FX5900 Scroll noise/card buzzing swept under the carpet?

Ruined

Now that the flickering is fixed in the 45.33 drivers, and with all the focus on the DX9 performance issues FX5900 has, I'm guessing the scroll noise/card buzzing issue will get swept under the carpet. Especially when NV38 will be out in 1-2 months and will effectively replace NV35 - I doubt Nvidia will continue to spend resoruces on fixing NV35-specific problems. Not cool.

Zardon

Veridian3 has seen this same issue in testing a gainward FX5900 ultra. not very good at all. im sure he will comment more when he sees this.

Ruined

I have researched the problem in many boards. It apparently affects all brands. I have the problem on an MSI FX5900 non-ultra. One or two out of the large amount of people fixed the problem by switching PSUs, but for the most part it seems unfixable (I am currently using an Antec TruePower 430w). eVGA and Gainward have both given responses, eVGA just stating it "has something to do with the voltage across the card when it does a blit," while Gainward's response had something to do with the components, but stated it was normal for their FX5900 cards for the noise to occur. In other words, its sounding like a hardware problem that they cannot fix. Let's hope Nvidia comes up with something.

Veridian3

Ruined,

Did you find the 45.33 reduced the scroll noise for you at all?

Stu

Ruined

Veridian - if it has improved, only slightly. It's still very audible. BTW, here are some URLs with more discussion on the issue:

http://www.evga.com/community/messag...X+Family+Forum

http://www.evga.com/community/messag...X+Family+Forum

http://www.evga.com/community/messag...X+Family+Forum

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/e_serv...id=9&styleid=1

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/e_serv...id=9&styleid=1

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...threadid=14388

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=633813

dipstick

I can only hear it if I put my head next to my case. You guys running dells or something
But really, it's bad for most. Hope they find a fix soon if possible

Ruined

My case (Antec 660AMG) actually has a fan on the side panel next to the video card, so I can hear it easily through the fan.

My concern here is that the noise problem is a hardware issue Nvidia will not address, and it will just be forgotten about when NV38 comes out.

dipstick

I know its bad man, I was just playing around But I too think its on a hardware level and cannot be fixed. I mean look at how the flickering was fixed; by lowering the fan speed and adding 10c to the cores heat at idle. Not very good solutions IMO

Down1oader

omggggg i was wondering what was causing tht stupid noise, now i know... oh well the graphics card has gone to where i bought it from bein tested for bein shit. if they find its shit i think i can get an ati

Veridian3

HI, i was well aware of the issue as the first revision Gainward i had was REALLY loud when you scrolled however I must be fortunate with the card i now have. The 45.33 made the noise almost dissappear...i can now only hear it when i take the case side off and sit with my head right next to it. i.e. its normally not a problem with those drivers.

The card i'm using currently is a new revision Gainward 5900U so maybe they also changed something in hardware to assist with the driver fix.

I also have a 5900nu sitting in a box here so i'll check that out later, see how its affected.

The official line from Nvidia is:
"it is caused by inductors clicking/resonating when the user scrolls"

However as i'm sure you know the issue occurs in some games when scrolling doesnt happen. I have been told by NV and Gainward that not all cards are affected. What i would suggest is you RMA your card to see if you get one that is fixed by the drivers or a newer revision thats fixed entirely.

Stu

EDIT: Are your 2 boards reference design or the makers own design?

Ruined

Well, like I mentioned above my case essentially has a hole in the side next to the graphics card, so I'd hear any noises from it. Anyway, when scrolling I can still hear the noise, and when I use the scroll noise test program the card screams as loud as ever. Now, let me interject that my card is not as bad as others who say its sounds like they hear bats when running games, etc... I just get a faint whooshing/buzzing when scrolling. However, it is there, and annoying - plus buzzing is associatied with $20 sound cards and cheap computers, not $400 video cards.

That is true, and it's also apparent that its fixable by changing PSUs or improving the quality of the line that feeds the board on some boards. It sounds like there is a substandard part they chose on the reference design which varies in quality from board to board.

Unfortunately I bought the card (only have one board) when FX5900 first came out, so its far too late to RMA. I figured it would be fixed in BIOS or drivers since everyone seemed to report the same problem at the time, and based on Nvidia's past track record of making things work (bad move). I have an MSI FX5900 non-ultra 128mb (non-reference), so I'd have to deal with them. I went with the MSI because the noise the turbine fans make when idle is irritating to me. The scroll noise is less of an irritation and more of a "Hey, my $400 card in my $2000 computer shouldn't have this problem" annoyance. I carefully built the computer to be as standard as possible, too. Intel brand mobo (865PERL), intel CPU, Mitsubishi 2070SB CRT, etc...

Ruined

OK, I just did some driver testing and 45.33 most definitely does reduce the loudness of the scroll noise, but it is definitely still there.