GTX260 Noise

[liambl]

I will probably be scaling back a lot, maybe to zero, after I hit 1 million. I'm swapping my 260 for a 4890 in the coming week so I'm trying to make the most out of it before I settle for ~3000PPD on the Radeon, which should be enogh to get to 1 mil in a reasonable amount of time. After that I'll probably stop as this PC is in my room, and folding on a main rig has a serious impact on your using it.

Also, 500kPPD, thats insane. Atlas folder doesn't even do that with 23 GTX295's and 32 9800GX2's, and thats a crap load of hardware.

[Khalil]

My wife's machine has a Radeon 4870 and it is getting 4200 average ppd i bet your 4890 will hit 5k. just because I would like to do 500k that don't mean I will manage it. I think the most I will be willing to invest is 30 or so GTX295s but I am not sure I have the time or space to put that many units and keeping them maintained andcool is another big problem, I am opening 2 more stores in the next 2 months so my hands will be real full, but it would be nice to be able to crank 500k with the rest of the team.

[liambl]

Originally Posted by Khalil My wife's machine has a Radeon 4870 and it is getting 4200 average ppd i bet your 4890 will hit 5k.

Does that 4870 happen to make any extremely aggravating noises when folding/gaming, cos thats why I swapped to ATi in the first place.

[Khalil]

ATI cards make a different noise than Nvidia but nothing as you describe. I thought it was your Nvidia making the noise.

[liambl]

I havn't got the ATi yet, its just that if I spent all this time trying to get the retailer to return it and I just get a card thats no better, there will be very liberal use of words I can't say here.

I can hear the GTX260's folding squeal from the other end of the hallway, if thats anything to gauge it from. It also sounds like someone dragging coarse sandpaper along a road surface when gaming, its even hearable over speakers on moderate to high volume.

[Khalil]

WOW I don't have any GTX260s and I don't carry them in stock, I normally skip them for the 275s.
My folding room is loud because of all the fans but there are no noises like you describe with all 14 cards I am currently running. There is something wrong with the one card that you have.

[liambl]

I would like to stay with NVIDIA, but since there are so many reports of the same issue and that RMAing results in a 70% chance of a card that does the same, I am really hesitant to give them another try. How loud are the fans? My case is fairly quiet, but nowhere near silent and its ecxtremely annoying. I dunno, I can still cancel the 4890 order with no repercussions and get a EVGA GTX260 superclocked for a lil bit more, but if that card turn out the same I will probably kill myself. Any suggestions?

EDIT: this is what it sounds like rendering a complex scene in crysis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=128Gl8CrOqo

The Noise scales with framerate, so a simpler scene causes the aformentioned sandpaper sound. If all your cards don't sound like this (I realise they are 275's but the 260 and 275 are basically the same PCB and components), then I MIGHT consider the EVGA 260. I also reiterate that it makes a similar sound when folding, but at a migh higher frequency, thus a piercing sqeual noise. I also state that it is NOT and I have made scientific investigations that confirm that the noise is NOT caused by the fan, rather the on card power circuitry.

[Khalil]

None of my Nvidia cards sound like what you posted in the video, nor any of the 200 plus GTX cards I sold this year. Like I said before with as many cards as I am running it is loud in here but the noise you posted is from a damaged fan, that is not normal at all for either Nvidia or ATI. To me that sounds like something is touching your fan, like maybe a cable or the fan is rubbing against the casing.
What do you think Max Rat? You got GTX275 running, does it sound like what is in this video?

[liambl]

It is NOT the fan, and I have evidence to back this up. It is completely silent in idle. I can force the fan to any speed in rivatuner during idle and no noise. The noise starts the instant any load is applied, and also stops the instant the load is removed. It scales with FPS exactly, 30fps results in 30 clicks per second, 60 fps results in 60 clicks per second, etc. In that video the complex scene was rendering at about 15fps, which is about the frequency of the clicking.. I can even stop the fan when its doing it and its still there. What about folding squeal? Theres a long thread on the foldingforum about nvidia cards sqealing when folding, and that about 70% of all GTX cards seem to do it, do any of yours? Maybe I just have a really fudged up card, but I'm hesitant to give nvidia another try unless someone(s) can somewhat assure me that another card won't sound like that.

[Khalil]

none of my GTX cards are making that noise you described, none of my customers complained of them either. All my cards are Asus nad rarely I use BFG when I can't get my hands on Asus.
wished I could help you with this.

[liambl]

Ok since the 4890 showed no signs of being back in stock any time soon, I've decided to cancel it and get this: http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?itemID=378982

Hopefully this time I don't end up with the same noises.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by liambl Ok since the 4890 showed no signs of being back in stock any time soon, I've decided to cancel it and get this: http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?itemID=378982 Hopefully this time I don't end up with the same noises.

much better choice than XFX thats for sure. Hope it works out well for you!

[liambl]

The EVGA 260 should be here tomorrow, I hope this means the end of this scenario. I'll post back with the results in a couple days.

[liambl]

OH COOL! I buy a card that is supposedly total and utter crap, and that I'm on my own by having it. Yet at least the card works. I go and buy an EVGA replacement and its 100% DOA. On bootup the fan just goes nuts on itself and I never get a post. XFX back in and it boots right up. So now I have YET ANOTHER delay as I wait for a replacement for a replacement for a replacement. Great.

[liambl]

Well. OK I got the replacement EVGA GTX260. And success, boot. I am now running folding@home, and the squealing noise is still present, however it is much, much softer, and has migrated from the GPU to inside the PSU (Corsair HX620). I have been a member on the Corsair forums for a well long time and this issue is well documented and somewhat anavoidable, and non damage causing. At least its 9000x less annoying than the XFX's scream coming from the card itself. I'm about to try some games now to see if I get the same sound, however based on the F@H test I'm looking in good shape to have a quiet card now.