Graphics Cards

[Grifil]

Hi everyone,

I've got a brand new 6900XT since less than a week. Everything is working fine but I'm having this issue since yesterday...whenever the fans start spinning, probably, one of them, makes a very short, grind like, clicking noise, then It works fine at whatever speed it spins. I thought it could be something like a wire touching but that wouldn't make much sense as the noise would be continuous..I checked the fans and they look pretty stable, not wobbling.

I don't really know if I should worry or not, but it doesn't sound normal.

Could it be that a fan is just slightly loose and therefore unstable on cold start?? Should I try tighten the little screws underneath the fans? or what???? Thanks for your help 

[smithchrism]

I have the exact same issue.   Just for a second or so.  I installed my new 6900xt 5-6 hours ago and just now noticed it when doing some tuning outside a game (I guess game sound hid the sound earlier).  

After that initial second and the fans get up to speed, the fans sound fine.

It is getting late.  I may open the case sometime tomorrow to see if I see anything in particular.

It has been 4 weeks since you posted.  Have you since found out what was causing your problem?

[Grifil]

Hi! It really sounds like my issue! Well, it still goes on, I tried to carefully analyse the fans to see if they could be loose or maybe touching a wire, but everything is looking just fine! Except that small ‘’burst’’ noise, they are absolutely quiet, even from really close distance. It only happens when they start spinning from zero! I just don’t understand why…

[smithchrism]

I took my 6900 out of the case and looked things over.  I couldn't find any obstructions.  I even used a small screw driver to make sure the screws holding the fans in were tight.  One or two were slightly loose.  Slightly tightening them did not resolve anything.

Let's label the fan farthest from the back edge of the case, the one towards the middle of the case on the opposite end of the monitor connectors, the third fan.

Watching the fans run with my case's cover off, it appeared the third fan ran slower than the other two.  Is this the case with your 6900 I wonder?  Since it appears to run slower, I wonder when the fan kicks on if it initially just slightly longer for it to get up to speed. 

I've encountered fans in the past where they were like that, taking slightly longer to get up to speed.  On their initial start, they would make some noise.  Perhaps they are out of balance and the backside of the fan is rubbing against something.  Upon reaching speed they return to balance and stop making that noise?

Have you considered RMAing your board?  I bought mine off ebay.  I have no idea what to do about it.  Ebay has a 30 day money back guarantee I'm wondering if I can leverage.   I have some pondering to do.

Since you card has ran fine for four weeks or so, this gives me hope all is well with the card and will stay that way for the near future.

Thanks,
Chris Smith

[Grifil]

Well, it could be a balance issue, but it could also be a motor noise in my opinion, however I managed to see, like in this YouTube.  VIdeo about 6800xt that it might be a common noise for this kind of fans/motor...Just listen carefully when they start spinning, I'm sure I'm not imagining it.

I could notice this sound even on a friend's 6900xt (he didn't notice it though... his Aio pump noise was really loud, and he had to stay really close to it in order to hear it).

Probably people are not noticing it because of loud ambient sound...

That said, my card is running absolutely fine and fans are really silent and working perfectly. I never thought about RMA (I bought it on eBay as well, but I got all the AMD's mails and order receipts, so it shouldn't be an issue at all in case of RMA).

[smithchrism]

That video is an excellent find.  I agree; it's doing it when the fans start up.

I'll pay attention to it.  I'm in the beginning stages of thinking that is no big deal.  I've got 30 days or so to change my mind.

I noticed one that about that vid and some others: the sound of the card is WAY lower than mine.  Mine sounds like a border line hoover vacuum cleaner!  After paying attention to the sound and researching the 'net, the video is making me think I've got a different problem.  I believe my fans are running almost 100% all the time even if the Radeon software says it is only running at 500 RPM or so!!  

I'm seeing on the 'net where others had this problem.  Some reinstalled Windows.  Some used DDU to uninstall the drivers then they reinstalled them.  They seemed to fix their problem.  I've got some work to do when I get home. 

[Grifil]

Yes, you should investigate that! Mine is really silent!