Video card induced noise interference

O

OutKlast

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
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I figured I would try over here. I'll include a video at the bottom. Basically, I get intense audio interference when my graphics card is running full tilt. The noise pitch changes based on rendering method, screen size (windowed small has a higher pitch versus windowed larger), movement within the game. I have tried two different sound cards and the on board all exhibit this noise with the internal cards picking up more noise and more ambient noise. The onboard only produces noise when doing game stuff.

I read a thread over in the audio section that basically boils down to the point that there is nothing you can do about it. Any thoughts? Would a USB based soundcard avoid this issue? Surely, with all you hooligans running over volted and over clocked video cards I can't be the only one dealing with this problem.

Video showing the noise. Sound muted. I'm only minimizing the window I never close BF3. You'll notice the noise disappears when the game is minimized or closed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7cJqEtq4a0
 
Does your sound card have electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding? (basically a metal plate that protects the sound card from interference)

You could try moving the should card down a few slots from the graphics card if possible or rigging your own EMI shielding.
 
my pci-e slot went bad giving me that interference noise. I originally thought it was my sound card and got another one and it did it too.

I have been using a USB Recon3D for almost 10 months and its been great. plus I have my PS3 and 360 audio going through it to.



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PcZac said:
Does your sound card have electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding? (basically a metal plate that protects the sound card from interference)

You could try moving the should card down a few slots from the graphics card if possible or rigging your own EMI shielding.
Click to expand...

I put the soundcard in the lowest slot available while the graphics card was in the first. No dice.


cannondale06 said:
my pci-e slot went bad giving me that interference noise. I originally thought it was my sound card and got another one and it did it too.

I have been using a USB Recon3D for almost 10 months and its been great. plus I have my PS3 and 360 audio going through it to.
Click to expand...

Did you try a card with EMI shielding? There seems to be so few choices when you're looking at USB audio options versus internal.

I was thinking of this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102032

I was also looking at this if I went internal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132014R


Maybe I will try making a homemade EMI shielding option to see if that helps. If it does then I can look at a card with EMI shielding or look at getting a new soundcard and putting shielding on it.
 
OutKlast said:
I put the soundcard in the lowest slot available while the graphics card was in the first. No dice.




Did you try a card with EMI shielding? There seems to be so few choices when you're looking at USB audio options versus internal.

I was thinking of this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102032

I was also looking at this if I went internal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132014R


Maybe I will try making a homemade EMI shielding option to see if that helps. If it does then I can look at a card with EMI shielding or look at getting a new soundcard and putting shielding on it.
Click to expand...
EMI shielding had nothing to do with it. it just started making the noise one day out of the blue. nothing had changed in the pc so I knew it had to be the card or the slot. the card I tried replacing it with happened to have a shied but again it turned out to be the slot.
 
Additionally, some cases don't shield the wiring to hook the mobo up to the front side audio ports on the case, this can be another place where EM interference can be introduced.
 
I tried making some EMI shielding like what was suggested but that didn't do anything. It must be some kind of interference moving through the PCI slot. Guess I'll give a shot to the USB audio option.
 
The USB sound card arrived today and I still get noise interference. I tried the USB on the back on the computer and up top on my USB hub. The USB also had some pretty fierce general noise and hissing. I was able to use the grounding option on the USB box to reduce the general noise but I still have noise when the graphics card is working.

So annoying...
 
wow that is annoying. my Antec 300 case always had tiny bit of interference when looking around with the mouse or controller. sound card or onboard did the same exact thing and that does not happen on my Coolermaster case. my issue now on this build was purely just the pci-e slot the sound card was in going bad. its fine in any other slot and onboard or usb work fine here.
 
Czech99 said:
sure its not psu?
Click to expand...

I suppose my next step is to try to mix and match parts from my other gaming computer including the PSU / video card and also to try some different outlets to see if there is some common element that is causing this. This computer has always made noise like that when the video card was working hard.

It's just weird that it is tied so closely to the operation of the video card. I would think PSU noise would be a more constant white noise.
 
PSUs do ramp up in usage. The motherboard can be part of the issue as well.
 
Oh boy this is turning into a hell of a project. It's like work or something.

I tried putting the 8800gt in place of the 6950 and the noise was a slightly lower volume. I'm not so sure if a new video card would reproduce the same lower volume though because the 8800gt only runs a single 6 pin power cable versus 2 - 6 pins for the 6950 and other high powered cards. I also tried a different PSU which for some reason gave some lovely screeching just meandering about the desktop for both card 8800gt and 6950.

I think I'm going to need to lay all these parts out on my desk and try the DFI mobo with the 6950 and newer PSU and also just try running these parts outside of a case as I have had "haunted" cases in the past.

Seriously though this is starting to annoy me. This was supposed to be a quick fix.
 
Had this problem with my first 600 series card as they placed the vrm close to the pcie bracket and my video card was above the card. Moving it below the card helped but was still there. It was asus, got rid of it got my fatality and havent had 1 bit of issue since. Guessing your issue is not the same as mine tho.
 
Sweet mother of pearl.

