Asus RX 6800/6900 XT Strix OC LC noisy fan & pump?

[Dryad]

Hi there!
Just posted this in the cards review topic, but I noticed it's not been active for quite a while so I'll try a separate topic also

Anybody who owns/owned this card or its 6900 XT sibling?

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an 6800 XT LC, but I returned it because one of the fans was making a constant rattling noise and also the pump was clearly audible at all times (particularly at idle, since other sound levels are lower then). I figured I got a Monday specimen...
Now I just received a 6900XT LC and to my utter frustration it too has one noisy fan (QC department on covid leave or what's going on?) and this one also has a pump that is clearly audible.

Wondering if anybody else has similar experiences? The pump perhaps simply isn't any better than this, but the fans are a joke since both specimens had one more or less completely silent fan. Meaning they can do it, but apparently they don't think at these prices there's any need for a QC check to make sure that the supplied fans actually are ok.

I'm tempted to return this card also; yes I could replace the fan(s) but it's a matter of principle - at these prices, one shouldn't have to.
That said there's the pump... running as Asus 360 RGB AIO on the CPU also, I don't hear that one at all (plus all three fans are silent).
I've also tested the MSI 3090 Suprim X but found it very loud under load (both gaming and silent mode), despite reviews saying it's among the quietest of cards.
It's quieter in idle than the LC cards though, since there's no annoying constant rattling from pump/fan.

I tried to login to the ROG forums to write there but got stuck in some extremely annoying loop where I'm logged in yet apparently not and can't get any further. Getting fed up with Asus rapidly this way

 

[ratirt]

Now I just received a 6900XT LC and to my utter frustration it too has one noisy fan (QC department on covid leave or what's going on?) and this one also has a pump that is clearly audible.

I'd focus on the mounting of the radiator if I were you. The noisy pump may be due to air that has locked in there. The mounting of the radiator and the pips that move the liquid are somehow important. If you have some air locked in the pump, it might make bubbling sound and it's not good for the lifespan of the pump. I'd really suggest rearranging it and get the air out of there.
With the fans, maybe if you try to adjust the fan speeds it would go away. Rattling sound is never good anyway but worth to try.

 

[Deleted member 193596]

normally an AIO needs a few hours to settle and get quieter.

but if it's still loud after a day or two it's just ASUS "PrEmIuM" Quality Control.

Der8auer has a 6800XT LC too and the pump is very noisy. (he even complained about that in his video)

 

[Dryad]

I'd focus on the mounting of the radiator if I were you. The noisy pump may be due to air that has locked in there. The mounting of the radiator and the pips that move the liquid are somehow important. If you have some air locked in the pump, it might make bubbling sound and it's not good for the lifespan of the pump. I'd really suggest rearranging it and get the air out of there.
With the fans, maybe if you try to adjust the fan speeds it would go away. Rattling sound is never good anyway but worth to try.

Thanks, I'll give it a go. The whole case weighs quite a bit but I can put it on the floor and only connect it to 230V and boot it up so the pump runs, then move it around so any air bubbles hopefully can find their way out of the block at least. Not quite sure how these AIO's work in terms of air... shouldn't be any?
The "rattling" of the fan sounds mostly like a non-perfect bearing. It's not very loud, but a constant sound audible over the other fans and such during idle/surfing etc. It becomes louder with increased RPM. If I stop that fan, the other one is very quiet so it's amazing how Asus can ship two cards with one crappy fan each when obviously they have good ones also.

normally an AIO needs a few hours to settle and get quieter.

but if it's still loud after a day or two it's just ASUS "PrEmIuM" Quality Control.

Der8auer has a 6800XT LC too and the pump is very noisy. (he even complained about that in his video)

Do you have a link to the post/video you are referring to perhaps? *edit* never mind, just found it

 

[ratirt]

Thanks, I'll give it a go. The whole case weighs quite a bit but I can put it on the floor and only connect it to 230V and boot it up so the pump runs, then move it around so any air bubbles hopefully can find their way out of the block at least. Not quite sure how these AIO's work in terms of air... shouldn't be any?
The "rattling" of the fan sounds mostly like a non-perfect bearing. It's not very loud, but a constant sound audible over the other fans and such during idle/surfing etc. It becomes louder with increased RPM. If I stop that fan, the other one is very quiet so it's amazing how Asus can ship two cards with one crappy fan each when obviously they have good ones also.

