My GPU fans are making a grinding/vibrating sound. How can I fix this?

[Segundoh]

It was just a suggestion. Could be everyone from the seller backwards is in the clear and its the delivery service who keeps doing damage. Or just bad luck getting annoyingly subpar gpu.

Yeah, that's true. Maybe Newegg is bad, or maybe the delivery guy was the same both times and just mishandled it, or I could've just got unlucky. Who knows what happened and all!

this sounds perfectly normal. fans will have their own pitch and the faster the fan spins the louder/higher more audible the sound of it.

Its a lot more noticable with smaller fans on a graphics card because they have to spin at a much higher RPM then regular case fans (120-140mm etc) to shift a similar amount of air

Oh okay that makes sense. It's good to hear that these fans sound fine then. So, it's normal for fans to have a slight high-pitched sound and all? That sounds good to hear. And that makes sense. I thought it was weird that my GPU fans sounded different from my case and CPU fans, but it makes sense since they have to disperse much more heat. I didn't realize that GPU fans (or at least my GPU fans) are actually smaller than case and CPU fans, but I guess it makes sense since they need to fit 3 fans inside one GPU. Why is it that the sound gets worse with more fans though? Is it just because the fan pitches add together and make a louder sound or something?

 

[nomdeplume]

Bigger fan blades equate with slower speeds to move same amount of air and emit a lower pitched frequency.
Smaller fan blades rotating a lot faster make something much closer to a whining sound.

Problem with diagnosing cell phone videos is the cell phone processes the audio to remove a lot of interference. A fan whining falls well within this category of background noise that would make a voice harder to hear and understand clearly.

 

[Segundoh]

Bigger fan blades equate with slower speeds to move same amount of air and emit a lower pitched frequency.
Smaller fan blades rotating a lot faster make something much closer to a whining sound.

Problem with diagnosing cell phone videos is the cell phone processes the audio to remove a lot of interference. A fan whining falls well within this category of background noise that would make a voice harder to hear and understand clearly.

Oh okay that makes sense. So it's good to hear that a bit of a whining sound is normal. I'm glad to hear that's the case. Is there a way to record them differeently so the intereference is not removed? I guess I'd need another laptop or computer or something and find an app that has that feature. Are there any good recording apps that let me choose?

 

[#22]

It pulses and it shouldn't be surprise from something named Sapphire Pulse... This ,,high-pitched squeling sound" is something I encoutered with various cards and it comes and go on various speeds. What helps to some point is making the GPU fans running not the same speeds, but it needs card giving such opportunity. E.g. ASUS cards have two fan curves: one for side fans, secound for middle one. You can check it in your card's software a'la MSI Afterburner.

 

[Segundoh]

It pulses and it shouldn't be surprise from something named Sapphire Pulse... This ,,high-pitched squeling sound" is something I encoutered with various cards and it comes and go on various speeds. What helps to some point is making the GPU fans running not the same speeds, but it needs card giving such opportunity. E.g. ASUS cards have two fan curves: one for side fans, secound for middle one. You can check it in your card's software a'la MSI Afterburner.

That makes sense. Is there a way to change that though for Sapphire Pulse cards? I downloaded Sapphire TriXX, but I didn't see that option unless I'm blind. I also can't change the GPU fans in Fan Control for AMD cards. I haven't tried MSI Afterburner though; is this possible there?

 

[#22]

It should be clearly visible in TriXX' fan settings. Maybe also check AMD Radeon Software fan settings. I don't have Arterburner downloaded and genereally don't use it. I remember it having just one fan curve, but probably I've never use it with card with fans divided. Another cure is just to see what speeds pulsing appears and dissapears (it should work like that, but knowing that it's Sapphire Pulse...) and then tune your fan curve to avoid such speeds. I generally assume this pulsing being for you acoustic problem, because it's something normal, not to worry about. Usually, if not always, it comes from the nature of sound generating in somehow restricted space as pc case. On various speeds this sound hit frequencies which introduce resonance, this pulsing, so to that's why tuning fan speeds should solve it. Maybe there're also other causes, but it sounds completely like one I mentioned.

 

[Segundoh]

It should be clearly visible in TriXX' fan settings. Maybe also check AMD Radeon Software fan settings. I don't have Arterburner downloaded and genereally don't use it. I remember it having just one fan curve, but probably I've never use it with card with fans divided. Another cure is just to see what speeds pulsing appears and dissapears (it should work like that, but knowing that it's Sapphire Pulse...) and then tune your fan curve to avoid such speeds. I generally assume this pulsing being for you acoustic problem, because it's something normal, not to worry about. Usually, if not always, it comes from the nature of sound generating in somehow restricted space as pc case. On various speeds this sound hit frequencies which introduce resonance, this pulsing, so to that's why tuning fan speeds should solve it. Maybe there're also other causes, but it sounds completely like one I mentioned.

