intermittent buzz when gaming

[xbit]

Recently my system has started to omit a buzzing sound. It only happens or I only seem to notice it when gaming (wow, borderlands 2, etc). I've tried to reproduce it during an MSI benchmark test using MSI Kombustor 2.5 with sound but i can't reproduce it unless I'm in a game.

The 'buzz' sounds like if your speaker cable was not plugged in correctly or if you touch metal. My games won't lock up, or the computer does not freeze but I do think it will jitter ever so briefly.

I'm using the motherboards sound card at the moment. This issue happends if I'm using headphones or if I use my computer speakers.

This is a new system (about a month old) and I haven't really made any changes when this started to happen other than testing out some overclock settings, nothing very aggressive at all, all within safe-zone specks.

Any idea? PSU? MB? My system info is below. My next step in troubleshooting will be to disable the MO sound and use the vid cards sound.

And THANKS for the help

http://x-bit.org/blackdragon/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz (x47)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65 ATX LGA1155
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866
Storage: [OS drive] Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State
Storage: [RAID 0] WD VelociRaptor 500GB 3.5" 10k RPM
Storage: [RAID 0] WD VelociRaptor 500GB 3.5" 10k RPM
Storage: [back-up] Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal
Video Card: Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 2GB
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower
Power Supply: Corsair Pro 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray, DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Asus VH236H 23.0"
OS: Win7 Pro

 

[W1zzard]

Probably coil noise coming from your graphics card. Happens on some cards when load is high or FPS is high.

 

[jaggerwild]

Are all your MB drivers up to date? Can you tell where the sound is coming from, is it the speakers or else where?

Is the OS upto date? Have you tried under clocking the GPU see if it still hapens?

 

[xbit]

Are all your MB drivers up to date? Can you tell where the sound is coming from, is it the speakers or else where?

Is the OS upto date? Have you tried under clocking the GPU see if it still hapens?

yes, my MSI motherboard has a live update tool that helps make checking and updating rather easy for me. So all MB drivers are up to date as is the bios.

The sounds is coming from the speakers, not from any of the components of the system itself. I dont know if anyone has ever done this before but it sounds like if you are going to plug your speaker cable into the sound card and you missed the green input jack and you here a BUZZ from your speakers that's the best way I can explain it.

OS is up-to-date and no, i've not tried to underclock my 670. I've put quite a few hours into the system over the last month or so, and it just started happening. I guess my vid card does come factory overclocked, but i'd hate to underclock it.

 

[xbit]

Probably coil noise coming from your graphics card. Happens on some cards when load is high or FPS is high.

thank you.. I wonder why it would just start to happen. if it is the vid card this can't be normal so I hope the good people over at Galaxy work with me

Its another subject, but even though I really like my Galaxy 670.. The GTX 650 Ti Boost just came out.. And its benchmarks in SLI is amazing. If i had it to do over again I would have gone that route

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Are all your MB drivers up to date? Can you tell where the sound is coming from, is it the speakers or else where?

Is the OS upto date? Have you tried under clocking the GPU see if it still hapens?

It has nothing to do with software. Its exactly what Wizzard said.

I have heard buzz sounds from sound devices inside the system from the pass, involving interference of some sort is what I read when I had the issue. Ive also had coil whine on GTX260s and only made the sound when they were underload.

 

[Lazermonkey]

Your PSU or graphics card are making noise.

 

[Mussels]

Probably coil noise coming from your graphics card. Happens on some cards when load is high or FPS is high.

this is what i was going to say. all my nvidia cards had that problem, Vsync tended to fix it.

 

[xbit]

really good youtube on coil whine here:
Coil Whine on Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II 2GB GDDR5 ...

I should state that my issues is not an ongoing buzz like in this youtube. mine is a quick "bzzt" and then it stops.

also, I set my games and config for the card itself to ON for vsync and its still bzzt'ing.

 

[Hood]

You didn't say what you're using for amp/speakers, how they're connected (1 stereo out jack, surround setup, optical SPDIF, etc.), or how often you hear it. If using analog outputs it's common to get buzzing/interference from other components, if possible use coax or optical SPDIF, which are digital outputs, and less likely to have noise problems. You could also try re-routing wires, inside & outside the case, or re-seating the video card and RAM, moving fans to different headers, etc., until the noise stops or changes (do one thing at a time so you'll know what fixed it). Good luck, let us know how it's going.

