GTX 260 216 SSC vs. GTX 275?

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Filburt

Weaksauce
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Nov 29, 2006
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I have an SSC at the moment (55nm, 216SP), and it squeals rather loudly at high FPS (e.g. F@H, loading screens, etc.) and is basically driving me nuts. I even get some buzzing during gameplay when FPS is high. I think one of the reasons I can hear it so easily is just that I went to great lengths to make the rest of the computer quiet (and my room is quiet), so it stands out easily, unfortunately. I'm thinking about either RMA'ing the card to get a new one and hope it doesn't squeal, or getting a GTX 275 and hoping it doesn't squeal (haven't seen much info on whether they do). Well, I'd at least settle for fairly quiet squealing if I can't get "no squeal." It's mostly this obnoxious fairly loud squeal that is getting to me.

Anyhow, I'm wondering if the 275 will be appreciably faster. This SSC 260 is clocked at 675 Core/1453 Shader/1152 Memory. I'm also wondering about heat on the 275, as it may be in a 32C+ environment during the summer at times (no AC :().
 
its not worth upgrading to a 275, it will probably only give you a few extra frames.

the whole squealing thing happens on tonnes of video cards, i think thats just how they are a lot of the time.
 
Okay. Well mine is so loud I really need to try for another one as it seems there is some variability. I'm pretty sure mine is near the extreme side of the spectrum as it really wails during loading screens, and I do get some faint buzz while gaming if my fps are fairly high.

However, I was just wondering if I'd gain much going to the 275 in terms of performance. The cost to me will be roughly the same either way, so it's mostly an issue of balancing whatever gain in performance I might get with 30-50W power consumption (depending on the review I read) and apparently 15-20C higher temps at load.
 
Fillburt you're worrying too much about the squealing. Almost EVERY inductor coil squeals like that at an uncapped framerate.
 
Impulse said:
This squealing is audible over the GTX 260's own stock fan?
Click to expand...

Yep. This one really goes for it; more than I've heard from other 260s. I can't cover it up with 100% fan :p

Okay, so it's sounding like the 275 won't give a major speed upgrade. It's hard to gauge what to expect based on the reviews so far due to changes in drivers, other aspects of the test rig, etc.
 
Realistically speaking, the 275 might let you eke out a bit more AA in some games, but you really won't see a huge performance jump... If it's not a huge bother you might just be better off RMA'ing it than eating the cost of an upgrade (barely), though I'm not sure what you'd have to tell EVGA for them to take it. :p
 
What do you have your fan set at ?

I can hardly hear mine with my ear right next it.

I do hear a very faint whine on mine too, its normal.
 
If it were faint, I'd probably just ignore it. I can put the fan to 100%, though, and it's still plenty audible from my chair with my computer a few feet away. At least based on other cards I've heard squeal, I'd say this one is definitely on the louder side of things, to the point of being unpleasant :/
 
Artic Cooling has a aftermarket cooler you might consider. Especially if your going to be operating it at 32C Ambient!
 
Okay, so I bit the bullet and switched to the EVGA GTX 275. Just received it. Damn thing squeals too! >_________________>

This is the third GTX card now that I've tried that has done this. I feel like I can't catch a break. Before anyone asks, yes I've tried the cards in other computers (completely different brand/model motherboard, psu, etc.)

*sigh*
 
Man, crappy overclocks too, based on looking at this: http://en.expreview.com/2009/04/07/...-gtx-275-overclocking-benchmarks-roundup.html. I can only get to 702/1566/1188 stable...usually; it crashed once even then (EVGA precision won't let me get in between 1188 and 1215, and 1215 sometimes crashes on benchmark stuff). Guess it's a lemon :(. Also, oddly, it seems this card was flashed with the Superclocked bios instead of stock, even though I bought the stock card. The default speeds on it are 648/1458/1188, which are the Superclocked figures. And I noticed that the plastic wrap that is normally on these new was missing. I think maybe this accidentally slipped through the QC cracks.

In all honesty, though, if it didn't squeal I probably wouldn't even care about this latter issue, but it is kind obnoxious on top of the squealing >.<
 
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The squeal might just be your power source...you said:
"Before anyone asks, yes I've tried the cards in other computers (completely different brand/model motherboard, psu, etc.)"

Were these other computers plugged into the same power source as your computer or did you take the card(s) to someone elses house? I'm thinking you may not have "clean" power at home....

I had a PSU that squealed and it was a bad ground on the circuit I was tied into....

I just opened a EVGA GTX 275 last night (have not installed it) and it was missing the usual plastic film over the fan/cooler and had a few finger prints and scratches on the fan/cooler...QC must have had the day off...
 
I tried other computers in the house. I guess I could try another house, although, I have a headphone amplifier that doesn't employ GNFB so its PSRR is quite low, and yet I haven't had any noise problems with it.

The PSU itself isn't squealing; it's just the card. That's odd that you had the same QC weirdness. Does your card have the wrong BIOS on it as well?
 
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