The noise is really annoying in what is an otherwise silent PC - but it is far worse than fan noise - imagine an asthmatic 70 year old robot trying to have sex with a vacuum cleaner. But also there is the issue of whether or not the fans are actually working/cooling, or whether it is some other mechanical fault.
This is an intermitent problem, but it happens often, most typically but not always at system start up.
The card makes a really rough sounding noise, like a grinding, for a few seconds, then silence for a second, then the grinding noise again and so on. Might last a few minutes, it might last a few hours. It sounds more like a struggling mechanical hard drive, but I don't have any of those, and anyway, there is no doubt whatever that the vibration that accompanies the noise is coming from the card.
My best guess would be that the fans are attempting to start and failing, or something is blocking them. But due to the cramped confines of the sff case, I cannot see if the fans are turning at all. I have checked that there is nothing touching the card and that it is seated correctly.
Windows 10 pro (64) and I have all drivers up to date Driver Version
21.30.25.05-211005a-372545C-RadeonSoftware.