KNClausen
Hey,
 
I recently bought myself a new GPU, specifically a EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3. It seems like the card works, however the fan is emitting a strange and annoying sound. I have tried to capture a short video. Please read the summary before watching.
 
Link:
https:// www. youtube.com /watch?v=TgB2N13a1AM
 
Summary of video:
I start with all 3 fans shut off.
I then start the left-most fan; works fine. No weird sound.
I then start the right-most fan; again – works fine. No sounds.
But, then I start the middle fan, and it should be pretty clear that it makes a weird sound. Starts at around 0:30. 
I then shut of the other to working fans to ensure that it's the middle fan that is causing the sound.
 
My thoughts:
It almost sounds like a locust is living inside my PC. And it's a quite resonating sound; I can clearly hear it no matter how I position my PC. I have tried to contact EVGA, but they're not responding, which is rather disappointing since I paid $800 for the card. At the moment, I can't really say that I'm satisfied with my purchase. This sucks.
 
In my opinion, a fan should be able to run for thousands of hours before developing any kind of issue, however it seems like my new GPU already has an issue with one if its fans.
 
My question:
I would like to know the underlying issue that is causing this weird sound from one of my fans on the GPU, and if it's cause for concern. Also, do you think this ia cause for a RMA? After all, this issue is affecting the way I feel about the product.
 
Thanks in advance.
 

That's strange EVGA is usually quick to respond. I'd think a squeaky fan would be intolerable and is clearly a RMA issue. If you purchased from a retail store, can you do a swap for a new card? I'd go with whatever route is cheaper. Generally speaking there's nothing you can do for a noisy fan that lasts.

HeavyHemi
That's strange EVGA is usually quick to respond. I'd think a squeaky fan would be intolerable and is clearly a RMA issue. If you purchased from a retail store, can you do a swap for a new card? I'd go with whatever route is cheaper. Generally speaking there's nothing you can do for a noisy fan that lasts.

 
I did purchase from a retail store, which is what worries me. They might not agree that this is an issue. But I don't know how EVGA feels about it, so I hope that I will get a response from them.
 
 

Sajin
Youtube says your video is unavailable. Might give this a try to see if it helps fix the sound or not.

Damn, my bad! It should work now. Also, I will check your link now. 

We will likely need to help you out directly with that issue.
I do not see the FTW3 registered to your account. Please register at EU.EVGA.com > Service > Product Registration then open a Support Ticket from that same Service menu.
 

Wall of text... tl;dr. Decided to RMA the card to retailer. Both EVGA and retailer was very helpful. I'm very thankful and I will post an update when I get the new card. :D
 
A little update. :D EVGA got back to me and they were very helpful. They apologized for the inconvenience and assured me that they could exchange the GPU due to the unfortunate fan noise, but suggested that I should do the exchange at the place of purchase if the retailer was able to do that. If not, I could just send the card directly to EVGA. At first, the retailer did not wish to exchange the GPU, but the retailer suddenly had a change of mind later that day. The retailer even put aside a new card for me, which is quite nice.
 
I'll post an update when I get the new card. I just hope that the new GPU isn't affected...
 

AHowes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgB2N13a1AM
That sucks. If you like that card, hopefully they will let you just swap the coolers with a card they send you.. if your willing to remove just the cooler off ea card to do it.
Either way within 30 days of purchase they will send you a new card. After that it would be a refurbished card.
Ask for cross ship!

Honestly, I don't care that much about the specific GPU. If it boosts up to ~1900MHz, that's alright for me. I just want a GPU that works as intended. Being able to overclock to 2GHz doesn't mean that much to me. 
 
But yeah, you were completely right about EVGA. They offered a new card and cross-ship, if I paid collateral. :D 
 

AHowes
I will say if it was me.. it sounds like the ball barings. I'd carefully take the whole thing apart to remove that fan and be dropping the fan on the table till they went back into place. Spinning by hand to check.

That would be an option after the warranty ran out,other then oiling it.

I'm sure evga will be there for ya!

Yeah, I think you're right – it must be the ball bearings. At this time, I don't really want to take whole thing apart, but I will give it a try if the new GPU has the same issue. 
 
I've heard that some ball bearings can be made worse by oiling them. Have you heard of anyone oiling their EVGA fans?
 

EVGATech_RayH
We will likely need to help you out directly with that issue.
I do not see the FTW3 registered to your account. Please register at EU.EVGA.com > Service > Product Registration then open a Support Ticket from that same Service menu.

Hey! No, I haven't registered the card yet - and at the moment the card is at it's way back to the place of purchase. Still, I can PM you the Serial number, if that would make any difference. I chose not to register the card before I was sure about whether this was cause for RMA and whether the retailer wanted to help me.