While you are about to rearrange stuff maybe you should look at this first. This is a CPU liquid but it still has appliance to GPU liquid as well.

Jay explains what, with a liquid-cooling, is all about and what you should pay attention to. This may give you a better overview how to install it right. I don't know how your tubing looks like with your installation but this video will definitely help you.

 

[Dryad]

I'm fairly familiar with water cooling, have done custom loops in the past. Not sure the sound is due to air, but I'll give it a go. The whole AIO idea was to avoid getting dragged back into custom loops and all
The sound I hear is exactly the same as in Der8auers video, and it was the same for both cards. Either always air problems, or it's a poor pump I guess. Which would make sense, given it's a low budget card ^^

 

[ratirt]

I'm fairly familiar with water cooling, have done custom loops in the past. Not sure the sound is due to air, but I'll give it a go. The whole AIO idea was to avoid getting dragged back into custom loops and all
The sound I hear is exactly the same as in Der8auers video, and it was the same for both cards. Either always air problems, or it's a poor pump I guess. Which would make sense, given it's a low budget card ^^

I'm not doubting your experience nor awarnes. You know. I bought a Corsair 115i Pro for my CPU a year back. I recall that I've heard the pump for few days before it all went away. Maybe the liquid cooling solution needs some time to settle. Oh most definitely it is a low budget unit so no shock there

 

[Dryad]

Cheers. I've played around a bit yesterday and did what I could to remove any potential air from the pump block towards the radiator. Also mounted it the other way around now so air gets stuck in the rad. It may have improved slightly, not sure, but I'm still hearing the pump (particularly noticeable compared to the Strix LC 360 CPU AIO that's sitting next to it and is basically silent). But with the case closed it's not an issue. The fan is more annoying, it's audible through the front of the case even at low RPM. The reseller has contacted Asus about this, hopefully they can ship me a replacement fan. Otherwise I'll probably swap both fans out for some quality silent fans suitable for H2O and be done with it. I love the card otherwise (except for the price, but one can only guess if prices actually will go down anytime soon).

 

[ratirt]

Cheers. I've played around a bit yesterday and did what I could to remove any potential air from the pump block towards the radiator. Also mounted it the other way around now so air gets stuck in the rad. It may have improved slightly, not sure, but I'm still hearing the pump (particularly noticeable compared to the Strix LC 360 CPU AIO that's sitting next to it and is basically silent). But with the case closed it's not an issue. The fan is more annoying, it's audible through the front of the case even at low RPM. The reseller has contacted Asus about this, hopefully they can ship me a replacement fan. Otherwise I'll probably swap both fans out for some quality silent fans suitable for H2O and be done with it. I love the card otherwise (except for the price, but one can only guess if prices actually will go down anytime soon).

To be honest with you, I'm looking at the same liquid AIO but on a 6800xt. There's slight chance that I will get one next month. I've also had my hands on the Nitro+ 6800xt and it looks great. The price for the Nitro looks good (well it is still $1118 including tax but considering what is happening now with the prices and believe it or not, where I live it's not bad). It's just I would like to go all liquid so I may skip the nitro anyway.
With the pump noise. Let it run for a few days and check again if it the noise is gone or at least reduced.

 

[Schlachtwolf]

I have the Asus AIO 6800xt also. the fans were not my problem but..... man the pump vibrates and this goes into the tubing so if it is'nt singing to you you get a really annoying hhuuuummmmm of the side panel or anything else the tubing touchs. It is not a trapped air issue just a very hard workig pump contained in a gpu that leaves more room for vibration leak than say the same pump in a much more compact package like a cpu cooler.

But I managed to solve 90% of the annoying noise by (and Steve GN is hating me now) front mounting the radiator with the tubes at the top, the tubes run under the card not touching the bottom shroud as to avoid tubes touching. the tubes are then held to the left (eye logo on the right) parallel to the gpu and held in-place with a ziptie to one of the velcro cable ties (left around the tubing) that come with the GPU so as not to damage the tubing and to the back of the case. By holding the tube entry to the left quite firmly but not excessively it seems the liquid path to the pump is causing way less vibration and has got completely rid of the "singing".
This worked for me in a horizontal mount as it was even worse in a vertical, and you lose BAR/gen4 in vertical anyway.....

It took me 2 months of being annyoyed and pleased with the card at the same time, you feel lucky enough to have one and the performance is superb but the wife is threatening to take the kids, dogs and leave as it was louder than the dishwasher!!!

