What could be causing this noise?

[Kuniva]

It sounds just like on the video you linked, Fedris,

Now my PC is out of the room and I can somewhat cope with the noise it makes, I decided to use it as I would normally.

I was playing a game earlier today and my monitor turned itself off, after around 5 seconds it turned back on and windows informed me that "Nvidia Kernal Drivers failed but sucessfully restarted, assuming it was a driver problem, I went to Geforce Experience and began reinstalling my drivers.

I know from past experiences that when installing GPU drivers, the screen can sometimes flicker or go off for a while, so I wasn't so concerned when it did as I started to install the drivers. After 5 minutes or so however, the screen was still blank and seemingly not coming on. Usually, the drivers only take around a minite to install.

With no solution in sight, I turned off the PC using the button on the case and restarted it and was greeted by an unfamiliar menu that said "American Megatrends" and listed my RAM and CPU and gave me numerous options such as "performance" and "balanced". I clicked on "Save and quit" as I have absolutely no idea what this menu is or what I'm doing with it and windows started to boot and the drivers have apparently installed finely.

I'm doing another scan with malwarebytes before I attempt to start another game. Anyone got any insight into what the hell just happenned?

Yeah you entered UEFI BIOS

If it's only happening with games and such then the noise is most likely coil whine, I have the same problem, it's annoying as hell when I don't have my headset on and I sympathize with you. Only solution really is buying new components one by one to try and get rid of it :S

 

[Spuff]

my monitor turned itself off, after around 5 seconds it turned back on and windows informed me that "Nvidia Kernal Drivers failed but sucessfully restarted,
?

I've had that but only when I've been in the process of testing overclocks on the GPU and I've pushed it too far. I think that may be because I don't increase the voltage and it doesn't get enough power.
But the monitor doesn't turn itself off, it just isn't receiving a signal for a few seconds.

 

[specialistyo]

Yeah you entered UEFI BIOS

If it's only happening with games and such then the noise is most likely coil whine, I have the same problem, it's annoying as hell when I don't have my headset on and I sympathize with you. Only solution really is buying new components one by one to try and get rid of it :S

I google imaged UEFI bios and it seemed to match some of the pictures there, any idea why it appeared?

 

[specialistyo]

I've had that but only when I've been in the process of testing overclocks on the GPU and I've pushed it too far. I think that may be because I don't increase the voltage and it doesn't get enough power.
But the monitor doesn't turn itself off, it just isn't receiving a signal for a few seconds.

Yes, my monitor also lost signal rather than turning itself off, I should've worded that better.

 

[fedris the red]

It sounds just like on the video you linked, Fedris,

Now my PC is out of the room and I can somewhat cope with the noise it makes, I decided to use it as I would normally.

I was playing a game earlier today and my monitor turned itself off, after around 5 seconds it turned back on and windows informed me that "Nvidia Kernal Drivers failed but successful restarted, assuming it was a driver problem, I went to Geforce Experience and began reinstalling my drivers.

I know from past experiences that when installing GPU drivers, the screen can sometimes flicker or go off for a while, so I wasn't so concerned when it did as I started to install the drivers. After 5 minutes or so however, the screen was still blank and seemingly not coming on. Usually, the drivers only take around a minute to install.

Yes I'm pretty sure it's not coil noise - I get coil noise from my graphics card occasionally and it's a much higher pitch than what's coming out of the power supply. If I was to hazard a layman's guess it could be a fan controller issue or it could be mechanical problem that might gradually fade with use - as far as my problem goes I'm going to keep an eye (ear) on it a little longer and then perhaps seek advice from PCS on how to continue. (I'm not sure if I'm technically confident enough to swap out a power supply so it might mean me sending my computer away - I'd rather avoid that if I can.) if the noise really does bother you (if it's like mine it's understandable.) it might be an idea to contact PCS and perhaps get them to send you another power supply.

