I just found/noticed this thread, and I'm simply astonished. I'm also having VERY hard time to put my words in a polite way, but trust me, I'm really trying!
That said, trying to cure "coilwhine" with superglue is somewhat similar like trying to treat infection with bandage - it's all about understanding the issue.
What really is causing the audible noise from inductors, comes basicly from two issues (which are both directly related to designers/manufacturers makings things cheap).
Very heavily pulsating current is one. This is typical for card designs lacking in filtering capacitors (or having very poor quality, high ESR ones). For example, higher power Navi21 cards are very notorious with this since they were made in era when there was severe shortage of capacitors. Combined with a bad PSU can exacerbate this - if the PSU can't deliver constant well-regulated current and/or has poor output filtering capacitors (too small, too high ESR), it can increase the "coil whine" by having higher current ripple. In these cases, replacing shitty old small PSU with a new bigger premium one, might help.
Another one is inductors ("coils") itself. Their current handling is almost always at or very close to the limit, and when inductors saturate, they start to make a lot of noise. Please notice, I keep talking about "inductors", which is what they really are (NOT coils!).
Both of those issues get worse with increased current/power draw, and reducing the powerlimit (or clocks) typically results in quieter card. Then there are cards with have these both issues, like
@BobBobbing 's ASRock 6900XT, or most 6900XTs there (PowerColor's R/L-Devils are the worst!) and no amount of glue will do any good for these. Just look how the card lacks the capacitors, and those three inductors next to power connectors are frighteningly tiny! These cards, especially when overclocked, squeal like a stabbed pig!
Choke coils have very specific winding specs.
Lets put it this way: Inductors have specific characteristics, like all other electronic components. And to make it clear: these inductors that are used nowadays in modern graphics cards and motherboards etc, DO NOT have what is called "windings". A winding is a bunch of wire turned over a core multiple, usually tens-hundreds-even thousands of times. What these inductors have, is a flat copper "bar" bent to what resembles more or less of an "Omega" - shape, and then having ferrite powder compressed over the "wire". We're talking about components with nanoHenry-range (R15 means 150nH). Older ones that are in micro-Henry range, might have a few turns in them.
Has anyone tried to replace coils on strix cards? Or put the strix coils on other cards? Like are the coils just bad?
Yes and no. No for "Strix", since it doesn't mean anything - their inductors are just the same inadequate crap as every others have.
That said, I've been replacing the inductors in some cards. My current 7900XTX for example, I replaced the tiny input filter inductors with about double the size (and saturation current spec) and replaced/added some capacitors. The watercooled card is very quiet now, you can just hear it at 500W and my DDC pump is still the noisiest component in my PC.
My ITX computer has 5700XT that I replaced input filter inductors and the GPU VRM inductors about double the size (and reduced the inductance slightly). Trust me, that card is virtually silent at over 300W and the measured voltages are almost flat with very little ripple/fluctuation/peaks thanks to the much improved voltage regulation!
So why do manufacturers keep putting those small cheap noisy "coils" in their products? That's exactly why; They're CHEAP and SMALL. And they just keep selling.
I'll continue my "lecture"(=rant) a little further! I find it hilarious how most of the manufacturers keep advertising, how capable power stages their GPUs or MoBos have! Just think about it, how many times you've seen it proudly announced that this product has 70A, 90A, even 110A power stages in them? Nothing wrong with that, it's good and useful info especially for us overclockers.
...but how many times you've seen ANYONE to tell, that the poor inductor right next to that expensive 90A Smart Power Stage, saturates just at 40...50A and when pushed past that, it starts to scream and glow/melt?
Damn right, the answer is zero.
but its not a dealbreaker because I used it with custom Noctua Fans
www.reichelt.de