 

[xbit]

You didn't say what you're using for amp/speakers, how they're connected (1 stereo out jack, surround setup, optical SPDIF, etc.), or how often you hear it. If using analog outputs it's common to get buzzing/interference from other components, if possible use coax or optical SPDIF, which are digital outputs, and less likely to have noise problems. You could also try re-routing wires, inside & outside the case, or re-seating the video card and RAM, moving fans to different headers, etc., until the noise stops or changes (do one thing at a time so you'll know what fixed it). Good luck, let us know how it's going.

The issue happens if I'm using headphones or if I use my computer speakers, so i think that amp/speakers can be removed from troubleshooting. the headphones are connected via USB and the speakers are connected via analog. also, the issue just started. Zero issues in the first 40 days.

it happens about once every 2min.

i can live with this.. i just want to make sure my system isn't about to fri because that's kinda what it sounds like.

thank you for the advice. I may start down that route depending on what I here from corsair psu and galaxy support forums.

 

[cadaveca]

Got pets, or a lady living in the house? Could simply be hair stuck in a fan...or similar, if not coil buzz. could be a wire has moved in the case and hits a fan...



Could just be coil noise.

 

[jaggerwild]

yes, my MSI motherboard has a live update tool that helps make checking and updating rather easy for me. So all MB drivers are up to date as is the bios.

The sounds is coming from the speakers, not from any of the components of the system itself. I dont know if anyone has ever done this before but it sounds like if you are going to plug your speaker cable into the sound card and you missed the green input jack and you here a BUZZ from your speakers that's the best way I can explain it.

OS is up-to-date and no, i've not tried to underclock my 670. I've put quite a few hours into the system over the last month or so, and it just started happening. I guess my vid card does come factory overclocked, but i'd hate to underclock it.

OK,
Under clocking it would let you know if that is the reason its happening is all........Are you using any Voltage software to OC it with? Have you tried different drivers? Tried upping the voltage to it?

 

[ste2425]

Sorry if i miss understood your question, but i got it as the buzz is coming through your speakers. If it is ive found on my system certain USB devices cause intermittent buzz, memory sticks etc. But most of all dam Iphone. Its not a constant buzz caused by the iphone, it comes and goes.

edit: just seen your post saying it is coming through speakers so its all gravy baby.... well minus the fact its still buzzing.

 

[RCoon]

The issue happens if I'm using headphones or if I use my computer speakers, so i think that amp/speakers can be removed from troubleshooting. the headphones are connected via USB and the speakers are connected via analog. also, the issue just started. Zero issues in the first 40 days.

it happens about once every 2min.

i can live with this.. i just want to make sure my system isn't about to fri because that's kinda what it sounds like.

thank you for the advice. I may start down that route depending on what I here from corsair psu and galaxy support forums.

I recently had this exact same problem. I get no buzz in my headset until i click into my WoW window. I'm using a Kave 5.1 headset, which has an inline 5 level volume adjuster, so i put all those inline levels to the middle and turn up the sound in windows. This removed all buzzing from the headset UNTIL I LOAD WOW. WoW causes insane interference with my headset for some strange reason. Just ensure your case is grounded and your headset cables are away from power leads.
Aside from that, i still get faint buzzing when in WoW but nothing else.

 

[ste2425]

so i put all those inline levels to the middle and turn up the sound in windows. This removed all buzzing from the headset Just ensure your case is grounded and your headset cables are away from power leads.

Making sure your gain levels are correct will help, Windows sound too low and your speakers too high will cause hiss, windows too high and your speakers too low will also cause hiss. I usually have my windows around 3/4 and adjust with my speaker volume. I would also say check the ground in your analog audio jack but if it does it with the USB head set too may not help,

 

[RCoon]

Making sure your gain levels are correct will help, Windows sound too low and your speakers too high will cause hiss, windows too high and your speakers too low will also cause hiss. I usually have my windows around 3/4 and adjust with my speaker volume. I would also say check the ground in your analog audio jack but if it does it with the USB head set too may not help,

inline levels are mid, no gain levels at all, and the kave is a very loud headset, so windows never goes above 50% in sound levels either.
I genuinely think some games just cause retarded interference, as WoW among my other 400 games is the only one i have issues with.