So it seems that it is indeed the video card that is causing the interference including the idle hiss/crackle. I can start playing a song, unplug the monitor cable, and it sounds BEAUTIFUL. No noise at all, no minor interference, just perfect. The problem is that monitors play a key role in the use of a computer and for gaming.

I don't think it is necessarily a bad card as I mentioned before I tried a different card (AMD 6950 vs. Nvidia 8800gt) and I had less noise but still noise and that card pulls less power.

Why the hell are these video cards pushing noise into everything?
 
I dont think its the gpu I think its the sound card not blocking out the interference properly. Had an asus one that did it then got the older version of the x-fi titanium by trading a buddy and no issue and now my fatality has no issue. Didnt have the issue with my 580 with the asus then moved to 660ti and did because of vrm placement on the gpu. Creative cards solved it tho. Very weird and annoying thing to deal with I know.
 
Czech99 said:
sure its not psu?
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest this as well. When you're GPU is going full tilt it starts drawing a lot of power from the PSU. The PSU has electromagnetic coils in them and the constant up and down of voltage causes them to create a fluctuating EMF. Do you have a spare PSU you can try?
 
HOODedDutchman said:
I dont think its the gpu I think its the sound card not blocking out the interference properly. Had an asus one that did it then got the older version of the x-fi titanium by trading a buddy and no issue and now my fatality has no issue. Didnt have the issue with my 580 with the asus then moved to 660ti and did because of vrm placement on the gpu. Creative cards solved it tho. Very weird and annoying thing to deal with I know.
Click to expand...

I'm using a USB creative soundcard so noise inside the case shouldn't be an issue.

atom said:
I was going to suggest this as well. When you're GPU is going full tilt it starts drawing a lot of power from the PSU. The PSU has electromagnetic coils in them and the constant up and down of voltage causes them to create a fluctuating EMF. Do you have a spare PSU you can try?
Click to expand...

I've tried a different PSU, no luck.



---------------------

I think I got it to about as good as it is going to get. I grounded the USB soundcard to the grounding junction on the back of my battery backup (meant for phone in/out). That seems to have eliminated the GPU related noise. There is still a little bit of a faint constant humm but it is not too bad.

I think one of the issues that is making the noise more apparent to me is that I have a set of bi-amplified studio monitors and they are way too much power for how close I sit to them. As a result my audio control levels are typically in the 4-11% volume range which makes any constant static noise carried over the audio cable seem louder in comparison. If I sit back farther or increase the volume the noise is completely unnoticeable.

BF3-3up.jpg
 
I had a low level hiss/crackle for a long time, suspected bad/cheap parts. Turned out to be a mic mixed into the sound output in the windows sound control panel. I muted the mic in the sound mixer -> problem solved. It doesn't look like you have one of those webcam/mic monitors, such that unplugging it would solve that particular problem, but have you checked your sound mixer anyway?
 
Solution for anyone with this issue:

Hum eliminator:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/161090-REG/HE-2_2-CHANNEL_HUM_ELIMINATOR

EMI/RFI resistant cables (may not be needed but why not):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/828167-REG/PHONE_1_4_REAN_M_to_M_CABLE_3_

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/828244-REG/DUAL_PHONE_M_1_4_REAN_-RCA_M_CBL_3_


-------------

I thought I could deal with the hum but it was so annoying. When connected to a ground cable I would get a constant AC hum noise. Playing games no longer made the super loud noises but I had constant noise everywhere. Unplugging the ground gave a more random noise that fluctuated for no reason even on the desktop. It was really just too much to bare. I enjoy many types of music including classical which has a very high dynamic range and the low volume portions were being muddled and defiled by the AC noise.

The Hum eliminator got rid of all the noise. I actually have to double check to make sure the speakers are on because they make zero noise no matter what I do.
 
I realized you solved your issue sorta.....but did your ever figure out what was faulty? almost looks like you had a bad/cheap motherboard...hell you swapped everything else right?
 
primetime said:
I realized you solved your issue sorta.....but did your ever figure out what was faulty? almost looks like you had a bad/cheap motherboard...hell you swapped everything else right?
Click to expand...

When I get my driving sim rig back together I'll check the audio on that as it has a different motherboard. I think its really more the fault of my speakers. They are self-powered bi-amplified studio monitors that appear to have extreme sensitivity to any sort of noise. I took my computer out to the living room and hooked it up to my HT receiver and I didn't get any noise but if I ran it to my studio monitor I had noise again. For instance, when I unhooked the USB soundcard so that it was just a cable to the speakers and a ground I had AC hum noise. That is completely isolated from the computer.
 
OutKlast said:
When I get my driving sim rig back together I'll check the audio on that as it has a different motherboard. I think its really more the fault of my speakers. They are self-powered bi-amplified studio monitors that appear to have extreme sensitivity to any sort of noise. I took my computer out to the living room and hooked it up to my HT receiver and I didn't get any noise but if I ran it to my studio monitor I had noise again. For instance, when I unhooked the USB soundcard so that it was just a cable to the speakers and a ground I had AC hum noise. That is completely isolated from the computer.
Click to expand...
I would think this would be easy to test for simply by moving the audio cables around (Probably want to use the external soundcard you purchased for this test keep the signal discrete till it gets far enough away from any possible noise source)
 
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