Hopefully this thread helps others in some future point of time:
I am convinced that the "coil whine" is a result of the recent power surge I had, which was due to electrical work in my home. It fried my expensive DAC (exaSound e38 Mark I; I've upgraded to a Mark II at a discount - thanks to George at exaSound and Teddy Pardo). Prior to that event, all was well. As @jmone indicated, power surges can cause damage that is not always obvious.
I've since replaced my Dectet power strip from PS Audio with a ZeroSurge (10R-1U-20W-I - #002-00153) which uses a different and better tech than MOV circuit to prevent surges from damaging equipment. Time will tell... ZeroSurge is what is used by SurgeX for those familiar.
In any case, with the ZeroSurge, I've noticed a decrease but not eliminated coil whine on the GPU. Ratcheting back the scaling in madVr eliminates it and honestly my aging eyes can't tell a difference. My mind however remains pissed
. Such is life!
Suffice to say this thread is a cautionary tale: if you have expensive audio equipment, either disconnect it from the outlet when not in use, or invest as I did in some expensive equipment - and hope it lives up to its reputation!
Cheers and thanks for those that assisted.