Carbonshape
Did you already checked the fins of the cooler? Only one bent fine can cause something like that too.

Carbonshape

Graphite8five
[...] I'm getting the impression what I'm describing is not normal?

No, but it's not a drama.
 

Carbonshape

Graphite8five
[...] I'm getting the impression what I'm describing is not normal?

No, but it's not a drama if the card works good, except for the sound.
 

 
Edit:...

Graphite8five
I think you mean fixed properly in the Pcie slot? Well yes I always make sure it clicks in firmly...
 
I took the card out today and had a look. The heatsink fins don't too bad, there are two small bends in a couple of fins as shown in pics below. I was able to tighten the fan screws a very small amount but I would not say they were loose...
 
I'm not sure what rjohnson11 is referring to about the wall socket so I can't investigate that. The hum is still very much the same and engages in the 60-70% fan range. Interestingly the mem fan will cause a loud hum right on 63-67% or so but then disappears at around 70%, so it's very certain points in the rpm range range that they will hum... Of course on an auto fan profile they constantly cycle through those exact rpm points causing the annoying hums.
 

https://s4.postimg.org/yjekoxoql/20170725_170235.jpg
 

 
https://s2.postimg.org/da..ky1/20170725_170450.jpg

Graphite8five

SystemsOgreLoad
Would you be able to ramp up just one or two fans at a time to see if that fan causes more noise than the other?

Yes I have already done this. Both the mem and pwr fans when adjusted individually start to hum at the same rpm range of 60-70%. The GPU fan does not appear to hum like the Mem and Pwr fans but does whistle a bit at around 70-80%. The hums from the two other fans are very loud.

Graphite8five

SystemsOgreLoad
 
 
hmm.. so it's not individual fans then. Do you have another build you could test this in? I'm wondering if it just has bad acoustics in your case with that specific card. If you hear the same noise in other cases, I'd try contacting EVGA support and see if they could help you out.

Yes it is individual fans, for example if I turned both the GPU and MEM fans completely off and manually adjusted the PWR fan up to 60% this is the point where that fan will hum. Similarly if I disabled the GPU and PWR and adjusted the MEM fan up to 60-65% this is also the point where that fan hums. Both will hum at the same time if running together further amplifying it. Interestingly there are ranges above and below 60-70% where they won't hum, so it's really in that 60-70% range... 
 
Case acoustics is quite possible, I had a similar issue with my 1070 humming and whining but the characteristics were slightly different.

Graphite8five

SystemsOgreLoad
 
 
Any chance you could breadboard and see if you hear the hum? Might be a bit of a pain tho. Would help eliminate case acoustics as the culprit

Breadboard is a new one for me, do you mean removing everything from the case and running it on the bench? That would be a mission... I can try running without the side panel but I'm almost certain the acoustics are in the card itself... 

Graphite8five
So I've got the side panel off and the MEM fan only running at 67% where it creates a constant high pitch hum. There is where it gets tricky, sitting back 3 feet from the case is where the hum is most noticeable (heard) Moving into the case and putting an ear in, the hum shifts and is not easily heard so close in. It is like the fan is whistling over something but I'm not sure what, put your ear right up to the fan and the hum is not heard compared to 3 feet away...
 
Edit: The hum is still heard inside the case but appears to be difficult to pinpoint.
 
The MEM fan is definitely the worst. Right on 65% it literally sounds like the hum from a vacuum cleaner. 65% the hum pitch increases but then at 70% the hum drops off to a much fainter hum, so why it only affects those rpm ranges the worst is interesting...

Graphite8five

wmmills
 
 
Get a paper towel tube and put one side to your ear and the other at different spots in the case where you think the noise is coming from to help pin point it. Usually with fans that are thinner, like the ones you have and that have been on other cards like the 560ti I have, at around 72% fan speed the fan noise starts to get loud-ish and it makes a slight whine. That wouldn't be unusual. You can mitigate that a little by putting foam pads inside your case and on the side panels. Noise will reflect very easily off of flat metal surfaces.

Thanks I will try that as soon as a paper roll tube is free! Yes the fans on the 1080 Ti also start getting loud at 75-80% with a slight whine which I would consider normal, but the loud hums in the 60-70% range seem unusual. 
 
With the usual location of the GPU where is it most likely to reflect noise? My side panel is mostly perspex (Obsidian 450D) I guess any other metal surface is a candidate? I have some closed cell foam that I could apply to the side panel but I'm not sure how effective it would be as there's not much area to apply too.

HD0087
I have a 1080 Ti FTW3 and at 1150-1200rpm my GPU fan makes a high pitch sound as if my neighbor was vacuuming, the other two are fine at all speeds.
I've reseated the card several times, checked the cooler shroud/fins and the fan does not appear to have any other visible clearance or bending issues either.
This annoying vacuum like noise inducing RPM also happens to be the first default fan speed at boot up so custom software fan profile is not an optimal workaround.