I have a Coolermaster TD500 mesh front case just for basic dimension purposes, get the tubing hard left and keep the tubes from touching your front side panal and it should while not be "silent" at least very livable with.

Hope this helps someone....

Cheers

Schlachtwolf

​

 

[borbo-disga]

Hi, I've been using a 6900xt LC strix card as well for a bit over a month now and basically have the same issues: (1) noisy fan bearings, (2) humming from the tubes & rad and (3) rattling/HDD-like noise from the pump. I've replaced the fans with some better quality ones, but the humming and rattling is driving me crazy. I wonder if any of you managed to solve the issue? I could RMA it, but I'm kinda worried that the replacement will be the same quality

 

[Iwanatsu]

Hi Everyone, I received my 3080 Ti version of this card last week, and while the rad fans are thankfully fine, the pump is falling in and out of loud vibration phases, as demonstrated in this video:

I did move the radiator around to help move the air pockets (already a few times), which helped, but after about a day or two it came back, which is when I shot the video. As you can see close to the end of the video (there is a timestamp), it can be coming back and disappearing very rapidly, for no reason. Right now it's been running silent for another day or so, so great, but I worry it will come back any time I turn on my computer.

Anyone having the same problem? Is there anything else you would recommend me trying? I really hope I don't have to send the card back, but at the same time, I worry that since this happens already in a brand new card, then it can be getting worse later (more often and difficult to quiet down). I still have a few days to return it just like that, for a full refund, so I could even quickly order another one (if still available) and return this faulty one when the new one comes. But of course, the new one might be exactly the same if that's just how poorly these are made, or if it is my fault to begin with (if there's something I should do, but still haven't). If so, I would only make unnecessary trouble, plus take away another card from someone who doesn't have one at all. Any advice?

 

[StaticVapour]

Hi Everyone, I received my 3080 Ti version of this card last week, and while the rad fans are thankfully fine, the pump is falling in and out of loud vibration phases, as demonstrated in this video:

I did move the radiator around to help move the air pockets (already a few times), which helped, but after about a day or two it came back, which is when I shot the video. As you can see close to the end of the video (there is a timestamp), it can be coming back and disappearing very rapidly, for no reason. Right now it's been running silent for another day or so, so great, but I worry it will come back any time I turn on my computer.

Anyone having the same problem? Is there anything else you would recommend me trying? I really hope I don't have to send the card back, but at the same time, I worry that since this happens already in a brand new card, then it can be getting worse later (more often and difficult to quiet down). I still have a few days to return it just like that, for a full refund, so I could even quickly order another one (if still available) and return this faulty one when the new one comes. But of course, the new one might be exactly the same if that's just how poorly these are made, or if it is my fault to begin with (if there's something I should do, but still haven't). If so, I would only make unnecessary trouble, plus take away another card from someone who doesn't have one at all. Any advice?

I had occasional gurgling noise on my DIY zipties-AIO-to-GPU after refilling that thing as much as possible. Noticed while it was running, that if I pinched one hose for few seconds at a time then let off.. No more gurgling, but that could be because I run mixture of G13/distilled water, it's bit thicker stuff than the fluid it had originally inside

 

[Iwanatsu]

I had occasional gurgling noise on my DIY zipties-AIO-to-GPU after refilling that thing as much as possible. Noticed while it was running, that if I pinched one hose for few seconds at a time then let off.. No more gurgling, but that could be because I run mixture of G13/distilled water, it's bit thicker stuff than the fluid it had originally inside

I haven't tried that, but I think it's a good idea - as long as the tubes are soft enough to squeeze. I'll try that if the noise comes back, thanks!

 

[eidairaman1]

Custom water loop or RMA the card

 

[Iwanatsu]

BTW, am I correct that in those AIO solutions for Asus GPUs, there is NO control over the pump speed? Neither in their own software, nor MSI Afterburner or anything else, because there is probably no hardware on the card to control the pump?

 

[GerKNG]

iirc der8auer (youtuber) had the same issue with a Strix LC Card.
he tested it, was quite satisfied with the results but the pump was very loud and whiney.

 

[Dmitry1380]

Did anyone with the rattling pump and loud hum ever figure out a fix? If you exchanged your card, was the new one any better?

 

[eidairaman1]

BTW, am I correct that in those AIO solutions for Asus GPUs, there is NO control over the pump speed? Neither in their own software, nor MSI Afterburner or anything else, because there is probably no hardware on the card to control the pump?

Most pumps are like that.