The coil whine on the 9070 xt is normal; consider whether to return it if it affects your satisfaction.
The coil whine on the 9070 xt is normal; consider whether to return it if it affects your satisfaction.
Hello! I built a PC fairly recently with a XFX Swift 9070 XT. I was playing around with fan curves to make the case fans quieter and loaded up cyberpunk to check the temps when gaming and heard this noise coming from my gpu (it's louder in real life compared to the video), I have already undervolted it and the fps has been limited to a max of 140. I don't think I noticed it before this because I haven't been gaming too much recently and because my fans were so loud I couldn't really hear it. I'm new to PC building so I'm not sure if it's meant to be this loud, whether I should send it back, or just accept that it sounds like this and play with headphones on. Link to the video Thanks for the help!
Manufacturers usually don’t treat coil whine as a legitimate reason for returning a product. Creating a card without it would be too costly, so most GPUs include it to some extent. Certain design choices can reduce the issue, but even with perfect implementation, there’s no certainty the new card will be quieter than a 3-year-old toy in a store. In short, you might get a quieter card, but it’s not guaranteed.
If it bothers you a lot, try changing the card and check if that helps. It could work, but it might not. The coil whine is tricky to identify because its source isn’t clear. Swapping the card may eliminate the issue, or your next card could share the same problem if the root cause lies elsewhere, such as faulty wiring in your home. In the end, it’s just background noise. Coil whine doesn’t damage your equipment; it’s merely unpleasant to hear.
I also own a 9070 XT (powercolor hellhound) and it's mostly quiet, though some games create that coil whine you hear—it doesn’t damage the card. If it bothers you, you might want to cap the maximum power usage... certain situations still let it sound this way for me.
I've already configured the -10% power cap in AMD's software, thank you!