Any AMD GPU users with latest drivers noticing a clicking in their GPU only while using Wallpaper Engine?

[CodeLuffix]

I went through hell to figure out what was causing clicking in my computer, ranging from buying a brand new PSU, replacing my GPU (with another older AMD), stopping fans, and almost yanking my brand new motherboard out for RMA. The thing is I unplugged my GPU and ran the PC on integrated graphics and it ran perfectly fine. So I knew the issue was either my GPU or MOBO.

After replacing my GPU and it still happened, I was about to pull out my motherboard when I started closing programs. As soon as wallpaper engine was closer, the sound stopped instantly. Started wallpaper back up again and the very rapid clicking came back. It's not wires or cables hitting a fan either. I can benchmark, play games, rev up my fans. Nothing makes the clicking noise except for running wallpaper engine.

I've seen other google threads about similar experiences and possibly being AMD related. But as far as I know, WE is the cause, whether or not they need to apply compatibility with AMD is what I'm trying to figure out.

Anyone else with AMD experiencing anything similar? I tested this on a R9 Fury and R9 280. Both had the issue. If WE is the only thing causing it, I can't blame my motherboard. I'm thinking it's either WE itself or an AMD driver issue.

[Tim]

This sounds like a rather weird issue and it cannot really be an "incompatibility" with AMD in Wallpaper Engine - that's just not how that works. If it was a widespread issue, it would have come up before for sure but you are the first person to describe anything like that from what I can remember, so I am fairly certain it must be some issue with your hardware (even if that sounds like an easy cop-out but we literally have millions of AMD users without any issues).

You should check where the noise is coming from exactly, it's obviously hard to say without hearing it but I have not come across any GPU noises aside from coil whine which is usually more of a higher pitched tone rather than a clicking noise. The fact that you also get it with two completely separate GPUs makes it even more unlikely to me.

The only way a clicking noise really makes sense to me would be cables being stuck in some fan or maybe an old-fashioned hard-disk drive dying a slow death. Some higher end sound cards or sound chips can also have a physical switch that turns on when sound is being played, that would be super crazy if that was the case but you could try and disable audio in Wallpaper Engine and see if the issue continues.

Why that would not happen with other apps - I am not sure, maybe it's because it only happens at a certain power level or because games use more of your CPU which changes something about your fan speeds.

If you're handy with PCs, I would just open it up and really try and locate the source of the sound.

[Bruhsty]

The only thing I had similar to this (while I had amd) was beeping sounds, it was caused by Anti-lag feature, but I doubt that's it.

[CodeLuffix]

Originally posted by Tim:

This sounds like a rather weird issue and it cannot really be an "incompatibility" with AMD in Wallpaper Engine - that's just not how that works. If it was a widespread issue, it would have come up before for sure but you are the first person to describe anything like that from what I can remember, so I am fairly certain it must be some issue with your hardware (even if that sounds like an easy cop-out but we literally have millions of AMD users without any issues).

You should check where the noise is coming from exactly, it's obviously hard to say without hearing it but I have not come across any GPU noises aside from coil whine which is usually more of a higher pitched tone rather than a clicking noise. The fact that you also get it with two completely separate GPUs makes it even more unlikely to me.

The only way a clicking noise really makes sense to me would be cables being stuck in some fan or maybe an old-fashioned hard-disk drive dying a slow death. Some higher end sound cards or sound chips can also have a physical switch that turns on when sound is being played, that would be super crazy if that was the case but you could try and disable audio in Wallpaper Engine and see if the issue continues.

Why that would not happen with other apps - I am not sure, maybe it's because it only happens at a certain power level or because games use more of your CPU which changes something about your fan speeds.

If you're handy with PCs, I would just open it up and really try and locate the source of the sound.

I built this computer myself, so I am fairly confident in my ability to open it up, but that's exactly what has already been done. I sent an email to your customer support @ [e-mail] a few days ago with a couple videos you can listen too (have to blast the sound to hear it due to google storage quality, but it's there). The title of the email is "Clicking GPU/Motherboard ONLY when wallpaper engine runs" to help you find it easier.

Anyway, my thought on it is voltage. I did some testing with HWINFO having my PC idle with WE on and off. It seems like it's spiking the voltage to max without affecting anything else.

Not sure if a discord link works, but check this out. (left is without and right is with WE on)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/271167549343793155/919386630555570196/unknown.png

[Biohazard]

If you have this issue with scene type wallpapers perhaps the driver is doing this due to fluctuating clock rates. Wallpaper Engine typically doesn't require a constantly high GPU load because of the default low FPS limit and maybe this makes a fan turn on and off and that's where the noise comes from.

