See if it will go away with a burn in, say for 24 to 48 hours running Heaven4 Non-Stop.

I have similar problem with 970 FTW. With no load it has no noise and works fine. When playing game it has like screech..screech.....screech sound. Framerate is ok, but game jams for couple of milliseconds when this noise starts.. periodically. It makes FPS multiplayer games unplayable. Frame rate is set to 60 with EVGA PrecisionX 16. Makes no difference. Looking for solution.

If an upgraded card is also doing the same thing, it may be time to look at the PSU.

Sometimes the PSU can cause the coil whine, and getting a better PSU may help.

Before you say, "but it's brand new" that doesn't always matter. Quality is the biggest portion of that. What model do you have right now? I had coil whine on my cards when I pushed near the limits of the power supply. Once I backed off, the whine would go away.

Another thing would be to test your patience and do an overnight burnin of the card. Open Unigine Heaven with max settings and just let it run in a loop all night. That will apply stress and then reduce stress, causing the components to "break in" and the noise to reduce.

i also had bad coil whine on my evga 970 sc but called evga taiked 2 joey and now will being steping up my 970 sc  for the 980 acx just need 2 send my 970 sc out today i swear jacob and joey are so very helpful and always there 2 help with anything this is why i stay with evga cuz i can trust them and thay have your back  

i did not even bother with a rma went with a step up 2 980

Just thought I'd chime in as a user with a card that doesn't whine. They do exist!
GTX 970 FTW+
1512 core boost / 1320 core base (+105)
4775 mem (+635)
1.127V (max/+87mV)
@ 30C idle / 68C max recorded - with stock FTW+ fans
mobo: Asus P8Z67-V PRO
CPU: i5 2500k @ 4.7GHz OC
PCU: Rosewill Lightning 1,000W
HAFx10 air-cooled case

Scarlet-Tech
Something, NOT THE GPU, is the problem.

As someone about to go to their fifth (preparing to send the fourth back), got any advice on what it may be then?
 
I've tried nearly everything I can think of. I've tried reinstalling drivers, moving the card to different PCI Express slots, and even removing extra peripherals (like the sound card, but also all but the needed storage drive). I've tried setting my mildly overclocked system to stock. I've even tried a second PSU (the current is an EVGA SuperNova G2 750, and the other tested was a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610) and a second system entirely (on a separate outlet, with a different kepyboard, mouse, and display, no less). I've tried something as silly as plugging my display into the other output connector.
 
Meanwhile, every other graphics card behaves fine for me in my system (other than my EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 'cause it died; I wish it was just back cause I'd be happy enough with that at this point just to be out of this nightmare). It is only the GeForce GTX 970s that do this for me. They do this in the Windows Experience Index. They do this in Crysis. They do this in Aura Kingdom (a relatively undemanding MMO). They do this in The Sims 3. They do this in Minecraft (at 80-some FPS; I'm not playing at thousands of FPS in that game). It's very minor, but they even do it with the Flash (when it changes, namely) on EVGA's home page! It's ridiculous. I wouldn't care if they did it only in benchmarks, 'cause I don't care for those. I do care when I'm trying to play something even like The Sims 3 or Minecraft and my graphics card decides to sing a song. This is the most I payed for a graphics card and it turned out, by absolute far, to be the worst purchased one.
 
The noise is originating from the graphics card area, not near the PSU and not near the CPU.
 
So, you were suggesting it's my system? It's easy to see that card after card do it and presume it's the system, and that was my thought too when the second (the first return from RMA) behaved the same, but if you have any advice I didn't try already, I'm listening, 'cause right now I'm stuck in an endless cycle with RMA with no hope and I'd love to find the answer. I've just frustrated myself trying to figure out what could be causing it. If I can't find an answer, I will have to just take the return I'm on at the point I decide to give up, and turn around and sell it second hand, taking the loss of both time and money. If it comes to that, EVGA and probably nVidia too will likely be off my list of brands I consider. The sad thing is, I hear other brands, including on AMD's side, have issues with this as of late too. I don't know what the heck happened these last few generations or so...

Besides what Scarlet-Tech suggested, something that worked for me was leaving an older less GPU intensive game that runs at 500 fps+ on it's menu screen for 20 mins to an hour, but that would probably only work if the coil whine is actually related to high framerates.

Scarlet-Tech
OK, before you send another card back, how often do you use the computer? How bad is the coil whine? Is it a light whine or severe?

You should try a burn in. Unigine Valley or Unigine Heaven are both free, so grab Heaven and turn it on to the highest settings you can. Turn vsync off. Let it run all night at least. The longer the better.

If you have tried other power supplies, which is often a secondary cause of coil whine in a gpu, then you should stress the gpu until the components wear in.

The 750G2 should be more than efficient, depending on what else is in your system. It would seem that you are anywhere near a threshold for power though.

I use the computer quite a lot.
 
The intensity of the coil whine varies.
 
It's most minor during Flash in the web browser and some of Minecraft's menu. If this was the worst of it, it'd be tolerable.
 
It's crossed the line of annoying in games like The Sims 3 and Crysis.
 
Minecraft and the Windows Experience Index are absolutely terrible. It varies with both as the load changes too, so to make it worse, it's not a constant pitch or noise, but an ever changing one.
 
