XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog Weird Noises

[Derek_dm]

Hi Guys

Just to let you know I Bought a XFX 8800GT Alpa dog link no 20820 form scan as part of a big order.

I am happy with everything but the xfx has a strange problem!!! When ever I start a game or anything 3D like 3Dmark the CARD starts to whine and buzz. Yes I know what your gonna say its the fan but its not. I can touch the middle of the fan and slow or stop it and the noise is always there. My pc is really quiet and this noise is really annoying

I thought I was going nuts until I did a google search and guess what it seems Im not the only person with this problem

Look on the XFX forums at bjorn3d

Seems Im not allowed to post a link to the problem so you will all have to search for your selfs Im afraid but thats not the only case out there. Have Scan had problems with these cards before.

What do you suggests RMA the card and get another one or go for another brand of 8800GT

Thanks in advance and keep up the good work

[Lee H]

If you log this with the technical/returns team at the link Here They will assist you in getting this issue rectified accordingly.

Best Regards,

[Nomadd]

Hi Guys

Just to let you know I Bought a XFX 8800GT Alpa dog link no 20820 form scan as part of a big order.

I am happy with everything but the xfx has a strange problem!!! When ever I start a game or anything 3D like 3Dmark the CARD starts to whine and buzz. Yes I know what your gonna say its the fan but its not. I can touch the middle of the fan and slow or stop it and the noise is always there. My pc is really quiet and this noise is really annoying

The best you are going to get from Scan's "Test Team" is "no fault found."

I've just returned a BFG 8800 GTS for exactly the same reason; a guy on another forum had returned 3 (!) before he got a good one. As I returned my card immediately, I enclosed a note stating if they considered "no fault" then I didn't want the card back but a refund. I'll have to take the hit for the postage, but I'd rather that than live with a noisy - and IMHO faulty - card.

Not got my refund yet - seems to have been stuck at the "Credit" waiting stage for a few days now. No idea how long it takes Scan to do refunds? Anyone know? (my RMA Number is 175335, just in case someone from Scan would care to investigate.)

Nomadd

[Disturbedguy]

Nomadd refunds if i remember correctly take between 3 - 5 working days.

"The best you are going to get from Scan's "Test Team" is "no fault found." "

In my opinion that line insinuates that SCAN dont test the items returned and simply say any product returned isn't fault, which I personally feel is untrue and unfair, ive returned an item before that was found to be faulty and have seen others return items and had them found to be faulty.

You need to give SCAN the benefit of the doubt in these situations as for one were not there to see them test the products and I have every confidence in that SCAN test products that are returned and believed to be faulty.

I think it would be unprofessional of SCAN not to test returned items which in turn would be pointless and would lead to more posts such as yours, in other peoples threads.

[Derek_dm]

Thanks for the Info Nomad

I was thinking about swapping my xfx for another manufacturer anyway but I cant see scan testing the my card and saying its not faulty. Surely nobody would judge that the noises these cards are making is normal.

Either way Im not keeping it.

[Agent]

Surely nobody would judge that the noises these cards are making is normal.

Hi Derek

I did a post over here about common causes of noises from cards. Sadly, a noise doesn't always mean its faulty even though they can be _really_ annoying.

[Derek_dm]

So it seems some manufacturer's are making some substandard video cards with cheap components.

It kinda puts Scan in a difficult position trying to sell these and then when people buy them like myself they have to try and convince people who have spent hard earned cash that they are fit for the purpose we bought them for.

Surely buyers can be expected to accept that buying a card that turns out to be noisy is normal and we should accept them. We should not be penalize by having to pay postage for sending them back.

Scan should just send them all back to the makers and maybe then they will realize that making cheap cards doesn't pay for itself.

If you buy a washing machine for example and it squeaks all the time when washing your clothes you don't accept its as being normal just because it still washes your clothes okay.

I have tried to post on the bjorn3d.com XFX section of the forum but posts are not accepted unless they are approved by the moderators. It seems they are trying to avoid any difficult questions because I tried to ask them if any of the XFX staff were aware of this problem and were willing to admit there was problems with some of their cards.

[Nomadd]

Thanks for the Info Nomad

Surely nobody would judge that the noises these cards are making is normal.

Either way Im not keeping it.

Well, they did in my case. I hope you get a different result. I have my fingers crossed for you.

If not, then, like me, just take a refund. As you say, some of these cards are just way too noisy. As customers, we shouldn't have to put up with this, no matter what the reason (and, of course, it's not Scan's fault - they don't make the cards.)

My first "graphics card" was a black and white, build it yourself jobbie for the Sinclair ZX80! God knows how many cards I've owned since then - and none of them have made the racket the 8800 GT/GTS cards seem to be making - and like you say, it's not the fan. Of course, some of them must be OK, as they are selling quite well; either that, or people in general just have much noisier PCs and don't care about it. Who knows?

