audio - Rendering a frame is producing noise from speakers in Windows and Linux

08
2014-07
  • Robber

    When any hardware accelerated application is rendering a frame (or many of them) a very short noise is coming from my speakers. This can be a game, a WebGL application or XBMC. When the application/game is rendering many frames per second (like most of them do) the noise is a continuous buzzing that gets higher pitched with higher framerates. This applies to Linux and Windows, so I'd assume it's a hardware problem.

    The current hardware in the PC is:

    • CPU: Core2Quad Q9550
    • GPU: Radeon HD 5770
    • RAM: 2x2GB DDR2
    • Motherboard: Asus P5QLD PRO
    • PSU: be quiet! Pure Power 530W
    • Screen and speakers: Old 720p LCD TV connected via VGA and aux cable

    Muting the TV stops the noise, muting Windows doesn't.

    I tried replacing the PSU first (used a Tagan 700W PSU before) because I thought it was a power problem. It wasn't. I tried replacing the motherboard (used a ASUS P5B SE before) next because I thought it was a sound card problem. It wasn't. I tried the GPU in a different PC because I thought it was a broken graphics card. It worked perfectly fine in the other PC. I thought it might be interference, but moving the audio cable around changes absolutely nothing.

    I tried using an HDMI cable instead and that did work, but is not an option since my TV has only one HDMI input and I need that for my PS3.

    • Answers
  • LiamMeron

    It sounds like your audio card/cables are improperly insulated or isolated.

    If the cables are not properly shielded, or are too close to your graphics card, it is possible that the wires will pick up on any electromagnetic field and you will hear it through your speakers.

    The fact that using an HDMI cable fixed it, implies the issue is not with the GPU or audio card, if you have one, but rather with something explicitly related to the audio cables.

    Now another possibility is that you are getting interference in the wire, due to poor grounding or electrical flashback. Try checking all the connections on your mobo, particularly those around the GPU, audio card(if applicable), and the connector for the audio cables, though checking all connectors isn't a bad idea.

    It's possible, that your mobo isn't properly isolating the various devices and cables, and what you are hearing is voltage spikes that aren't being absorbed by the internal mechanisms designed to do so. I don't really know how to test for this, but if all else fails, it is something to look into.

    For another data point, it would be interesting to see if you took the GPU from the other computer, and stuck it in the PC with issues, and see if that changes anything. And another question, if you move the aux cable from the headphone jack in the front, which I presume you are using, and plug the speaker into the jacks in the back, does anything change?

    EDIT: I just realized something. Does the sound go over HDMI too, or just video? Try a new VGA cable, it seems possible that the leak is occuring at the GPU-VGA connector. Inspect the connection to see if you can find any wires that have cracks or are broken, etc.


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  • InfantPro'Aravind'

    I have a 2.1 Creative speaker system. While I'm happy with the sound quality, there's a small amount of noise or cracking sound being produced when the speakers are not in use (ie. no audio being played). What's causing this and how do I fix it?

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  • kmarsh

    Besides eliminating interference, another suggestion:

    Turn down the sound card/chipset volume from 100% to 75%.

    Turn down inputs to the sound card/chipset from 100% to 75%.

    Then, use the speaker's amplifier to compensate for any deficit in listening volume.

    Why does this work? Amplifiers amplify, and when there is no useful sound to amplify, they will amplify noise. By turning down the sensitivity of their inputs and the volume of their outputs a bit, you'll cut the noise a lot.

    In addition, it may improve your audio sound quality. When everything is set at or near 100%, a form of distortion called clipping occurs. This is when the tops and bottoms of sine-like waves get cut off flat, because they exceed the capacity of the amplifier (or sensitivity of the pre-amp inputs, etc). The result looks more like a square wave than a sine wave and sounds more like a square wave, too.

  • Nifle

    It's definitely not a virus issue.

    As the comments say, it's in all likelihood normal electrical interference. It's quite common in unshielded audio/speaker cables.

    Try moving the speakers/woofer around a bit, hopefully you'll find a place that minimizes the interference.

    Another thing you can try is to update any audio drivers you have, there is a small chance this could help.

  • Revolter

    I remember having this problem on windows XP, what OS are you running ?

    on Xp, I simply get into the "Sounds proprities" and mute all the others devices (wave, Mic ...), make sure your speakers are set to the appropriate speakers type and your micropfone is not using any "gain boost" or such feature.

  • Brian Knoblauch

    Are you sure it's the speakers themselves and not the computer's sound output? I've been finding that since sound has been included on motherboards (instead of requiring add-on boards) that this is common occurrance. For whatever reason, it seems that on-board sound picks up a LOT of interference and sends it out the speakers/headphones. Especially if you've got the cpu set to be able to idle down to less than full speed.