If you have this issue with video type wallpapers then it's likely a general issue with hardware accelerated video playback, which inherently isn't used by many applications. Windows media player would use it for example but most games don't need it at all.

Fundamentally we are not doing anything out of the ordinary and using standard DirectX rendering APIs for scene wallpapers and standard Media Foundation APIs for video wallpapers. We are not doing anything AMD/vendor specific so there is no layer where compatibility could be lacking from our end. I don't know if you sent the full log before, but if you didn't yet we might still be able to suggest something if you send it to [e-mail] : https://help.wallpaperengine.io/debug/scantool.html however, this isn't something we can influence by making changes to the program, if anything we might be able to suggest trying to change some settings or trying different types of wallpapers.

[CodeLuffix]

Originally posted by Biohazard:

If you have this issue with scene type wallpapers perhaps the driver is doing this due to fluctuating clock rates. Wallpaper Engine typically doesn't require a constantly high GPU load because of the default low FPS limit and maybe this makes a fan turn on and off and that's where the noise comes from.

If you have this issue with video type wallpapers then it's likely a general issue with hardware accelerated video playback, which inherently isn't used by many applications. Windows media player would use it for example but most games don't need it at all.

Fundamentally we are not doing anything out of the ordinary and using standard DirectX rendering APIs for scene wallpapers and standard Media Foundation APIs for video wallpapers. We are not doing anything AMD/vendor specific so there is no layer where compatibility could be lacking from our end. I don't know if you sent the full log before, but if you didn't yet we might still be able to suggest something if you send it to [e-mail] : https://help.wallpaperengine.io/debug/scantool.html however, this isn't something we can influence by making changes to the program, if anything we might be able to suggest trying to change some settings or trying different types of wallpapers.

I did send the log before. Would you like me to send it again? I'm open to any suggestions. I'm also going to contact my motherboard manufacturer after work tomorrow about the possibility that the PCIe socket might be damaged somehow.

[Biohazard]

Thanks, I got the log now, so you don't need to send it again.

I think you should try to check what is causing the noise as it is most likely a moving part and probably a fan. Like I mentioned, a fan might be turning on and off periodically because Wallpaper Engine just pushes it beyond the threshold where it will turn on. Then the solution is to pick a combination of settings and wallpapers so that the fan never turns on or change the settings so the fan keeps running at an RPM where it doesn't make noises.

If it turns out to be a fan for sure then of course you can also replace it with one that doesn't make noises at certain RPM levels or when it turns on since that's how it should ideally be. The most obvious fans are the GPU fans but perhaps your motherboard has fans as well.

[Tim]

It's hard to hear from the videos you shared, but if it's the noise in the beginning of the file titled "20211210_200435.mp4" then I am also almost certain it's not an electrical component but rather a fan grinding onto a piece of plastic or something, I have had the exact same noise with a case fan when it was grinding on a PC case due to a minuscule bend in the plastic.

It's obviously hard to assess in a video with boosted volume levels but I really don't think this is directly related to our app (or any software for that matter) at all and related to a fan grinding onto something.

[butcho]

I know this is not related but sometimes my Enermax power supply produces a coil whining when running Wallpaper Engine, and it happens only with WPE. I can render stuff with a 100% load on two GPUs, play games on ultra settings, no whining at all. I did all kind of tests trying to reproduce this but no luck. Maybe it's a combination of gpu load and memory / core clock rate because WPE is not stressing my gpu to the max like a game on ultra does. I got used to it over time, no problem but weird that it only happens when I run WPE.

[CodeLuffix]

Originally posted by Tim:

It's hard to hear from the videos you shared, but if it's the noise in the beginning of the file titled "20211210_200435.mp4" then I am also almost certain it's not an electrical component but rather a fan grinding onto a piece of plastic or something, I have had the exact same noise with a case fan when it was grinding on a PC case due to a minuscule bend in the plastic.

It's obviously hard to assess in a video with boosted volume levels but I really don't think this is directly related to our app (or any software for that matter) at all and related to a fan grinding onto something.

I think you guys were right in that it was triggering a certain component which caused the rates to go up. I contacted my motherboard manufacturer and provided much clearer audio to them which can be heard below. This is with all my fans turned off long enough to record a good segment.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/271167549343793155/920137563434532874/Recording_2.m4a
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/271167549343793155/920137563648454686/Recording.m4a

I noticed in a heavy load I was also hearing an electrical buzz. Asus told me it's definitely NOT normal and I should return the motherboard for a replacement. Not exactly what I wanted to hear since I just installed windows and everything else on the board, but I guess it has to be done.

Thank you all for helping in trying to understand all this. I knew it was odd, because I used WE for years without issue, was just odd I noticed it with only this program.