I’ll look at TriXX more closely then for sure. I do see the fan RPM for all of them in Adrenalin, but I don’t see the individual fan RPMs. I’ll see what RPMs I can use to get rid of the pulsing sound. I heard that changing stuff in MSI Afterburner causes stability issues with Adrenalin, so I’m only overclocking in Adrenalin.

Yeah, I was just worried that this pulsing wasn’t normal, but I don’t really care if it is normal. It’s not ridiculously loud, so I can ignore it or I’ll get used to it. And that makes sense that resonance and pulsing will happen in such a small area. I’ll tune my fan speeds for sur though to make this problem less annoying. I guess I’m just paranoid because of the awful grinding and rattling noises I was hearing from my previous 6800 XT that I returned, but that’s not happening this time which is great. Thanks!

 

[#22]

If you don't see separate options to control given GPU fans, rather for sure they just run on one singal/fan curve. And I don't see a point of using Afterburner for fan tweaking - you have TriXX and Radeon Software. With localizing pulsing speeds it will be easiest to use speed slider - change it like every 5%, then in the end create fan curve avoiding pulsing speeds. It's good if this pulsing doesn't disturb you - it happens that I literally hate it the most like any irregular pc sounds, even more than coil whine, but I don't play with headphones, so my pc not only needs to be quiet, but also sound nicely (sound-dampened case make it). Because problems with noise of computer are more about sound than volume.

 

[Segundoh]

If you don't see separate options to control given GPU fans, rather for sure they just run on one singal/fan curve. And I don't see a point of using Afterburner for fan tweaking - you have TriXX and Radeon Software. With localizing pulsing speeds it will be easiest to use speed slider - change it like every 5%, then in the end create fan curve avoiding pulsing speeds. It's good if this pulsing doesn't disturb you - it happens that I literally hate it the most like any irregular pc sounds, even more than coil whine, but I don't play with headphones, so my pc not only needs to be quiet, but also sound nicely (sound-dampened case make it). Because problems with noise of computer are more about sound than volume.

Yeah, even in TriXX, there’s only one singular fan curve. I’ve been using Radeon Software and that’s been working great. I’ll definitely try to change it by 5% as you said and then change my fan curve to avoid that pulsing sound. While I don’t care too much about the sound, I’d rather not hear it since I generally don’t play with headphones either, so fan curve adjustments will be helpful. I was looking into sound dampened cases, but I was worried since they apparently have worse airflow. What case do you have, and does it have decent airflow? Thanks!

 

[#22]

In general sound-dampened cases tend to have worse airflow than airflow cases, but they are here to make a computer sound nicer for some price of temperatures. They also do well at reducing or completely eliminating various noises like e.g. coilwhine; fan motors/bearings or HDD noises. If you prioretize temperatures over it, go with airflow case and be happy with your computer sounding how it just sounds. My pc sits in Fractal Define 7 Black Solid and I fully recommend this case, have no complains. It will handle any rig, because it gives you options to balance ventilation and sound-dampening to achieve the best results. Something like this is just ultimate concept of pc case. Nice alternatives are Phanteks P600S or be quiet! Silent Base 802.

 

[Segundoh]

In general sound-dampened cases tend to have worse airflow than airflow cases, but they are here to make a computer sound nicer for some price of temperatures. They also do well at reducing or completely eliminating various noises like e.g. coilwhine; fan motors/bearings or HDD noises. If you prioretize temperatures over it, go with airflow case and be happy with your computer sounding how it just sounds. My pc sits in Fractal Define 7 Black Solid and I fully recommend this case, have no complains. It will handle any rig, because it gives you options to balance ventilation and sound-dampening to achieve the best results. Something like this is just ultimate concept of pc case. Nice alternatives are Phanteks P600S or be quiet! Silent Base 802.

Oh okay that sounds great to me. I heard that high temperatures won’t really degrade GPUs and CPUs and other parts faster as long as they’re not overheating, so is that true? If temps don’t really matter as long as they’re not overheating, a sound dampened case sounds amazing to me. I should’ve gone with a Define 7 for sure. I currently have a Fractal Meshify Compact 2 which is also great, but having a sound dampened case with options sounds amazing. If I switch my case any time soon, I’ll definitely go with a Define 7.

 

[#22]

Meshify 2 Compact is a great case, so as long as you are satisfied with noise and thermals, keep it. And it's hard to say where there's some worth bothering "degradation border" for given component, but I would say, as long something doesn't throttle, temps are fine. For sure simple thinking like "the cooler, the better" and due to that running your fans faster than you would like to is stupid.

 

[nomdeplume]

Desktop cases can be awful about broadcasting noise. Try dampening the one you have and this annoyance might all but go away.

