip)

it is definitely not a fan....

[Paleo Pete]

sounds like a bee buzzing around inside the Case

Sounds just like a noisy fan. The clicking sound would be the hard drive accessing, trying to load the OS or application. The chipset fan on one of my machines is getting dirty, if I shut it down for a few minutes it buzzes for a couple of minutes then quiets down, sounds very much like a bee in there. Every machine I have makes the clicking sound now and then, but not loud, it's the hard drive accessing.

Open the case, get a long screwdriver, and CAREFULLY hold it against the side of the hard drive while booting up, put the handle of the screwdriver into your ear, press it snug to your ear so you hear it like a stethoscope. You should hear the clicking and whirring really well then. That's normal, unless it's loud enough you can hear it out in the hall...

[mjc]

Also, there are a lot of multiple speed fans out there these days...just because the fan is quiet during 'normal' load doesn't mean that it will be quiet during a 'heavy' load when it is running at top speed.

[saphalline]

On my own systems, I always run fans at top-speed! :D That way I always know the max noise from the system, and the noise is consistent so I can differentiate a failing fan immediately!

Buzzing noises from fans aren't normally a good thing. That's usually indicative of a failing bearing. That's when I start replacing fans. Of course, this analysis is only valid if the fan is always running at top speed! :p Variable-speed fans (such as temp-controlled fans) are different. I personally don't like them because of that - no consistency. I don't use them.

[TopChip7]

I find it hard to differenciate between the fans because most of the actual noise is not caused by the fan itself but by the vibration been emulated through the case. Removing the power connector to each individual fan for just a few seconds only IMO is the best way to see whether that individual component is causing the noise.

I KNOW that EVERY single fan in my system is silent when tested OUTSIDE the case. However, build the PC and I cant hear myself think.... which proves its either air distortion or case vibration causing the noise.

I feel its sensible to use a fan control with monitor alarm on your most important fans - CPU, VGA, PSU and Rear Exhaust, so if a fan does fail an alarm will sound from the control unit itself, not a windows or mobo monitor that requires speakers... ie what if the speakers are not switched on?

I'm sure you will all agree though that if you suspect a fan is about to fail, change it before it stops totally.

[dybmowst]

Anyway .... enough talk of fans coz it isnt that!! The noise is a buzzing sound like a bee has been let loose inside it, it is worse under processing load and is very irritating, just like all you lot talking of fans, i did say it wasnt the fan in my original message.

I have heard it before and it seems as though it is to do with Nvidia motherboards and Nvidia graphics cards, odd though that when i last heard it on another machine it was with a AGP card and this time it is through a PCI-E card.

It does sound like the GFX card though it is extremely difficult to pin-point the exact where-abouts. defo not the fan though ..... An interesting point about the power supply not being up to the job, i will take a look at that.

Please dont bang on about the fan anymore it is well tedious.

[Ajmukon]

i agree that it is not a fan

i think it is electricity in the CPU that is making the noise
i usually hear it on factory OC'ed CPUs (like some Gateways are)
the problem is that it may not be fixable (it may need to be RMA)
this is because Chips should NOT make any noise

and BTW (by the way), you DO NOT NEED to have a moving part to create noise. All electrical devices create a "hum" which some people (with sensitive hearing) can hear
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_%28sound%29
and (while i am not sure if Computers use DC) i believe this is what is going on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_noise

this noise is caused be transistor "Jumps" of electricity and sounds something like a bee (to me that is)

[dybmowst]

Thanks for that last comment ..... as it happens, i replaced the NVidia GTS8600 card with a ATI 2400 Radeon .... behold .... the noise is gone, so there you are, the video card was faulty and its my guess that the transistors on the board were having a hard time (or some were faulty) and they were giving out the buzzy hummy noise ..... So there moral of the story is that a noisy fan is not the only solution to a buzz, knock, whiz or hum!!!

Seriously tho, thanks for you input to this matter.

Dyb signing off (for now!)

[saphalline]

So there moral of the story is that a noisy fan is not the only solution to a buzz, knock, whiz or hum!!!We got off on a tangent about the fans, but it was nothing personal. In my first post, I asked right away what it might be if not a fan. Since you couldn't pin-point the source and had no idea yourself what it might be, we didn't have much to go on. But I never thought you were silly or loony in any way! :p We simply didn't know what it might be.

It's interesting that any of you can even hear all that electrical stuff. (And yes, computers DO use DC on the inside of the circuit.) Very strange. Perhaps that's why I never notice a "noisy" computer? :confused: I've never ever heard a buzzing or noisy circuit before (aside from catastrophic component failures). So naturally I myself didn't think of it! ;)

[Ajmukon]

i found a track of the noise!!!!

it is very quiet, but it is in the background
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3261472969342574888&q=computer+making++noises&total=200&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=2


it is in the background... (sounds like a "buzz" of "clicking buzz")

i think that was the noise he was describing- even from the same place!

[saphalline]

Yeah, I don't think I can hear this electrical buzz. All I hear in that video is what sounds like an HDD crunching away. But the thing is, I had to turn my speakers WAY UP just to hear that!

I must be blessed! :D

[66miranda]

I think the noise comes form the cpu and the cooling system, so you may just consider repalce the cooling system or you can just get a silent video card .
Get a silent video card something like this ( ASUS EN8500GT Silent 256Meg PCI-E Video Card ):
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=en8500gt.html?id=bD7IeFDM
Or something for the replacement of your cooler system ( Zalman VF700-Cu Copper Ultra-Quiet VGA Video Card Cooler ):
http://www.dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?deal_id=60436
Personally I think both of them are ok , but I remembered that you said you'v got one good video card just too noisy , if in that case you may just replace the cooler system ,after all this can save a lot .Hope this hleps anyway .

[Ajmukon]

Yeah, I don't think I can hear this electrical buzz. All I hear in that video is what sounds like an HDD crunching away. But the thing is, I had to turn my speakers WAY UP just to hear that!

I must be blessed! :D

the HDD may be the noise i am hearing in that particular example. (but it is a similar noise).

Usually, if i hear it and open up the case to find it, it comes from the main CPU. the sound is "bududdudddud.....duuddududdud.....dudud....duduudd " with a thunking kind of rhythm (or a machine-gun rhythm) to it.

well, that is the best way i can explain the noise! (took me all week to come up with it)