Is my sound card fried?

LikeACircus

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Dec 30, 2014
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So, I have a recently built new gaming computer. For awhile everything was fine, I moved yesterday though, and I had some horrific static coming in every audio port on my pc. I tried everything to get it to be functional again, but now almost all my sound is gone, aside from the random static screech every once in awhile on my headphones/speakers/anything. Please help.

Specs:

MSI A8XX-643 Motherboard
Nvidia Geforce GTX 660 Video Card
AMD A8-5600K Trinity Quad-Core 3.6GHz Processor
EVGA 600 B 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified 600W PSU

I am not the brightest person when it comes to computers, but I heard that I may have "EMI Interference" but I am not sure how to fix that. Thanks, all help is appreciated!
 
Solution
G
From my understanding of USB headsets vs. analog (mini-jack to your soundcard port), it will by pass your onboard sound if I'm not mistaken... You might want to verify, according to what brand/model of headset you have firstly. If this is the case, then you should have zero sound artifacts when you connect them to your PC.

This will still leave you with an apparently bad onboard sound chip... Have you tried this... Running the PC with just your APU for graphics and not the GTX 660? I've read where sometimes GPUs can cause interference.


G

Guest

Guest
LAC... Please list your sound card/audio device you're using as it's not listed. When responding, please specify if you are using onboard, or a PCI or PCI-e card, to include manufacturer.
 

LikeACircus

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Sorry...the sound card is integrated into the motherboard.

My case is a Rosewill Blackbone ATX Mid case if it helps.
 
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I assume your motherboard is using the Realtek chip for sound. Have you tried unistalling, via Device Manager (right-click on My Computer icon, click on Properties, Click on Device Mgr then scroll down to Sound, Vid and Game Controllers) and select Realtek and uninstall and also unistall any software associated with the onboard sound.

Then restart your PC with your motherboard install disc, that has your onboard sound (realtek) drivers and software on it. The reboot should detect the Realtek sound as if it were new. If not, locate the software install on the disc and run it manually.

One other thing that may or may not be causing an issue, that happened to me, is make sure that you do not have NVidia's sound driver's enabled, as they will appear on updates. Hence why I choose custom install, and uncheck them, so I do not have audio conflicts. If you have them installed and are not using them and/or are not sure, go ahead and unistall them.

If these steps do not work, you might want to try MSI's website to see if there is a more up-to-date driver for your onboard chip and/or start a trouble ticket with them.

Hope this helps...
 

LikeACircus

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Dec 30, 2014
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I am not sure where the Nvidia drivers are located to uninstall them, would it just be under add/remove programs? Also, I have reinstalled the audio drivers already, but that didnt work. I do not think this is a driver issue, as this only started recently, and I have had this comp for about a week now with no problems.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Yes, the Nvidia Audio drivers (if installed) would be listed in the add/remove programs. As this is a new issue, what change(s) did you make (if any) to your PC, hardware/software wise that you can think of that may have occurred that brought the issue on besides the move? I see you've tried other output sources such as headphones with the same results, which would exclude your speakers from being the issue.

Try:

1- removing and reseating your GPU and recheck all of your other connections
2- check your motherboard mounting, to ensure it's not grounding to the case; standoffs properly aligned. I doubt this is your issue, but does not hurt to check
3- Try plugging any USB devices (mouse/keyboard, etc) you have on the motherboard into a different slot, as far away from your audio ports as possible
4- Go ahead and try updated (if they exist) drivers for the Realtek sound


 

LikeACircus

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Dec 30, 2014
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Well I have tried everything I can think of. I reinstalled drivers, I reconnected everything my PSU was plugged into, i tried a different outlet in my wall, e.t.c, but nothing is working. Will a USB headset bypass this horrid noise?
 
G

Guest

Guest
Sorry for the delay in responding... Give that a shot my friend. If the same crackling/hissing sounds continue, I'd look into reviews for that particular motherboard to see if that's an issue that other users have experienced or not. If going the USB route yields the same result, you might want to look into an RMA for the motherboard.

I've used MSI AMD boards in the past and loved them, so don't let this experience discourage you from their products.
 

LikeACircus

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Dec 30, 2014
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Ok, just 1 last thing. Does the USB headset bypass the the sound card in the motherboard? Because im 99% sure it's the integrated sound card making this noise. I read online that the USB headsets have their own sound cards inside them and it would bypass basically anything to do with the motherboard.
 
G

Guest

Guest
From my understanding of USB headsets vs. analog (mini-jack to your soundcard port), it will by pass your onboard sound if I'm not mistaken... You might want to verify, according to what brand/model of headset you have firstly. If this is the case, then you should have zero sound artifacts when you connect them to your PC.

This will still leave you with an apparently bad onboard sound chip... Have you tried this... Running the PC with just your APU for graphics and not the GTX 660? I've read where sometimes GPUs can cause interference.


 
Solution

LikeACircus

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Dec 30, 2014
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Seems the USB headset works perfectly. Thank you! I will try to fix my sound card on my motherboard on a later date :)