The Kernal Driver issue you've got I've had a few times - I thought it just confined to Sim City but I've had it happen in Space Engineers as well. From what I've read an improperly installed driver or maybe detritus left from a previous installation can cause it - I don't know if you've had a similar problem but the last two Nvidia Driver updates through the Geforce Experience didn't go smoothly (Basically the progress bar froze but everything apparently installed anyway - I reinstalled the Drivers each time just in case and they installed without a hitch the second time through.)

In an attempt to counter the Kernal Driver fail/restart, I reinstalled the Nvidia Drivers, but I found out that if you choose custom install you then get a tick box option of performing a clean install; which should clear up any messy leftovers from the previous drivers. I only did it a few days ago so I can't really say how successful it has been but it might be worth a try.

 

[specialistyo]

Yes I'm pretty sure it's not coil noise - I get coil noise from my graphics card occasionally and it's a much higher pitch than what's coming out of the power supply. If I was to hazard a layman's guess it could be a fan controller issue or it could be mechanical problem that might gradually fade with use - as far as my problem goes I'm going to keep an eye (ear) on it a little longer and then perhaps seek advice from PCS on how to continue. (I'm not sure if I'm technically confident enough to swap out a power supply so it might mean me sending my computer away - I'd rather avoid that if I can.) if the noise really does bother you (if it's like mine it's understandable.) it might be an idea to contact PCS and perhaps get them to send you another power supply.

The Kernal Driver issue you've got I've had a few times - I thought it just confined to Sim City but I've had it happen in Space Engineers as well. From what I've read an improperly installed driver or maybe detritus left from a previous installation can cause it - I don't know if you've had a similar problem but the last two Nvidia Driver updates through the Geforce Experience didn't go smoothly (Basically the progress bar froze but everything apparently installed anyway - I reinstalled the Drivers each time just in case and they installed without a hitch the second time through.)

In an attempt to counter the Kernal Driver fail/restart, I reinstalled the Nvidia Drivers, but I found out that if you choose custom install you then get a tick box option of performing a clean install; which should clear up any messy leftovers from the previous drivers. I only did it a few days ago so I can't really say how successful it has been but it might be worth a try.

You seem to have the exact same problem as myself Fedris, it's reassuring to see that as I figured I was completely alone in this regard.

I have a 144hz monitor and I've been told on numerous occasions that a 780Ti is suitable for 144hz as long as it produces the required 144 fps to take advantage of it, which my GPU does in the majority of games. The downside is that I find myself having to limit my monitor back to 60hz and enabling vertical sync because despite how capable my card is at 144hz, it simply overheats and sounds like a vaccum cleaner if I make it on that, despite being at only 50-80% utilization. I tried running Portal 2 at least 8 times earlier and it just closed without error on me, with utilization skyrocketing and then falling over and over. It never used to do this and I had no problems before.

Is this, as well as the PSU, a sign that my GPU is faulty? All advice appreciated.

 

[fedris the red]

We do appear to have very similar set ups as well - I've got an 144hz monitor but I've not encountered any overheating problems with my graphics card. What sort of temperatures are you getting? the 780Ti should idle around the 30 degree C mark and from what I've seen in reviews and my own experience it's load temperature is around 83 (I think it throttles back the GPU if the temperature hits 85 but I'm not 100% on that.) I don't know what the standard for the cards fan use is under load but mine are usually around the 58 - 62% mark, basically I can hear airflow but it's not intrusive in any way.

Advice wise well you've already had the graphics card replaced once (I'm not saying you haven't been really unlucky and wound up with a faulty one.) but I'd see about getting the PSU changed first - see if that makes a difference or at least solves your noise problem. I also found this when I was looking for solutions to the PSU issue - none of the things they suggested worked for me and I think it is fans rather than capacitor resonance but you never know:

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=85166

If you haven't already it might be an idea to do some basic airflow checks around your rig, make sure all your case fans are working and their vents are clear and there isn't an extreme density of peripheral cables outside the 780's exhaust port - it could be you've just got cooling issue somewhere that's causing the graphics card to act erratically.

