ASUS TUF Nvidia 3080 clicking noise "fixed" through RMA

Topaz Video AI General
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Update: Nevermind, the problem seems worse than before. My very first test on the system was silent. But then when I tried today, the annoying clicking sound returned. This is still an issue (details below). Maybe I have a voltage problem in my system. My PSU is 660W platinum Seagate (wattage calculators show I’ve got a little headroom).

Just in case this affects anyone here.

Problem description:
In most use cases my ASUS TUF Nvidia 3080 (non OC version) worked flawlessly. I started hearing some annoying, intermittent clicking sounds while running Folding@Home workloads (but only certain models). Then, the same noise occurred whenever I would try to run Gaia HQ models.

Troubleshooting:
Everything you’ll find on-line about clicking noises and these and similar cards all suggest this is due to improper fan curves (where they keep clicking off and then on). I quickly ruled that out by manually overriding to 100% fan speed. (The clicking was some kind of electrical relay or capacitor or something) I went back and forth with ASUS service; they weren’t always helpful but they always kept the thread going over a couple months. I eventually just told them that if they can’t “replicate the problem” then there may be something wrong with this specific card. (The faulty card was a Rev A, and I’m unsure about the hardware rev of the replacement)

The Fix:
I RMA’d and they replaced with a different 3080 card that does not have this problem.

If anybody has any questions about the process just ping me.

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Reduce voltage using MSI afterburner curve will solve the issue. It happened with my RTX 2080Ti all the time. Same with my dual RTX 3090. Reducing the voltage helps reduce power draw + thermal + psu noise.

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Hi, viktorz. Do you have a good undervolting process? There are a lot of examples on-line. I tried one of them and I still heard the clicking sounds. For the MSI Afterburner settings I checked Unlock Voltage Control (“third party” in the dropdown menu), Unlock voltage monitoring, and Force constant voltage. Are there any other settings I need to change? (Or are any of those wrong?)

Do I need to reset my system after applying settings? This seems like it should be simple but for some reason it doesn’t seem to be working.

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I don’t really know how to fix it completely. Sometimes I can still hear it. I’m about to replace my power supply soon. You can set the Curve Editor, hold the Ctrl key and drag the voltage curve down a bit. See if the noise goes away. Reduce the power limit also. You gotta have to sacrify a bit of performance if you want that noise goes away.

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What’s your PSU wattage?
I’m currently running 660W (Seasonic Platinum).

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I’m using Corsair HX1200, but the system will shut off at 800-900W or something.

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Hey taylor,i have the asus tuf 3090 oc24g and I’ve been hearing the odd click noise as well. Normally when I stop gaming and return to the desktop I hear a click. At first I thought it was my PSU but after some more observation it seems that it is the graphics card everything runs perfect except that click sound once in awhile. What did Asus tell you about it

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I believe it is normal to have that noise. I used 3 different graphics cards, all of them had the same issue. I have no idea why. It’s like a GPU’s design. Especially when using tensor cores.

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Oh okay I figured it must be normal because everything works okay

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ASUS just got tired of fielding my support inquiries and did and RMA replacement. I’m a bit confused on how they claim to be unable to replicate the “problem”, and it certainly appears, at least in this thread, that it’s somewhat common.

The replacement had the same exact issue. However, for whatever reason, in my very first test it was rock-solid and quiet for several seconds (so I assumed it was better). Then subsequent tests were back to clicky-clicky. It’s only with certain loads/models though.

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Okay I figured it was normal. So if the second one they sent you did the same thing I won’t bother with an r m a as the graphics card is working properly with very good temps. I don’t want to be without a GPU while I’m waiting for another one to come in

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It’s just a Nvidia GPUs behavior, called coil whine. I don’t have AMD GPUs so I can’t test it. But I can confirm that this is normal. I heard some people talk about it. Just ramp up your GPU fans to reduce that noise. I use 2x RTX 3090, so I can use “reduce machine load” to reduce the noise. The higher voltage, the louder that noise is.