Hello gents,
I decided to replace my failed AMD 7870 with another blower style GPU. EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked P/N: 04G-P4-1972-KR was my choice.
It works well, it plays games well. I'm happy with the performance - EXCEPT... The fan makes a terrible sound at all times. From HWMonitor, my idle temperature is 27 degrees C (with fan speed of ~1200 rpm/29%), and 40-50 degrees under load - very reasonable in my opinion. The fan makes a "Cessna prop plane in the distance" or "vibrating cellphone on a hard surface sound", but at a deeper pitch, essentially like a growling 2-stroke motor in the distance. I have had several complaints from people that my computer is loud, even from adjacent rooms. With 2000 rpm it just adds that familiar jet engine air sound on top of the fan's idle noise. My ancient GTX 8800 blower or the more recent AMD 7870 HD both made little to no sound without load, and a faint jet engine when gaming.
I downloaded EVGA PrecisionX to tweek the fan RPM to a lower value, but it won't go below 29% or 1216 rpm. I stuck my finger to interrupt the fan during idle, and the noise was totally gone. The problem is definitely isolated to the fan motor.
I then opened up the card and took a closer look at the fan motor. I can appreciate how easily it is dismounted and wired up, well done EVGA - if only it also worked well. When spinning it by hand, it makes a ratcheting sound, which is not at all present in the fans of my previous cards, which both make a buttery smooth rotation. The EVGA fan also wobbles by several millimeters in the Z-axis when facing upwards.
I tried to find an online reference to the motor specifications so that I could buy a replacement one, but have failed to do so. I really don't want to bother sending this card back to newegg Canada just because a silly fan makes a horrid noise. Any help is really appreciated.
post edited by gtx970gpu - 2015/01/31 16:13:13