I kinda suck at making up topic names, so bear with me :)

Does anyone have any ideas why my card makes that "high pitched" noise at some games? I started KOTOR (for the first time, figured I should play it..) and the video card started to make the sound. Same thing was with Minecraft, but it was remedied by ticking the "limit framerate" box, so it might have something to do with that. Some intro videos also cause that..

With newer games (DA2, Mass 2 and such) it's not making the sound (it does increase the fan speed, but that's a different sound). I'm rather worried that the card may die on me if I continue to play while it's screaming out loud :)

So, ideas?

I own GF9600GT and have the same issue. From I've read on Nvidia forum this occurs in "places" when 3D mode is enabled but you get LOTS of frames per second (like 3D animated game options screen). I didn't find any solution to this.

I too once had a 9800gt and it would make high pitched noises for any game at one point. Then it started to fail on me so I got a new one. I read once that 9800gt cards get preety hot under load compared to some nwere ones.

Only thing screaming in a video card is the fan.
You sure it's not the fan's noise? If the game is very demanding it might push the card to its limits and so the fan spins even faster.

If your 9800 GT is with its stock fan, they are pretty crap(depends of the manufacturer, but in general they are). I used to have 8800 GT factory clocked and the fan was like a turbine, annoying little thing, same time useless piece of junk. I had to buy a new one, not only cause of noise, but because the card was reaching 90C on some games.

There are no other moving parts on video card except the fan.

To be honest, I really don't know. But it only happens when I play "older" games. I think it has something to do with the framerate or something. And the sound is very different from the "fan is speeding up" one.. I don't know how to explain it. It just sounds different :)

Does it stop the noise if you check the limit framerate -box in minecraft? It stopped for me...

Hmm then this mean that the elements on the card are making the sound which is no good. :(

If its the fan an easy way to find out is run the game without the case, when it makes the noise stick your finger in the fan to stop it.

I haven't tried - it's only on the title screen that I get the noise so it's not an issue. Some searching indicates it's fairly common for the GTX 260, and I imagine that if the problem occurred in game then limiting the frame rate as you suggest would fix it.

I'm guessing it's to do with the capacitors, I believe they call it 'cap whine'. Nvidia forums generally claim it to be harmless, but as a word of caution when my 8800 GTS broke it had been making a similar noise to what you describe while playing 'some' games for a little while. I RMA'ed it and got a 9600 GT, and that made the same sound from the start - it then broke 3 months later in the exact same way. I RMA'ed that one and got another 9600 GT which was silent apart from the fan, and that one is still working 2'ish years later.

Maybe coincidental, probably is, but I'm just posting my experience and the fear I show towards that sound - maybe what you're hearing is completely different, who knows. For me it was a sort of dull buzzing/high pitched hybrid noise, leading eventually to 2d artifacts -> dead card and ~£18 postage to RMA it to Germany.

Edit: found someone discussing it on Nvidia forums, http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=95206 where he says it's quite common.

I was very disappointed with my 8800 GT(lock ups, artifacts on some games, while others ran flawless) and now I see another problem plaguing 88xx/99xx and even newer video cards.
When I decided to change the card I choose Raden HD 5770 on intention, I was so scared of NVIDIA lol

If you google 9800gt noise you'll find a lot of people having similar problems - usually traced back to the fan. It even gets some videos on Youtube such as this one and this one.

Yoiu could try cleaning the fan of any dust. Also Rivatuner may help you set the fan speed to limit noise.

http://www.evga.com/precision/

Keep checking your temps on the on screen display during games, you'll know if it's a temp issue or not. Also, enable v-sync in the nvidia control panel, the 200+ fps you MIGHT be getting in game menu screen overworks your card to breaking point.

Yeah I completely understand that fear, if something ever goes wrong now I get super paranoid that the card is going to break. I think it turned into a weird obsession for a while of monitoring the damn thing after the two breaking so close together.