Practically everyone with spinning HDD either has already or would enjoy insulating them from rattling the case. In a case that weighs +20 lbs these small things make a bigger difference than in one that is thin sheet metal poorly fitted together.

 

[Segundoh]

Meshify 2 Compact is a great case, so as long as you are satisfied with noise and thermals, keep it. And it's hard to say where there's some worth bothering "degradation border" for given component, but I would say, as long something doesn't throttle, temps are fine. For sure simple thinking like "the cooler, the better" and due to that running your fans faster than you would like to is stupid.

I see, that’s good to hear that they’re fine as long as they throttle. Honestly, I did initially think that running my fans at 100% during intensive tasks would be best to keep my temps as low as possible, but I realized I’m just wearing out my fans for no reason lol. At least I stopped doing that.

Desktop cases can be awful about broadcasting noise. Try dampening the one you have and this annoyance might all but go away.

Practically everyone with spinning HDD either has already or would enjoy insulating them from rattling the case. In a case that weighs +20 lbs these small things make a bigger difference than in one that is thin sheet metal poorly fitted together.

That makes sense. I’ll try dampening this case so I don’t really hear this and all. It makes sense that this definitely matters more if you have a HDD since they’re so loud and since they rattle all the time. Thanks!

 

[#22]

You can try dampen it yourself, but keep in mind that dampening materials differ in their abilities and it's usually hard to say what to choose from wider offer of stores selling sound-proofing materials. E.g. one will better fight fan noises, other coilwhine, so better ask sales person before buying. Other thing is some of them, especially thick (so usually more effective) ones, may trap heat, so increase temperature inside a case and increase temperatures of components. Some of them also may stink when getting warmer. All of that advices come from my own experience with oldsql DIY installing such materials in cases. And one the most important thing - no window in the case, because material put on this panel makes the biggest difference.

 

[Segundoh]

You can try dampen it yourself, but keep in mind that dampening materials differ in their abilities and it's usually hard to say what to choose from wider offer of stores selling sound-proofing materials. E.g. one will better fight fan noises, other coilwhine, so better ask sales person before buying. Other thing is some of them, especially thick (so usually more effective) ones, may trap heat, so increase temperature inside a case and increase temperatures of components. Some of them also may stink when getting warmer. All of that advices come from my own experience with oldsql DIY installing such materials in cases. And one the most important thing - no window in the case, because material put on this panel makes the biggest difference.

Oh okay I see, so an actual sound dampened case would be better than dampening materials that serve different purposes and which will likely make temps worse than a sound dampened case. I didn’t know that they might stink, but that definitely makes sense when they’re getting warm. I think I won’t bother with that then since the material won’t help with everything. Thank you!

 

[#22]

I wouldn't say that actual sound dampened case always would be better, but some random piece of sound dampening material may happen not the best choice. And probably you can't trust even ones being pc dedicated like something Silverstone sells as SF01. Probably, because I have never used it, but happened to use one which looks exactly the same as SF01 and even color of paper on glue side was the same. This thing was great at reducing volume of components, e.g. better than what Fractal uses in Define cases, but on the other hand was increasing temps and stinking when got warmed during load xD Before SF01 Silverstone used to sell kind of wavy foam, which I remember being quite common in silence focused cases in mid 2000's and actually being really effective in fighting the noise.

 

[nomdeplume]

You can try dampen it yourself, but keep in mind that dampening materials differ in their abilities and it's usually hard to say what to choose from wider offer of stores selling sound-proofing materials. E.g. one will better fight fan noises, other coilwhine, so better ask sales person before buying. Other thing is some of them, especially thick (so usually more effective) ones, may trap heat, so increase temperature inside a case and increase temperatures of components. Some of them also may stink when getting warmer. All of that advices come from my own experience with oldsql DIY installing such materials in cases. And one the most important thing - no window in the case, because material put on this panel makes the biggest difference.

That is some ways beyond what I stated in regards to mitigating HDD noise with a piece or two of fabric tape to isolate other components from being impacted by torsional and harmonic effects. In many cases it takes very little very well placed to effect enormous and unexpected changes below a level they were previously noticed. Only a spare few insulated cases exist for exactly the reasons you mention.

Obviously if you touch a panel, or two panels at once, and a noticeable change takes place you are on to something potentially important. If not directly, with some further exploration, indirectly related to where you can begin making corrections.

