MSI's new chokes and power design to stop the Nvidia GTX 260 and 275 from squealing.
COMPUTEX 2009: Personally I just want to say, hurrah for MSI because it's a shame Nvidia didn't learn how to stop its GTX 200-series from making the coils inside a PSU squeal like a baby powered from a 230V source sooner.
After reporting the problem to Nvidia, we were greeted with denial - it was unable to replicate the problem - until we sent readouts from an oscilloscope, displaying the interference shooting back up the PCIe power connectors into the PSU.
MSI has solved the issue by researching and sourcing different chokes as part of its customised PCB power design for its Lightening series of graphics cards.
With a ten power phase design (up from six) on this GTX 275, the yellow chokes are not environmentally sealed copper coiled over ferrite cores - the
whole thing is ferrite with the coil firmly sealed inside. For the size, this also increases the power density, affording better performance claimed MSI.
The disadvantage is that, if you already own a GTX 200-series graphics card and want to get rid of the annoying squealing, you'll have to buy a new card. If you haven't already bought a GTX 200-series card then you might want to hold off, but it's worth noting that the MSI Lightening GTX 260/275 series won't be that price competitive since it has a large bundle of unique features.
Discuss
in the forums.
30 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplySilly Nvidia for letting this go though. Is there any chance of it killing anything?
Still, if MSI have a card that is guaranteed not to squeal... that is a good thing.
Would be very interested in the 275 if features match the price (like better cooling) and its not out too late.
Now my 4870 does it as well but again only when loaded, i've just ignored is as something that comes with the territory but having said that the X800 has just bitten the dust with power regulation failure (it still initialises but says it needs additional power to be connected no matter what you do).
the two power supplies I've put on and all cards since the g80 8800gtx haven't had this problem.. but heard plenty that have and there's even video of the noise
I've made a few reviews of this issue on youtube. Just search for Power supply squeal and you will likely find my reviews. The squealing is directly related to framerate. The reason some of your games do this and others don't is because some of your games have vsync enabled, and some don't. Enable Vsync on all of your games and the noise will dissapear. You hear it on 3dmark because we never enable vsync on 3dmark. If you really want to drive your nuts, make sure vsync is off and use ATI Tool artifact scanner, or the main menu in stalker.
"Drive your nuts" should be Drive yourself nuts. LOL
Thats what used to make my X800 go crazy, when it was churning out about 130-140fps OC'd but even though it doesn't work i tried it out on my 4870 and it was the same thing.
Then again, after only a few months the heat has the sticker on the cooling solution peeling back and the fan bearing makes a nasty noise for a few seconds when it powered on from cold! (its a Sapphire 4870 512MB)
* How likely is this problem to occur in a given build?
* Which parts or part combinations are more likely to have this problem? And how likely would such a potentially problematic combination be to actually having quality issues that cause the noise?
* Which parts or combinations can be safely relied upon? (i.e. is there a power supply with some kind of extra filtering, avoiding the problem, a whole brand of unaffected graphics cards, etc?)
* Is there some kind of filter that could be installed into a troubled system, to better condition the signal and avoid the problem? If so, would this create other issues for the system? (e.x. would messing with the power going to the graphics card create instabilities, etc.)
Getting solid answers on the above would make for an excellent article!
Thanks!
every time i start a 3d app i get some really bad squeeling coming from the psu. the game runs for about 2 minutes then crashes. after this the squeeling stops obviously. I dont know if its the card of the psu. i cant run any 3d app :(
XFX GTX 260 black edition
powercool 750w psu
4gb ddr2
amd phenom 9550
You can hear form which component it comes from by sticking your ear on each device.
It can also be the motherboard.
I disagree with your statement about the PSU. I recently purchased a Corsair HX850 and it makes a buzzing noise. I thought it was defective. I received my replacement which was also brand new and it too makes the noise still.
It has to be the video card. Some sort of feedback on the powerlines.
The problem is that the GPU is giving a LOT of FPS so, just limit them...
HOW?!?!?!
Vertical sync.
Go to nvidia's control panel and force on vertical sync and also turn on Tripple buffering and you are done.
O btw... my Graphic card is a BFG Geforce 260 gtx and tested this on a 500 watts and 650 watts PSU.
Good luck to you all!
problem is vsync makes in game input lag in a lot of games id prefer to have on screen tearing and the noise