Why is coil whine still a nuisance?

[Werwulf]

So I've always had quiet focused cases until I recently updated to an 'airflow' style case with a more open design. After doing so I thought, wow, my GPU actually has quite a lot of coil whine. Not the high pitched squeal but the lower buzzy 'angry bee' style. This is annoying. Not just for my current card but if I want a new card I need to trawl endless reviews and impressions to try and find something that isn't overly whiny - and potentially go through the hassle of returning cards.

Isn't coil whine a 'solved' problem? You might be inclined to think that it's just another case of penny-pinching, but from what I understand this isn't the case. This isn't the case so much that the cheaper brands, the Zotacs/Palits etc. are often the cards that have LESS coil whine with the likes of Asus having a reputation for lots of it. Supposedly the inductors that are the 'most suitable' for GPU applications also happen to be those likely to whine the most at high frame-rate/load. What does that actually mean in a tangible sense to the buyer though? Is it more reliable? Does it allow slightly more overclocking? If that is the case then it seems like it would be in very small/inconsequential quantities. Who cares you can get 6Mhz more on the core if you want to rip your own ears off??

Having coil whine on a high-end £1000+ GPU just seems.. totally unacceptable.I understand for some people, they play with headphones on, maybe with the case under the table etc. but for plenty of people it's a total showstopper. There are so many AIBs making so many different models, can we not just get one freaking model that I can be sure WON'T have coil whine? Go out of your way to make it a marketing bullet-point. There's so much obsessing about fan noise in the world of PC building and yet so many tech places even mention coil whine. You build a nice, quiet focused build with water cooling and quality fans and that is all RUINED with a whiny GPU.

Maybe my ears are different

 

[ir_cow]

Eventually you get old and not hear it anymore never bugged me though because my case fans were louder.

 

[eidairaman1]

This again, look up resonance on here and find the thread on how to fix it,

Big nothing burger.

Your concern should be melting connectors or ROPs missing or black screens or burned up vrms.

 

[micropage7]

coil whine is classic thing on electronic, pc whatever it is. and so far it is still there

 

[JakoDel]

I fully agree, I'm using an open case rig and some of the GPU I've tried were extremely annoying.
Unfortunately most don't care, as you said they play with headphones on and/or with a case that keeps noise down. and those that care usually accept it because that's just how it goes and at most try to replace it.

I will always find it a little funny how my weird ass chinese frankensteins built by small-ish companies with spare parts from laptops have always been less noisy but maybe it's just anecdotal.

oh, it looks like there are also a few smart cookies that when the topic is coil whine they reply w completely unrelated stuff just because they don't care about it, trying to point you to the real issues found on 2k GPUs.

 

[eidairaman1]

So I've always had quiet focused cases until I recently updated to an 'airflow' style case with a more open design. After doing so I thought, wow, my GPU actually has quite a lot of coil whine. Not the high pitched squeal but the lower buzzy 'angry bee' style. This is annoying. Not just for my current card but if I want a new card I need to trawl endless reviews and impressions to try and find something that isn't overly whiny - and potentially go through the hassle of returning cards.

Isn't coil whine a 'solved' problem? You might be inclined to think that it's just another case of penny-pinching, but from what I understand this isn't the case. This isn't the case so much that the cheaper brands, the Zotacs/Palits etc. are often the cards that have LESS coil whine with the likes of Asus having a reputation for lots of it. Supposedly the inductors that are the 'most suitable' for GPU applications also happen to be those likely to whine the most at high frame-rate/load. What does that actually mean in a tangible sense to the buyer though? Is it more reliable? Does it allow slightly more overclocking? If that is the case then it seems like it would be in very small/inconsequential quantities. Who cares you can get 6Mhz more on the core if you want to rip your own ears off??

Having coil whine on a high-end £1000+ GPU just seems.. totally unacceptable.I understand for some people, they play with headphones on, maybe with the case under the table etc. but for plenty of people it's a total showstopper. There are so many AIBs making so many different models, can we not just get one freaking model that I can be sure WON'T have coil whine? Go out of your way to make it a marketing bullet-point. There's so much obsessing about fan noise in the world of PC building and yet so many tech places even mention coil whine. You build a nice, quiet focused build with water cooling and quality fans and that is all RUINED with a whiny GPU.

Maybe my ears are different

I fully agree, I'm using an open case rig and some of the GPU I've tried were extremely annoying.
Unfortunately most don't care, as you said they play with headphones on and/or with a case that keeps noise down. and those that care usually accept it because that's just how it goes and at most try to replace it.