 

[xrobwx71]

If you decide not to RMA and take it out of the PC:

If coil whine see here: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/how-to-quickly-easily-fix-coil-whine-coil-choke-noise.294015/

Also here: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/how-to-relubricate-service-a-troublesome-or-noisy-fan.307409/

 

[Segundoh]

I wouldn't say that actual sound dampened case always would be better, but some random piece of sound dampening material may happen not the best choice. And probably you can't trust even ones being pc dedicated like something Silverstone sells as SF01. Probably, because I have never used it, but happened to use one which looks exactly the same as SF01 and even color of paper on glue side was the same. This thing was great at reducing volume of components, e.g. better than what Fractal uses in Define cases, but on the other hand was increasing temps and stinking when got warmed during load xD Before SF01 Silverstone used to sell kind of wavy foam, which I remember being quite common in silence focused cases in mid 2000's and actually being really effective in fighting the noise.

That’s interesting, so even reputable brands can make bad materials and all. Even if it is better, I definitely don’t want stinky materials and overly increased temps lol. Too bad they don’t make that wavy foam anymore then.

That is some ways beyond what I stated in regards to mitigating HDD noise with a piece or two of fabric tape to isolate other components from being impacted by torsional and harmonic effects. In many cases it takes very little very well placed to effect enormous and unexpected changes below a level they were previously noticed. Only a spare few insulated cases exist for exactly the reasons you mention.

Obviously if you touch a panel, or two panels at once, and a noticeable change takes place you are on to something potentially important. If not directly, with some further exploration, indirectly related to where you can begin making corrections.

Oh okay so even some fabric tape could help with HDD noises and all. I’ll look into looking at the right panels and places to make some changes then.

If you decide not to RMA and take it out of the PC:

If coil whine see here: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/how-to-quickly-easily-fix-coil-whine-coil-choke-noise.294015/

Also here: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/how-to-relubricate-service-a-troublesome-or-noisy-fan.307409/

Thanks! I’ll look at those links then and try those out for myself. That’ll definitely be very useful.

 

[Readlight]

Thats normal.

 

[#22]

@Segundoh Just do what I told you first (changing the speed of GPU fans, creating nice fan curve) instead of thinking about sound dampening materials or cases. If your fans are loud, so also this pulsing is, no material or case will help. And if you don't like tweaking like that, in the future buy better models than Pulse - more expensive ones (like e.g Nitro+ or Red Devil) tend to be quieter, cooler and higher quality, so more durable or having better fans. Cheap models are for people who don't have any expectations apart of card just working.

 

[Segundoh]

Thats normal.

That’s good to hear. I won’t worry about that then for sure.

@Segundoh Just do what I told you first (changing the speed of GPU fans, creating nice fan curve) instead of thinking about sound dampening materials or cases. If your fans are loud, so also this pulsing is, no material or case will help. And if you don't like tweaking like that, in the future buy better models than Pulse - more expensive ones (like e.g Nitro+ or Red Devil) tend to be quieter, cooler and higher quality, so more durable or having better fans. Cheap models are for people who don't have any expectations apart of card just working.

I’ll go with changing the fan curve first for sure as that would be the easiest solution for sure. And it makes sense that the better models are higher quality and have better coolers. In the future, I’ll look into getting higher quality ones then. Thanks!

 

[maxfly]

Cheap models are for people who don't have any expectations apart of card just working.

LOL! That's complete bs. That's probably the worst analogy I've ever heard regarding GPUs.

The expectation for consumers is, always has been and always will be, that a new component regardless of price point functions properly out of the box, period. Noone buys a $5 or $600 GPU believing that they will just have to deal with flaws because it happens to be at the lower end of the stack. That's ridiculous. If a part is bad you return it. Simple. It's not the consumers job to spend hours, days or weeks troubleshooting flawed components.

Segundoh, if your GPU fans are making these abnormal noises and you've succeeded in isolating it to your GPU. What you've described is generally an early sign of impending failure. Your hearing isn't impaired. And NO it isn't normal for any card to make those noises. SEND THAT ***** BACK and be done with it.
You have done your due diligence. Far more than you should have imo. There is no reason for you to settle with a flawed component while you are,
A. Within the retailers return window.
And
B. Still carrying a perfectly viable warranty.
Use one or the other.

Like I said, my Asrock Phantom Gaming D 6800xt is dead silent. Until it hits roughly 60 to 70%rpm I cant hear it (in a silence optimised build). I've installed 100s of videocards over the 20+ years I've been building rigs (for myself and clients) this card is by far one of if not THE quietest I've ever installed. So obviously our friend #22 is gravely mistaken in his advise to you.

Return it. If the return is flawed in ANY way...return THAT. You paid for a 100% properly functioning GPU, accept nothing less. You deserve at least that right?!

 

[#22]

The expectation for consumers is, always has been and always will be, that a new component regardless of price point functions properly out of the box, period.

Period. Doesn't it mean to you the same as:

Cheap models are for people who don't have any expectations apart of card just working.

Yes or no - without elaborates like above. If no, justify


About rest of your post, you even didn't care reading whole thread and seeing that he changed his card from your for sure wonderful Asrock Phantom to Pulse... And now he has different problem we were talking about.