Impossible Ground Loop?? Tried for months.

[Athlonite]

I do not know the case, but here is a picture of my exterior and interior wiring.

That's a shocking setup all those cables near your audio card plus the fact that your GPU and audio card are not secured by screws to the case

 

[kennytroy]

That's a shocking setup all those cables near your audio card plus the fact that your GPU and audio card are not secured by screws to the case

What would be the best way to minimize their contact/crossing? I could shove them into the sections on the right side which are empty, but many of them do not reach that far or fit/bend in such a way

 

[nomdeplume]

No idea what 85% you tried but I would start with buying some ferrite cores. 1/2" or larger for power cables and smaller for others as needed. The trick is to have a large enough diameter opening you can loop the cords two or three times inside it. This could also be needing to replace your cable from the sound card/computer to the speakers with ones from another brand. I would do this and then worry about needing a digital interface + XLR cables

 

[Athlonite]

What would be the best way to minimize their contact/crossing? I could shove them into the sections on the right side which are empty, but many of them do not reach that far or fit/bend in such a way

well from the pic it looks like you have an modular PSU but it looks like you've got every cable it came with plugged into it when really all you need is only those cables needed to power devices any others shouldn't be in there also buy and use cable ties to tie cables away from addin cards like audio cards they're really sensitive to RFI also screw those cards to the case with a screw ie: the GPU and Audio cards don't leave them dangling like that

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Some thoughts on your build:
*Looks like you installed the AIO according to Corsair's directions which makes sure that the AIO performs its best while ignoring the needs of the rest of the build. If that fan is blowing in, and you have a fan in the front blowing in, where is the air to go?
*@Athlonite just beat me to the modular cable issue.

Further suggestion:
Try disconnecting the front port audio cable (from the motherboard) and see if the noise goes away. Next, try disconnecting the internal USB cables. If that fixes it, go buy a better case.
Beyond that, you might need to remove your components from that case and assemble them on cardboard to see if it's something from the case. If the I/O panel has little "fingers", it's easy to have them end up in the wrong place (I've had to disassemble my own systems even though I thought I had paid close attention to this), which can cause problems.

 

[kennytroy]

No idea what 85% you tried but I would start with buying some ferrite cores. 1/2" or larger for power cables and smaller for others as needed. The trick is to have a large enough diameter opening you can loop the cords two or three times inside it. This could also be needing to replace your cable from the sound card/computer to the speakers with ones from another brand. I would do this and then worry about needing a digital interface + XLR cables

Thank you for suggesting these ferrite cores, never heard of them before but them seem as if they will tidy up everything. Appreciated

well from the pic it looks like you have an modular PSU but it looks like you've got every cable it came with plugged into it when really all you need is only those cables needed to power devices any others shouldn't be in there also buy and use cable ties to tie cables away from addin cards like audio cards they're really sensitive to RFI also screw those cards to the case with a screw ie: the GPU and Audio cards don't leave them dangling like that

I likely do have every cable it came with plugged in. This was my first computer build so I was quite anxious about messing anything up and seemingly just made sure everything had a place to be plugged in, which turns out is not the way to go about a proper build. I've purchased some cable ties omw home from the gym, when I have some spare time later tonight I will remove excess cords and tie things together in a neat fashion.

Not sure where those little extra screws to hold up my GPU and audio card went so I'll try to buy some at Micro Center tonight -- speaking of which, I am actually returning the internal soundcard, being that it did not solve my issue and I will instead purchase a USB interface.

Some thoughts on your build:
*Looks like you installed the AIO according to Corsair's directions which makes sure that the AIO performs its best while ignoring the needs of the rest of the build. If that fan is blowing in, and you have a fan in the front blowing in, where is the air to go?
*@Athlonite just beat me to the modular cable issue.

Further suggestion:
Try disconnecting the front port audio cable (from the motherboard) and see if the noise goes away. Next, try disconnecting the internal USB cables. If that fixes it, go buy a better case.
Beyond that, you might need to remove your components from that case and assemble them on cardboard to see if it's something from the case. If the I/O panel has little "fingers", it's easy to have them end up in the wrong place (I've had to disassemble my own systems even though I thought I had paid close attention to this), which can cause problems.

How would I go about ensuring the Corsair fan blows air out? Honestly I assumed they would not have a cooling fan blowing toward the inside.. this doesn't quite make sense to me at all.

I'll have to do some research into "disconnecting the front port audio cable from the motherboard" as I have no clue what I would be doing and don't want to risk permanently damaging any hardware. Will update tonight or tomorrow.

The I/O panel does have little fingers directed toward the interior of the case, but they are all attached and accounted for from what I've just looked at.

Appreciate all the help guys!

From what I've gathered from Hugh at SoundOnSound, he said that purchasing a USB interface with two individual XLR cables (one for the left speaker, one for the right) should provide a balanced audio input and solve my problem. He assures me the issue is coming from using an unbalanced dual 1/4" to 3.5mm aux cable.

 

[Jetster]

You do needs to secure those cards in the case. Fans direction is the side the wire is on is exhaust. There is usually an arrow on the side of most fans

 

[Hood]

The I/O panel does have little fingers directed toward the interior of the case, but they are all attached and accounted for from what I've just looked at

What he means is that it's very common for these grounding tabs to end up inside a port, like in this photo -

get a flashlight and examine them all carefully. If any are inside ports you must remove the motherboard to correct this.

How would I go about ensuring the Corsair fan blows air out? Honestly I assumed they would not have a cooling fan blowing toward the inside.. this doesn't quite make sense to me at all.

PC fans can be mounted in either direction, but all fans suck air in from the blade side, and out the frame side, as in this photo -

Not sure where those little extra screws to hold up my GPU and audio card went so I'll try to buy some at Micro Center tonight

These are 6-32 machine screws, with thumbscrew head if desired -

they are also used for the power supply, motherboard, hard drives etc. - they are the most common screws in a PC -

And clean up that wiring, it's a mess, possibly affecting sound quality, and not good for air flow either.

 

[EsaT]

These are 6-32 machine screws, with thumbscrew head if desired - they are also used for the power supply, motherboard, hard drives etc. - they are the most common screws in a PC - .

Actually only PSU and 3.5" HDDs are quarateedly with 6-32 screws.
Optical drives (+ quite many 5.25" bay devices) and 2.5" drives use finer thread M3.
Which one is used elsewhere depends on case.
In some expansion card brackets are secured with M3 screws.

Anyway any PC screw kits sold by PC hardware shops should come with both type screws.

 

[Jetster]

Just fine someone throwing a PC away
Or buy a screw kit of $10