Vlada011
Sometimes is not even PSU or GPU, and other things could whine, CPU area, motherboard.
But if someone install Graphic card with huge power consumption and start to hear some noise he start to curse graphic card usually.
I write here two times... two guys both GTX970 and one whine other not.
But when they change graphics only to try what happen both cards whine in one RIG in other both cards are silent.
I don't know how many people RMA graphics only because of that completely normal, and when manufacturer replace that to someone who need to RMA graphic people complain why card is not brand new... But what manufacturer to do with normal card with only few days work if someone back them...
 
 

iru_platoon
Sorry to reply to an oldish thread but looking for advice on this subject matter, i have recently like less than a month ago purchased a 1000w EVGA Supernova G2 psu, and im getting coilwhine in headphones when running games, i RMA'd my EVGA 980TI and it came back yesterday, i rmad it because of coil whine, and when i did that i decided to replace my psu to rule that out also hence buying the EVGA G2, but once again when fitting my replaced brand new 980ti last night, still coil whine, is it possible ive been unlucky when replacing my corsair psu to the evga one that ive got another psu with coilwhine or is there other possibilities?

yogibear1234
You can't skimp on the PSU.   

ty_ger07
Filtered Pulse Width Modulation is what regulates the voltage. Your PSU, GPU, and motherboard (providing individual power to the CPU, DRAM, and chipset) all use PWM.

The "coil whine" will not necessarily be coming from any particular source; it could come from any of those sources. But, the GPU typically is the source of noise because it is low voltage (around 1 volt) at high wattage which equates to higher amperage than the other PWM sources.

The PSU is obviously pushing out the same combined wattage to the motherboard, GPU, and other hardware. But the PSU is providing power at higher voltage (primarily 5v and 12v) which equates to lower amperage flowing through the PWM voltage regulation filters in the PSU.

Inductors in the voltage regulator circuitry are coils of wire which are part of the output filtering which vibrate due to pulsating magnetic fields generated as current flows through them. You can hear them vibrate like a speaker if they do at a high enough amplitude.

Preventing coil whine is ultimately up to the manufacturer when they design the hardware. They can either use higher quality components which are less likely to make audible noise, or add more power phases so that less current is flowing through each specific phase thereby reducing the amplitude of the sound.

Interestingly, since the PSU is providing PWM regulated and filtered output to every part of your computer, the CPU, DRAM, chipset, and GPU effectively have two layers of PWM voltage regulation to them. A low quality PSU with "noisy" voltage output (poorly filtered), can aggrevate the PWM voltage regulators on the motherboard and GPU. Coil whine on a GPU can sometimes be dramatically reduced by purchasing a better PSU which has more stable voltage output.