I will always find it a little funny how my weird ass chinese frankensteins built by small-ish companies with spare parts from laptops have always been less noisy but maybe it's just anecdotal.

oh, it looks like there are also a few smart cookies that when the topic is coil whine they reply w completely unrelated stuff just because they don't care about it, trying to point you to the real issues found on 2k GPUs.

Fyi

Transformer Physics and the Dark Arts #highvoltage #electrcity #energy #power #educational

Get the T-shirts here! :) https://bigbeaverenergy.com/collections/allNeed a laugh? My books are even better than my videos! https://amzn.to/331JrxPIf you li...

youtube.com

And the fix.

How to quickly & easily fix coil-whine(coil choke noise)

A forum user recently asked about Coil Whine, which is the noise a choke coil sometimes makes as it operates. This is almost always a video card problem, but can happen on any other computer or electronics components employing a choke in it's circuitry, including motherboards & power supplies...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[JakoDel]

Fyi

Transformer Physics and the Dark Arts #highvoltage #electrcity #energy #power #educational

Get the T-shirts here! :) https://bigbeaverenergy.com/collections/allNeed a laugh? My books are even better than my videos! https://amzn.to/331JrxPIf you li...

youtube.com

And the fix.

How to quickly & easily fix coil-whine(coil choke noise)

A forum user recently asked about Coil Whine, which is the noise a choke coil sometimes makes as it operates. This is almost always a video card problem, but can happen on any other computer or electronics components employing a choke in it's circuitry, including motherboards & power supplies...

www.techpowerup.com

effin hell man you can't hit me with such a great answer after replying nothing burger lolz I don't know what to think now

and thank you I'll look into both

 

[Vario]

Eventually you get old and not hear it anymore never bugged me though because my case fans were louder.

Yep this is the way.

 

[eidairaman1]

effin hell man you can't hit me with such a great answer after replying nothing burger lolz I don't know what to think now

and thank you I'll look into both

What i mean by nothing burger is yes its an annoyance, no it doesn't affect the performance of the card and it won't cause it to become a fire hazard like the RTX4000 or 5000 with faulty connector design or failing VRMs

 

[freeagent]

Coil whine replaced by Tinnitus lol

I would trade for coil whine again..

 

[_roman_]

Isn't coil whine a 'solved' problem?

My ASROCK Challenger 6600XT 8GB D card developed coil whine after 1.5 years of ownership. control game was very nasty. I think it is a combination of game, graphic card drivers and graphic card settings. Some claim it may be connected to the power supply unit.

The other MSI grahpic card I had had such loud fans that most likely any coil whine I would never heard anyway.

When you go to the more quiet computer route you will be annoyed by coil whine, loud fans or something else.

I have now some nasty side effect noises from my tower cooler fans. Something will always disturb my quiet computer. Some other part will show up and annoy you when you fix coil whine.

I doubt age will fix it. I even hear the high pitch noise from smartphone usb chargers.

I also decided a while back to move the computer exactly 1 meter away from my ears. Most fan noises are measured in a meter distance anyway.

 

[eidairaman1]

Coil whine replaced by Tinnitus lol

I would trade for coil whine again..

I have to have white noise of some sort to sleep due to it.

 

[freeagent]

I have to have white noise of some sort to sleep due to it.

Me too.

 

[eidairaman1]

My ASROCK Challenger 6600XT 8GB D card developed coil whine after 1.5 years of ownership. control game was very nasty. I think it is a combination of game, graphic card drivers and graphic card settings. Some claim it may be connected to the power supply unit.

The other MSI grahpic card I had had such loud fans that most likely any coil whine I would never heard anyway.

When you go to the more quiet computer route you will be annoyed by coil whine, loud fans or something else.

I have now some nasty side effect noises from my tower cooler fans. Something will always disturb my quiet computer. Some other part will show up and annoy you when you fix coil whine.

I doubt age will fix it. I even hear the high pitch noise from smartphone usb chargers.

I also decided a while back to move the computer exactly 1 meter away from my ears. Most fan noises are measured in a meter distance anyway.

I've heard chargers before even. Its good we have a thread on reducing or eliminating coil wine though, companies dont do it to save a penny or a dollar.

Me too.

Mines service connected, 5.5 years around high bypass Turbofans, power & hydraulic carts with APUs, 2 years around low bypass Turbofans.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Coil whine replaced by Tinnitus lol

I would trade for coil whine again..

Man, try having both!

I always thought the background high pitched hiss was normal. My doctor thought I was nuts.