Nomadd

[Nomadd]

In my opinion that line insinuates...[snip]

Your insinuation was wrong.

What I was highlighting was the very real possibility that Scan will stick the card in one of THEIR machines and it may not show the same fault. That's what happened in my case. Then what are you going to do? You're not going to take the card back, just because someone else considers it has "no fault." I was merely giving the OP the benefit of my experience in recent days on the very same matter.

The noises these cards make - see Agent's post - can vary from machine to machine, card to card. For the record, the rest of my machine was purchased from Scan, and all of it decent components:

Corsair HX520 Power Supply
Intel Core2Duo 3.0 GHz with standard HS/Fan
ABIT IP35 Pro mobo
WD 500GB Disk drive
Corsair RAM (4GB)

There is no reason at all why a graphics card in that spec. of machine shouldn't run quietly without a lot of electrical noise; after all, all of the above components run quietly and faultlessly. I'm certainly not blaming Scan that the graphics card isn't quiet, but it doesn't mean customers should have to live with it. And, of course, Scan have offered a refund, which I'll gladly take. Still, it doesn't stop me being peaved at the card and the loss of two sets of postage in "trying" it out. Guess I'll have to write to nVidia for a refund of postage!

Anyway, here's hoping the next round of nVidia cards will be quieter.

Nomadd

Ps. I will no doubt be buying it from Scan. Just in case I have to return it!

[Derek_dm]

BTW Nomadd I have read your other post about the noise your card makes and guess what. I have also noticed that my card makes the same noises while in the menus on Crysis.

You can just about play a tune jumping from menu to menu!!!And yes I agree it does go quieter after a while playing but it still shouldnt do it.

As yet I have not read any reviews on 8800 cards and the reviewer has had this problem.

I might add this is not the only game this happens to but it just so happens it was a game I was testing the card out with at the time.

[Derek_dm]

If I replace my card with another one not XFX I was thinking about the Asus 512mb 8800gt top version link code LN21321

It is out of stock just now can someone from Scan tell me if you will be getting them in again and if so will the price listed be the price or if I was to pre order it in.

[Nomadd]

BTW Nomadd I have read your other post about the noise your card makes and guess what. I have also noticed that my card makes the same noises while in the menus on Crysis.

You can just about play a tune jumping from menu to menu!!!And yes I agree it does go quieter after a while playing but it still shouldnt do it.

As yet I have not read any reviews on 8800 cards and the reviewer has had this problem.

I might add this is not the only game this happens to but it just so happens it was a game I was testing the card out with at the time.

Exactly. This was why I posted my reply above to DisturbedGuy.

Scan's "Test Team" were given very specific places in games and test cases for my card. The "notes" on my RMA suggest that the Scan guys tested the card in Crysis - hopefully following the detailed notes I supplied? - and yet claim "no fault", which I find a bit strange. As I say, it may just be that it doesn't do it in their test rig? Still, having read around, it does seem to be a known "fault" or "feature" of some of these 8800 cards.

Still, I'm happy to wait it out until the next generation cards show up. I've put my trusty 8600GTS back in my rig for now and it's beautifully quiet. Bliss.

Nomadd

[Derek_dm]

So whats the story then Scan Why do we have to accept that some of us might be unlucky enough to get a noisy card!!.

Why when some of us have quiet pc's should we have to put up with a noisy card. I know its not your fault you only sell them but why cant you just return them as faulty to whoever made it in my case XFX.

Then they might take notice if retailers like yourself stop selling their cards if you have so much hassle with returns.

So would I be right in saying manufacturers like Asus, Msi and Gigabyte who are all approved Nvidia subcontractor should make better cards ie not noisy with substandard components than ones like XFX and BFG who are only licensed to produce cards

[phearfactor]

I recently sent an email to Inno3D asking about this, as my GTS does the same, totally random. Some people have said turning vertical-sync on fixes it, but it doesn't seem to work for me. Anyway, I have basically asked them whether I should be worried about it, or if this is quite normal for it to happen.

For anyone who thinks its nothing because they don't know what it is, check out the youtube video named "BFG 8800GTS 512MB OC - Noise" its exactly the same noise (I cannot link it unfortunatley) - it is very loud, louder than the fan thats for sure, not something I would consider acceptable anyway. Never had a card make that sort of racket before, I am just glad mine doesn't do it constantly like some peoples do. Mine only does it once or twice a week, rebooting usually fixes it for me.

Nomad have you tried contacting the manufacturer? For things like this which are so random its probably better of going direct to the manufacturer as they will likely know of the issue and just replace it.

[pauleden]

YouTube - BFG 8800GTS 512MB OC - Noise

[Derek_dm]

Its not really good enough is it.

So is the problem down to bad design, Cheap components or are they not put together properly.!!!

I dont suppose we will ever get an answer to that question.

I wonder if anyone with an approved Nvidia subcontractor Ie Asus and msi Had this problem as well with their Video card