Weird noise through PC speakers when stressing GPU??

peanutismint · 14 Oct 2012 at 19:39

I recently built a PC and it runs great but I've noticed I'm getting a weird buzzing noise through my speakers (output from soundcard). It's apparently only present when I'm running fullscreen video like games etc, and even then it varies its tone slightly as I, say, use my mouse to look around the map, which makes me think perhaps it's some sort of refresh-rate or GPU-connected issue? It's almost as if it's changing directly related to where my crosshairs are pointing in-game, i.e. if I point them at the ground where there's less to render, the buzzing goes down somewhat; if I point straight forward towards all the 'action' it increases....

Any ideas? I'm connected to my monitor via HDMI because I'm using an HDMI splitter to vary output of my PC between monitor and a projector, which I realise adds a lot of potential fault-finding pitfalls!

Catanonia · 14 Oct 2012 at 23:31

Interference obviously.

But i thought had all sorts of issues, then realised my iphone was causing the problems so close to speakers and mouse.

check other sources, most people seem to blame the PC when it is something totally different.

gothic_hobbit · 14 Oct 2012 at 23:36

It could be the monitor backlight making the buzzing sound.

jakspyder · 15 Oct 2012 at 01:57

I used to have my soundcard mounted back to back with my GPU and this caused interference. particularly if I was using my front panel for connecting my headphones. The cable going from soundcard to front panel ran along the top of the GPU causing really annoying sound interference.

This could be a similar issue?

peanutismint · 15 Oct 2012 at 13:42

Thanks for all the suggestions guys -

Catanonia said:
Interference obviously.

But i thought had all sorts of issues, then realised my iphone was causing the problems so close to speakers and mouse.

check other sources, most people seem to blame the PC when it is something totally different.

This is definitely a different sound to 'phone interference'; I've heard that sound many times. In fact I've heard pretty much all types of 'interference' noise (I'm a sound engineer) but this one is new even to me. A sound that is directly related to what's happening onscreen probably does in fact mean it's the PC, or possibly something to do with the display, but the sound doesn't happen through the same display/speakers when I'm using my Mac/Xbox so I'm going to lean towards PC.

gothic_hobbit said:
It could be the monitor backlight making the buzzing sound.

Again, this is a possibility, but the sound is coming through my PC speakers/headphones so it's probably emanating from the PC sound output itself.

jakspyder said:
I used to have my soundcard mounted back to back with my GPU and this caused interference. particularly if I was using my front panel for connecting my headphones. The cable going from soundcard to front panel ran along the top of the GPU causing really annoying sound interference.

This could be a similar issue?

This could be a possibility except that I'm using an onboard soundcard.... My graphics card's HDMI output passes audio as well as video, so I might try using that output and see if the problem persists.....

daveyg · 16 Oct 2012 at 00:32

Have you tried muting any mics in the sound mixer, I used to have loads of issues until I did that.

peanutismint · 16 Oct 2012 at 00:36

Don't have any mics in use. Will try muting the channels anyway!

thanks. Will post my findings!

wazza300 · 16 Oct 2012 at 00:40

its emi leakage or coil whine,coming from either the motherboards power vrms or the graphic card or the psu,you can sometimes cure it by turning off eist or intel speedstep in the bios

switching psu to a different brand or gpu can cure it also,its a common problem across multiple platforms

what brand psu are you using? and test by unplugging the front panel usb headers from the mb and directing the front panel udio cable up and away from the gpu

peanutismint · 16 Oct 2012 at 13:52

wazza300 said:
its emi leakage or coil whine,coming from either the motherboards power vrms or the graphic card or the psu,you can sometimes cure it by turning off eist or intel speedstep in the bios

switching psu to a different brand or gpu can cure it also,its a common problem across multiple platforms

what brand psu are you using? and test by unplugging the front panel usb headers from the mb and directing the front panel udio cable up and away from the gpu

Wow cool, lots of potential to go on there, thanks mate! Will give it a go.

peanutismint · 21 Oct 2012 at 00:24

So it appears the sound is only present when I'm using the PC's rear audio output. When I use my graphics card's HDMI output (which goes into my HDMI splitter out of which I take an optical lead to my surround headphones

) the sound is fine, although strangely even when I use this output instead of my normal audio out, the sound is still heard (albeit quieter) if I have my speakers turned on.....!! Very strange! but not a huge problem, I just worried maybe it was a sign of something worse!

Thanks again all!