Ringing noise from video card

[XSlingerX]

Hi

After playing games for about 20 minutes my video card begins to make a very high pitched and irritating ringing noise. It seems to be stable while its ringing, but it is so loud that it ruins the game. I have an X1900XTX. Any suggestions?

[Condell]

if you know how to take out and put back a video card
i would suggest taking yours out and cleaning out the fan

i assume it is your fan making that noise as the card heats up and fan has to spin faster to compensate

well some other people have the same problems with that specific card
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33843512

[Hadrian]

It does sound (no pun intended) like a fan issue after the card is warmed up and under load, and the fan is increasing speed to compensate. Early on the stock fans on the X1900XTX were highly criticized for being too loud.
If you haven't already, try using ATI Tool (downloadable at www.techpowerup!.com) to hand select the speeds your GPU's fan is running at while it's under load. It's a great tool for fan control and OCing ATI's, and possibly a certain speed (use percentage) is causing the frequency or vibration that your hearing, and by hand selecting the speeds, maybe you can narrow down what speed is causing that noise on your particular card and then you can avoid it.

[XSlingerX]

Ok I am well aware that the stock fan on an X1900 XTX has been described as a "jet engine" but this is not the problem.

Its not the speed of the fan, but its a high pitched frequency. I cleaned out my video card fan, as well as all my other fans with an air can, but this didn't fix the noise. It comes after I have played a game for a while, and it happens on all voltages and clocks of my GPU. After about five minutes after I close the game, the noise disappears.

But, this has had me wondering, maybe it is my CPU thats causing the noise. I always just assumed it was the GPU.

Either way, how can I tell which one it is and what can I do about it?

Thanks,
Slinger

[Hadrian]

Its not the speed of the fan, but its a high pitched frequency. It comes after I have played a game for a while, and it happens on all voltages and clocks of my GPU. After about five minutes after I close the game, the noise disappears.

Thanks,
Slinger

Slinger, there are no moving parts on a processor, so that can't be it. It shouldn't matter what voltage or clock your cards running at either as the fan is the only moving part on the GPU. Radeon X850XT's were also known for causing a high pitched noise or frequency from their fans when they were ran at a certain percentage. I'll bet your GPU fan is making that noise when it's running maxed out, under load. When you quite the game, the systems need for the card slacks off, the GPU immediately starts cool down, so the fan slows down as well, and then the noise goes away.
Barnaby's advice to remove components selectively to isolate the problem is the first step in standard computer component trouble shooting. I liked his idea of stopping the fan while the system is making the noise and in use. Don't do it for long but that sure would be a fast way to find out if it's the GPU's fan or not. It might be another fan in your systen as well, but the GPU fan is still your prime suspect. Hope this helps....

[mrmouth]

First try and isolate once and for all where the noise is coming from. If you cant by removing the side panel while it is running, then remove the video card and boot the PC. Technically you could stop the fan while the card is still installed using the eraser tip on a pencil but I would just remove it.

It sounds like a bearing is failing, although they usually make a grinding noise.