I'm trying to identify a noise coming from my graphics card. It only appears when the fans are running at roughly 70–75% speed and disappears at both lower and higher speeds. Temperatures look normal, and the fan doesn't appear to be misaligned. Could this still be coil whine, or is something else causing it?
1 Answer
That pattern sounds more like mechanical fan resonance than coil whine. Coil whine usually changes with GPU load or frame rate, while a noise that appears only within a narrow fan-speed range is often caused by the fan blades, shroud, a nearby cable, or even the case panel vibrating at a particular frequency. Try changing the fan speed in 5% steps and gently touch the side panel and fan housing to see whether the vibration changes. Since the noise disappears above and below that range, it may not be considered a hardware fault requiring replacement.
It really is limited to about 70–75% fan speed; outside that range it disappears completely. The temperatures are normal, and I can’t see any obvious fan misalignment. What would you do in this situation?