9600pro Grinding Noise on start up

niceguyrichy · Apr 9, 2005, 07:52 PM

Have a new Radeon 9600 Pro, using only the stock fan supplied with the card (see the 'VGA Silencer problem' thread for more on that!), and every time I start my computer up it makes a rather horrible grinding noise which stops after windows has finished booting.
The card hasn't been overclocked (yet), and seems to work absolutely fine (I can play Condition Zero on full res for hours without complaint), but I can't figure out what's causing the excess noise on start-up. Initially thought it was the CPU cooler, but I replaced that and the computer still shreaks every time I hit the power button.
My only theories are that I got a dud graphics card, or that my power supply is on its way to electrical heaven (which would be a shame, it's a 4 month old TruePower 380 W silent PSU).
Any theories would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

Zardon · Apr 9, 2005, 07:55 PM

Its been a long time since I used a 9600 pro, and it depends on which model and bios you are using, but it sounds to me like the bios isnt auto levelling the fan speeds, its working on a driver basis.

Sounds like its nothing to worry about. the 6800s in my SLI rig do that as well, they are just operating on full fan speed until the driver loads, then it adjusts fans according to temperature.

mkk · Apr 9, 2005, 09:35 PM

It's possible that the fan bearings are slowly going bad. I would be more likely to suspect that thinking that most 9600's probably don't have active fan regulation, though perhaps yours do. If it is indeed going bad then the fan may work well enough for quite a while, but could on the other hand stop rotating at all fairly suddenly. If you could have a replacement cooler at hand then at least you would feel safer.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Apr 10, 2005, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkk

It's possible that the fan bearings are slowly going bad. I would be more likely to suspect that thinking that most 9600's probably don't have active fan regulation, though perhaps yours do. If it is indeed going bad then the fan may work well enough for quite a while, but could on the other hand stop rotating at all fairly suddenly. If you could have a replacement cooler at hand then at least you would feel safer.

I was thinking along those lines, his fan shouldn't be making that noise....
When it stops making noise is he sure the fan it isn't stopping???

Might be a good reason to RMA it or replace the fan your self.

niceguyrichy · Apr 10, 2005, 12:21 PM

The fan is definately spinning all of the time the computer is on, of course I don't know how fast, or effectively it's spinning. The system is a sort of 'working progress', so I haven't quite got round to a fan controller/monitor yet.

Been meaning to get myself a new Artic Cooler for a bit now, so I'll order one and see if that does the trick.

By the way, I have PowerStrip installed, don't know if that has anything to do with it???

Apr 9, 2005, 07:52 PM	#1
niceguyrichy hunter of tablets Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: spread all over my keyboard.. Posts: 6,860 Rep Power: 302 System Specs	9600pro Grinding Noise on start up Have a new Radeon 9600 Pro, using only the stock fan supplied with the card (see the 'VGA Silencer problem' thread for more on that!), and every time I start my computer up it makes a rather horrible grinding noise which stops after windows has finished booting. The card hasn't been overclocked (yet), and seems to work absolutely fine (I can play Condition Zero on full res for hours without complaint), but I can't figure out what's causing the excess noise on start-up. Initially thought it was the CPU cooler, but I replaced that and the computer still shreaks every time I hit the power button. My only theories are that I got a dud graphics card, or that my power supply is on its way to electrical heaven (which would be a shame, it's a 4 month old TruePower 380 W silent PSU). Any theories would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Apr 9, 2005, 07:55 PM	#2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Its been a long time since I used a 9600 pro, and it depends on which model and bios you are using, but it sounds to me like the bios isnt auto levelling the fan speeds, its working on a driver basis. Sounds like its nothing to worry about. the 6800s in my SLI rig do that as well, they are just operating on full fan speed until the driver loads, then it adjusts fans according to temperature.

Apr 9, 2005, 09:35 PM	#3
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,481 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	It's possible that the fan bearings are slowly going bad. I would be more likely to suspect that thinking that most 9600's probably don't have active fan regulation, though perhaps yours do. If it is indeed going bad then the fan may work well enough for quite a while, but could on the other hand stop rotating at all fairly suddenly. If you could have a replacement cooler at hand then at least you would feel safer.

Apr 10, 2005, 12:21 PM	Thread Starter #5
niceguyrichy hunter of tablets Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: spread all over my keyboard.. Posts: 6,860 Rep Power: 302 System Specs	The fan is definately spinning all of the time the computer is on, of course I don't know how fast, or effectively it's spinning. The system is a sort of 'working progress', so I haven't quite got round to a fan controller/monitor yet. Been meaning to get myself a new Artic Cooler for a bit now, so I'll order one and see if that does the trick. By the way, I have PowerStrip installed, don't know if that has anything to do with it???