 

[specialistyo]

Slowly losing my mind.

Hello yet again.

After 7 months of nonstop issues and crushing disappointment caused by my paperweight known as a "PC", I can officially declare myself insane thanks to the stress it has caused me.

My computer excels in overheating running games at 140fps, giving me mild tinnitus due to the constant fan noise after being under load, closing games for seemingly no point at all, booting to the BIOS for also seemingly no reason at all, having GPU drivers that crash constantly and of course, being a waste of money.

I have no clue what the problem with this thing is anymore. I've already had my GPU replaced once and there was nothing wrong with it according to PC Specialist. I am not good with hardware and (quite clearly) have no patience for it,
but the noise this thing makes is driving me bonkers.

Judging by what many people have said on the technical support forum, a simple RMA can have you without your PC for a month and have it returned in a worse/the same state it was shipped off in and I really don't have confidence in it, but I really don't know what options I have at this point.

Has anyone had a good RMA experience with PCS so I can somewhat regain confidence with this? It seems this abomination of a PC is beyond repair.

 

[keynes]

Hello yet again.

After 7 months of nonstop issues and crushing disappointment caused by my paperweight known as a "PC", I can officially declare myself insane thanks to the stress it has caused me.

My computer excels in overheating running games at 140fps, giving me mild tinnitus due to the constant fan noise after being under load, closing games for seemingly no point at all, booting to the BIOS for also seemingly no reason at all, having GPU drivers that crash constantly and of course, being a waste of money.

I have no clue what the problem with this thing is anymore. I've already had my GPU replaced once and there was nothing wrong with it according to PC Specialist. I am not good with hardware and (quite clearly) have no patience for it,
but the noise this thing makes is driving me bonkers.

Judging by what many people have said on the technical support forum, a simple RMA can have you without your PC for a month and have it returned in a worse/the same state it was shipped off in and I really don't have confidence in it, but I really don't know what options I have at this point.

Has anyone had a good RMA experience with PCS so I can somewhat regain confidence with this? It seems this abomination of a PC is beyond repair.

I had, very good technical support and they kept me up to date with the issues and progress. What is your full system?

 

[steaky360]

Hi specialistyo, I've merged your thread with your previous tech support thread because I'm assuming the issues are continuing from the previous thread.

How did you get on with everyones advice?

Something to bare in mind is that the 780Ti is not a quiet card, so it'll never be 'quiet' however what you're describing sounds far too loud to just be 'normal' too. The card should not reach any kind of temperature at all while playing games like WoW and other less demanding titles. Just out of curiosity (sorry if I missed it in the thread) what are you using you monitor temps?

Could you summarise what you've tried so far in as much detail as possible and post your full specs? If you're up for some more fault finding I think we (being the forum and you ) should have another crack at trying to get to the root of the problem. I'm sure we can help!

 

[tom_gr7]

My computer excels in overheating running games at 140fps,

go to nvidia control panel, manage 3d settings, global settings, scroll down to vertical sync, and set it to adaptive. - you gpu will know only run at 60fps instead of as many frames as it can push out ie 140fps. Trust me, do this.

 

[steaky360]

go to nvidia control panel, manage 3d settings, global settings, scroll down to vertical sync, and set it to adaptive. - you gpu will know only run at 60fps instead of as many frames as it can push out ie 140fps. Trust me, do this.

I thought it would run at a framerate relative to your monitors refresh rate? So if the OP has a 120Hz monitor it would run at 120FPS and if he has a 144Hz monitor it would run at 144FPS?

 

[tom_gr7]

I thought it would run at a framerate relative to your monitors refresh rate? So if the OP has a 120Hz monitor it would run at 120FPS and if he has a 144Hz monitor it would run at 144FPS?

yeah it would mate, im just assuming hes got a 6ohz screen.