 

[DarkOCean]

really good youtube on coil whine here:
Coil Whine on Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II 2GB GDDR5 ...

I should state that my issues is not an ongoing buzz like in this youtube. mine is a quick "bzzt" and then it stops.

also, I set my games and config for the card itself to ON for vsync and its still bzzt'ing.

I have the same problem (buzz in my headphones) whenever i play a game, i'd say it a interference between the soundcard and the gpu.

 

[Mussels]

I have the same problem (buzz in my headphones) whenever i play a game, i'd say it a interference between the soundcard and the gpu.

cant be, if he uses a USB headset. that rules out the soundcard.

 

[xbit]

quick update: I think this started happening when I installed geforce experience (http://www.geforce.com/drivers/geforce-experience). not 100% sure though. after uninstalling geforce experience and re-installing my vid drivers The 'buzz' on my headphones/speakers changed to a stuttering in the game. no sound issue any longer but the game would lag for the same amount of time.

I switched from using the motherboards sound card to the 670s and all issues have now stopped.

going to switch back to the MB's sound card to see if I can reproduce the issue and maybe get MSI support involved.

anyway, this forum is great. thanks for the help!

 

[ne6togadno]

quick update: I think this started happening when I installed geforce experience (http://www.geforce.com/drivers/geforce-experience). not 100% sure though. after uninstalling geforce experience and re-installing my vid drivers The 'buzz' on my headphones/speakers changed to a stuttering in the game. no sound issue any longer but the game would lag for the same amount of time.

get rid of this. you dont realy need it. takes like 5 mins to ajust video settings ingame. driver update is reasonable only if u have issues. on my laptop i used 184.something drivers w/o problems with anything and had to replace em 3 mounts ago becuse skyrim update fucked up underwater visability. i wouldnt update driver if i hadnt issuess.
there is similar problem with drivers of mouses (common mouses not gaming stuff). when you install manufacturer drivers you get buzz sound as soon as you use scroll button. i have stoped ussing driver as soon as i found it cause problem. windows provides same functionality and cause no problems.

 

[rslegge]

Must be Microsoft

Hello Windows Buzzing Haters,

I also recently developed the regular buzz that happens when ever I play Youtube, mp3s, even system sounds are apt to be affected. Never happened to me before, does not happen on Ubuntu. Seems like it happens on my windows machines every 20 seconds or so. I do not notice a system usage spike.

I have been researching quite a bit on this issue and feel assured it is not my PS, Graphics Card, sound card, or any other wild hair that has been proposed around the web. All types of systems running windows are affected and so vast a problem can not be for random hardware reasons.

Everyone's problems began a month or two ago and are described the same.

Although I can not prove it, or have yet to find a solution, I am convinced it has been caused by the update to windows we all get every Tuesday or so.

 

[McSteel]

Well that's easy, just run a live Linux distro (off a bootable USB, for instance), and see if the buzzing is gone. If not, I'm afraid you'll have to pick a different reason to hate on Micro$oft. And there are plenty, that's for sure.

 

[Mussels]

Hello Windows Buzzing Haters,

I also recently developed the regular buzz that happens when ever I play Youtube, mp3s, even system sounds are apt to be affected. Never happened to me before, does not happen on Ubuntu. Seems like it happens on my windows machines every 20 seconds or so. I do not notice a system usage spike.

I have been researching quite a bit on this issue and feel assured it is not my PS, Graphics Card, sound card, or any other wild hair that has been proposed around the web. All types of systems running windows are affected and so vast a problem can not be for random hardware reasons.

Everyone's problems began a month or two ago and are described the same.

Although I can not prove it, or have yet to find a solution, I am convinced it has been caused by the update to windows we all get every Tuesday or so.

nice theory, except for the millions of people without the issue.

i've seen bad motherboards do this - they'd either whine at load or at idle, but never at both. disabling all the power management features in the BIOS solved it for a few of them.

 

[McSteel]

On some Asus boards with Digi+ VRM controllers (and other boards which allow advanced VRM controls), changing the VRM PWM frequency also does the trick sometimes...