I was wondering if anyone has heard of this issue and if it's something to worry about. I just noticed that when my PC boots up, right before the Windows 7 logon page is displayed my 5870 clicks twice. It also clicks once when it shuts down. They are pretty audible clicks, and it's always there on startup and shutdown. I've tried different power supplies, motherboards, and the clicks are still there. I don't believe the clicks were there when I was running XP, but I'm not 100% sure about that. Is this something I should worry about? Should I RMA the card? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
you sure it's the gpu? have u taken the side of the case off and listened as it's booting/powering down to isolate the noise? (dont get 2 close those fans can be painfull )
I'm pretty positive it's the GPU. The clicks are perfectly in sync with video/monitor changes. Right after it says Starting Windows and the lights swirl to form the Windows logo, when it makes the transition to the log on screen, it clicks 2-3 times. When I shutdown, right as the screen goes black, it clicks once. They are identical clicks every time. What's really strange, is that it doesn't click while doing anything else. I can play Battlefield Bad Company 2 all day and not hear a single click.
i reckon it's hdds. my pc does a clicking in vista but after that nothing. it's as the windows logo appears i think... could be gpu but i dont think so. anyways i been running my pc with a 5870 for months and no issues yet
I have an SSD for my HDD so it doesn't make any noise. It's just really odd that it only does it at those two points. I'd imagine if there was a problem with the card, when it's under load, it would crash or click or something. But it only does it on startup and shutdown.
The GPU has no moving parts except the fan so I would suspect the fan spinning up is causing the clicks. You could probably test if its the fan by stopping it spinning while the system boots for a moment.
I understand that, but it's definitely coming from the card. I've replaced the motherboard, cpu heatsink/fan, psu, hdd, and the sound still remains. The only good way to explain it is that it sounds power related. Like the card is switching modes or something and it's making an audible noise. I'm going to try disconnecting the case fans and removing my sound card since those are the last parts I haven't checked, but I'm 99% sure it's the GPU, so I'm up for any suggestions if anyone has any. Also, is there any way to disconnect the fan on the card without removing the heatsink assembly?
but if the clicks only happen at startup and power-off and then when the pc is running u have no problems what's the biggy? if u have stress tested pc and gpu over many hours just carry on.... i am 95 percent sure it's nothing to worry about that's ofc if u have done all the necessary stability tests.
Try to use furmark and see if it clicks. If it does then the clicking sound comes probably from coils. You can try to RMA it then but to calm you down I can say that my 4870 have been clicking for 2 years and it's perfectly stable.
I'll give furmark another run today when I get a chance. It's been stable for me so far, but I was just concerned that the click was a sign of failure. But after hearing that yours has been running for 2 years while clicking, that's a bit more relaxing.
I wanted to comment that I've isolated the clicks to the sound card Xonar STX (PCI-E). The STX clicks twice on startup and when changing between analogue out settings. The sound card proximity to the GPU may be causing the confusion. Although, I don't know anything more about the problem than the (probable) source. EDIT Perhaps this will help. If its your sound card, the clicks are perfectly normal (although I didn't hear them before I reformatted a few days back). http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/469384/xonar-essence-stx-clicking-noise-when-switching-mode