 

[tom_gr7]

I thought it would run at a framerate relative to your monitors refresh rate? So if the OP has a 120Hz monitor it would run at 120FPS and if he has a 144Hz monitor it would run at 144FPS?

But if he was running a 144hz monitor, the 780ti would no doubt be working near 100% to give him those frames, therefore the card would be hot and at a guess the fan would be running at 70-80% of its max rpm. I think if he was running off a 144hz monitor the only way to make it easier on the 780ti would be to add another one.

Once we know the full system specs i think it will be a little easier to diagnose a possible cause.

 

[steaky360]

But if he was running a 144hz monitor, the 780ti would no doubt be working near 100% to give him those frames, therefore the card would be hot and at a guess the fan would be running at 70-80% of its max rpm. I think if he was running off a 144hz monitor the only way to make it easier on the 780ti would be to add another one.

Once we know the full system specs i think it will be a little easier to diagnose a possible cause.

Yeah, 100% agree we cant help much more without the full specs (hopefully the OP can give them!) although to be honest the games he was describing wouldn't push a 780Ti to sweat even at 144Hz (WoW, etc.) so I'd still be a little surprised.

As you say, hopefully we can help more once we have more info!

 

[tom_gr7]

Yeah, 100% agree we cant help much more without the full specs (hopefully the OP can give them!) although to be honest the games he was describing wouldn't push a 780Ti to sweat even at 144Hz (WoW, etc.) so I'd still be a little surprised.

Yeah , I agree, the card shouldn't be struggling. On the other hand, if he's not using adaptive vysnc or in game vysnc, the card will be running at 100%. The card won't be struggling its just working as hard as possible, causing the heat and noise. Hopefully the OP has a decent case and is able to effectively exhaust the heat

 

[specialistyo]

Thanks for the replies, my specs are as follows:

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM TROOPER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4820K (3.7GHz) 10MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® RAMPAGE IV EXTREME: INTEL X79, SOCKET 2011, R.O.G
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 8GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ MODULAR TXM-750 V2-80 PLUS® (£89)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

 

[specialistyo]

When playing games, I always made sure I enabled V sync to prevent the graphics card from overworking itself. At first I used a 60hz monitor which limited me at 60 fps and caused excessive screen tearing so I upgraded to a 144hz monitor and it was smooth but far louder than hotter than before, to the point where no one could ever possibly use it. I thought it was hot when limited to 60 fps but golly- 144fps was unbearable. I use geforce experience to measure my GPU temperatures and fan speed and they were often, if not always around 82 degrees celsius in games runinng at around 1800-2000 RPM (if my memory serves me correctly, it could be higher).

On some games, it worked fine for as long as I was willing to use it, but on others, source games inparticular, it would often close and make an extremely loud high pitched noise for a few seconds, similar to coil whine. On Diablo 3, my graphics drivers stopped responding for a few seconds out of no where once and after attempting to reinstall them, I ended up finding myself on the BIOS.

In almost all games, something makes a slight grinding noise, which someone said could possibly be a PSU problem, but I am unsure and don't really have the techinical knowledge or confidence to mess with a PSU (I heard they can be white dangerous).

Overall, lots of noise and errors. I don't believe the GPU is to blame for it all however it seems to be somewhat at fault. I understand the 780Ti isn't a perfectly silent card, however when you can hear it in the next room, it is quite unappealing.

 

[tom_gr7]

well remember, any card has to work immensely hard to give you constant frames of 144hz. I'd try the adaptive vysnc as i explained about, as opposed to the ingame vysnc options. It will still set at 144frames though, so its still going to be working really hard = extra heat and noise.

 

[Boozad]

I use geforce experience to measure my GPU temperatures and fan speed and they were often, if not always around 82 degrees celsius in games runinng at around 1800-2000 RPM (if my memory serves me correctly, it could be higher).

My 780 runs constantly at 80°C when I'm gaming, I wouldn't worry about that.