I haven't tried "burning it in". That's the one thing I haven't tried. I'm not fond of even having to do that (it should be fine out of the box to be honest), especially since one's EVGA sent me that were referred to as "burned in" behaved exactly the same for me. My PC is in my room, so I'd have to sleep with that horrid noise though (or forgo using the PC for the day).

Premise
but that would probably only work if the coil whine is actually related to high framerates.

I only know a limited bit about this, but from what I've read and come to understand, it's not about how many frames the GPU is rendering, but rather the load put on it.
 
My own experience makes me believe the same too. In Minecraft, when I looked straight towards the sky, my frame rate goes into the hundreds, but the sound of the coil whine completely disappears. Once I look level to the horizon and it was rendering something other than a skybox (the frame rate around the 80s in one example I recall), it started making a terrible sound. Oddly enough, looking at the sky but just ever so slightly adjusting my view to make the tips of a few leave blocks in view, the sound started too. Yet, looking at the ground, which is rendering blocks, it made no sound. Minecraft is especially bad as the sound varies a lot.
 
Either way, it's not the frame rate itself that causes it. This is why the "use v-sync" parroting is not necessarily an answer. In some cases, throttling the frame rate lowers the demand on the GPU which might change the sound of the coil whine (perhaps even to become inaudible in some occasions), but it's not a real fix.

Scarlet-Tech
When you go to work, or school, or out to dinner, leave it running on a heavy benchmark that can loop so that it puts full load and reduces from. Full load during different scenes.

You don't have to sleep with it if you let it run that way.

With how many cards you have tried, I would really wonder if the issue is coming from another place, like the PCIe lane voltage, or something causing the card to be noticeable.


You do say that it should not be a problem out of the box. Unfortunately, every single card has coil whine, it just varies how noticeable it is. Yours is obviously noticeable.

What motherboard are you running, and does it give an option for a molex or PCI cable connection in the bottom. Left corner or just above PCI lane 1?

Do you have a sound card or anything like that?

I'm using an ASUS P8Z68-V Pro.
 
 
As I said, I have a sound card, but I tried without it (and in another system without it).
 
I know coil whine technically exists, and many (or all) graphics cards technically exhibit it, but I'm not worrying about technicalities but rather my own practical results. I've never really heard it worth mentioning before (when it was, it was seldom [like, I can only recall one point that it did it seldom] and minor, and not in actual gameplay, not even in menus), yet every single GeForce GTX 970 exhibits it in a very wide range of uses and to a very high extent, and although I haven't been able to compare them side by side, all four I've tried so far seem to do it to roughly the same extent/degree. That's what makes me hopeless about trying more, but yet I've tried varying everything I can think of on my end to rule stuff out, so I am lost and hopeless. I don't seem to be the only one in this situation and all we're told is "check your PSU" or "use v-sync" or "you're the minority so the cards are fine". The former I've seemingly ruled out (as have others), the middle isn't actually a solution nor the problem, and to the last, good for those who have no noticeable issues with them but that helps me, who does, how?
 
I will not use a product that behaves this way for me (I'd go insane), but the graphics card, even if it's every one, is the constant so far, so sending it back and trying is all I can think of. I've frustrated myself trying everything I can think of! I don't know what else to do. I have no other answers for a situation like this. I am both lost and hopeless, and let me tell you, it is terrible.

bluelink129
I have pretty bad coil whine on my FTW+. Even at idle it makes a hissing noise but when in game it will start to screech badly. Should I RMA it or just deal with it? I had the original FTW and that also had bad coil whine.

That is very unfortunate. The FTW+ should already have a reduced risk of CW. Try to RMA and get a new one. Helped a guy in another forum to exchange his FTW+ via RMA to get rid of the CW.

I just realized the title says the ftw+, as I read it as the ftw the first time, so I apologize for that.

If you have the ftw (non +) it is the same as the ftw+ but slightly less expensive. The only thing you would have to pay is shipping, if the cost of the ssc is lower than the cost that you originally paid for the FTW.

If you have the ftw+, then exchanging/RMA the card may be the only try until you get one that is pleasant for you.

Essentially, you are the end user and you have to be happy with your card.

Could you take video or audio recordings and link them by posting it to youtube?  
 
And please, vent.  There is no reason to hold in the frustrations honestly.  Hopefully a cure can be found eventually.  
 
What would your options be for upgrading away from the 970?  is there a possibility of maybe selling it and getting a 780ti or a 980?  I know both will cost more money out of pocket, but it may give you some relief from the coil whine itself.
 

Duped.

claytonma

Scarlet-Tech

claytonma
Man I'm on my 5th 970 card and it still coil whines so badly. RMA is not helping. These cards are just flawed. I know nvidia has to use cheaper parts for this model, but damn you over did it this time. It's like 19 out of 20 970s will have coil whine.

Something, NOT THE GPU, is the problem.

Nope. I tried my friends g1 970 and it does not coil whine. If anything, evga needs to copy gigabyte and issue a revision for this card.

I sold this card btw. Worst gpu purchase in history for me.

Did you have problem only with coil whine or was there other problem you had with this card ? Also 980s suffer from coil whine as far as I know...