New
#21
Stormy: that's the exact case. The only thing I don't have is that black and red module on the bottom of the case.
The media module in question is actually on top, right in between the PSU (top left) and the optical drive (top right). The gap in the middle there is where that module is. There's no doubt something is amiss. The original was possibly bad but with the replacement exhibiting the same problem I'm starting to think it's a design issue as oppose to the actual component. Another thing we can't understand is why I get the USB cable disconnected message during start up when in fact all the USB cables are connected. There are three USB ports on top and only one is working even though all three are connected. So it's possible that the original one was fine after all, the replacement was faulty, and it's just a bad design by Dell.
Keep in mind this isn't a new issue with Dell desktops apparently. Through Google I found that back in 2003 people were reporting the same problem with some Dimension models. The workaround then was to plug the headphones/speakers directly to the motherboard or sound card. So Dell's so-called engineers were aware of these interference issues 8 years ago. And still, the same problem is happening today.