Audio on PC suddenly went bad. Do I need a new motherboard?

sgraff1 · Mar 5, 2016

When I hook up my speakers on the rear audio port of the pc, the sound has a lot of static, and sounds horrible. However when I plug in my speakers in the front of pc where I usually plug my headphones in, the sound is normal, and nice. I'm pretty sure I messed something up cause as I was installing my gpu onto my MOBO, I lost grip of my screwdriver since it was tiny and hit the mobo pretty hard. I'm wondering whether I need a new MOBO, because I'm scared I might cause a chain reaction and destroy every other component on my pc.

I have a Gigabyte z97 HD3

photonboy · Mar 5, 2016

You may have damaged a trace related to the rear audio, however if you get no other issues then I'd keep your motherboard.

I'm not sure how it could result in damage to other components. Normally that type if issue involves creating a SHORT between different components like sticking a piece of metal into a light bulb socket. If anything, it's more likely you have an OPEN with a damaged trace, but regardless it should be a low voltage with minimal or no way to connect to other components.

You could verify it's a hardware issue by perhaps just running a Linux distro off a disc to see if the issue exists there too but based on what happened with the screwdriver it seems pretty likely it's a damaged board.

So...

At this point I suggest one of three options:
1) sound card (and disable onboard audio in BIOS), or
2) try using the DIGITAL output if you have speakers which support this, or
3) Buy an external DAC (not common. some use USB which would bypass your onboard audio)

The main advantage of the external DAC is that it isolates noise well. Often using the FRONT output adds a lot of hiss or similar noise as the cable to the motherboard acts as an antenna.

sgraff1 · Mar 5, 2016

photonboy :

You may have damaged a trace related to the rear audio, however if you get no other issues then I'd keep your motherboard.

I'm not sure how it could result in damage to other components. Normally that type if issue involves creating a SHORT between different components like sticking a piece of metal into a light bulb socket. If anything, it's more likely you have an OPEN with a damaged trace, but regardless it should be a low voltage with minimal or no way to connect to other components.

You could verify it's a hardware issue by perhaps just running a Linux distro off a disc to see if the issue exists there too but based on what happened with the screwdriver it seems pretty likely it's a damaged board.

So...

At this point I suggest one of three options:
1) sound card (and disable onboard audio in BIOS), or
2) try using the DIGITAL output if you have speakers which support this, or
3) Buy an external DAC (not common. some use USB which would bypass your onboard audio)

The main advantage of the external DAC is that it isolates noise well. Often using the FRONT output adds a lot of hiss or similar noise as the cable to the motherboard acts as an antenna.

:\ damn, well I'm glad that I probably do not have to replace my mobo, I am still scared that I might damage my cpu/gpu/ram or anything else.

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Audio on PC suddenly went bad. Do I need a new motherboard?

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