 

[inquisitor1]

Having coil whine on a high-end £1000+ GPU just seems.. totally unacceptable

and then you have the replies who downplay and deflect it . im not giving gpu mfr any leeway. it should be fixed. I also wonder with those who defend the companies.

and I know some will disagree but I feel mfr should start including bracket support for gpu sag. they can mass buy something thatll cost $1 instead of the user paying $15 for one. why are we asking less and paying more. its absolutely ridiculous. its why I dont buy new anymore. dont care to support the theft. id rather buy 2 gens old for 1/3 the price.

 

[eidairaman1]

Laws of physics apply here inquisitor, get used to it

 

[DirtyDingusMcgee]

Doesn't bother me one bit. I like the hum of fans and power-delivery, the whirring and clicking of drives, the chirps and squeals of coils and caps......ahhh, the sounds of well-functioning electronics.

My hearing is still holding on. I can still hear bad caps across the room. It has been a while since I had a card come through that had coil whine that i would describe as noticeable. Last ones that comes to mind was an Acer Predator bifrost rx7600 and an Asus Dual 3060ti.

 

[Werwulf]

This again, look up resonance on here and find the thread on how to fix it,

Big nothing burger.

Your concern should be melting connectors or ROPs missing or black screens or burned up vrms.

Well, I can't enjoy games with loud coil whine, so it's a massive whopper with cheese and pickles to me.

Also, voiding the warranty by pulling apart my new £1k+ GPU and covering components in super glue is insanity.

Oh and believe me, I am not giving Nvidia a penny for a GPU that might melt my cables. The fact that Nvidia cannot guarantee me a GPU without coil whine or melting my connectors, despite spending such large amounts of money is absurd to me. My money is staying in my pocket.

 

[pavle]

This again, look up resonance on here and find the thread on how to fix it,

Big nothing burger.

Your concern should be melting connectors or ROPs missing or black screens or burned up vrms.

Ahh....the concern(s) of yester-year...

 

[Scattergrunt]

My old MSI 1060 3GB OC developed coil whine after 7 ish years of constant use. It wasn't really that bad to me. Havent experienced it in other stuff though personally (yet)

 

[Veseleil]

coil whine is classic thing on electronic, pc whatever it is. and so far it is still there

And it's not going anywhere. Considering the cost-cutting trend in a majority of the industries, you can expect to have more of it, not less.

 

[_roman_]

I heard so often the electronics when i repaired tv sets. You want efficiency and therefore you want high frequency switching. Multitudes of those frequency get in the range of my hearing range. I think I'm lucky because television is very loud and far away. USB chargers are usually far away and not always connected.

Note: With my own words explained

I have no idea if any graphic card "partner" try to improve the coil whine thematic. I do not know myself If I could design a circuit which has less of it. You know physics. Frequency and air. Multiple times frequency. Maybe someone wants to do into details about circuits and such. I do not want to.

Bad settings in the windows amd gpu driver and / or certain games caused here sometimes coil whine. My box runs for a while only with the bare minimum of fans at low speeds. MY graphic card is one of the few which is very "quiet".

 

[eidairaman1]

Well, I can't enjoy games with loud coil whine, so it's a massive whopper with cheese and pickles to me.

Also, voiding the warranty by pulling apart my new £1k+ GPU and covering components in super glue is insanity.

Oh and believe me, I am not giving Nvidia a penny for a GPU that might melt my cables. The fact that Nvidia cannot guarantee me a GPU without coil whine or melting my connectors, despite spending such large amounts of money is absurd to me. My money is staying in my pocket.

Good then because YMMV, i left that plantation a long time ago

I heard so often the electronics when i repaired tv sets. You want efficiency and therefore you want high frequency switching. Multitudes of those frequency get in the range of my hearing range. I think I'm lucky because television is very loud and far away. USB chargers are usually far away and not always connected.

Note: With my own words explained

I have no idea if any graphic card "partner" try to improve the coil whine thematic. I do not know myself If I could design a circuit which has less of it. You know physics. Frequency and air. Multiple times frequency. Maybe someone wants to do into details about circuits and such. I do not want to.

Bad settings in the windows amd gpu driver and / or certain games caused here sometimes coil whine. My box runs for a while only with the bare minimum of fans at low speeds. MY graphic card is one of the few which is very "quiet".

I remember CRTs with it

And it's not going anywhere. Considering the cost-cutting trend in a majority of the industries, you can expect to have more of it, not less.

Truth of physics, card companies aren't going to spend a penny or a dollar to resolve it, because it develops randomly and they are cheap in that way.