Windows 7: Weird sound issue in DP35DP mobo

SPEC's:
Intel DP35DP
C2Q Q8200
Nvidia 9500gt
500w PSU
Onboard sound(included it due to the sound issue)

Hello everyone,

I about a month or so, upgraded(clean install) myself from vista to Windows 7 x64 ultimate. It was very exciting to see the new features and the performance of the OS compared to vista as it boots,open programs faster and manages processor and memory much more nicely. Getting used to this new OS was very fun but after all that stuff, I had problems due to Intel because it didn't release all the new drivers needed for the OS(bloody hell!?).

So, I got very much disappointed but i thought it was no big deal as I'm missing only one driver: The "PCI simple communications controller" which I presumed to be the Intel ME interface and the sound driver is not a problem as it is given to me by windows 7 and it works good but not quite nice as there's no dolby support =(.

Now, on to the problem, Im having this weird sound issue which basically comes from both the CPU and my headphones that I constantly wear. It's sounds like a High frequency/pitch sound that is not quite loud but audiable and gets annoying after hearing it for a long time. To summarize it:

• It's not constant.
• It's not the fans. (I started the cpu with all fans off except the PSU and proceesor fan but I cleaned them and still have that issue)
• It's not a hardware fault.(I replaced the video card, PSU, etc and still have the issue)
• It only seems to play when i use Firefox(opening tabs, scrolling, webpage loading) and paint(scrolling) but no issue on IE or any other software.
• It does not come when I play games or any other CPU,GPU intensive program.
• It seems to be an issue after the upgrade to windows 7 x64 as with vista i had no problem like this.
• I ran many benchmarks and tests to make sure but didn't had that issue.

So, right now i have some suspects regarding this issue. It might be the drivers but I'll appreciate it if someone has the board like this with no issue on Windows 7 x64, also. This problem came only after the upgrade to Windows 7 because i used win vista with firefox and other software with no issue like this and I even reinstalled vista to make sure and i didn't had that problem there but upgraded again as vista felt slow and had loads of updates to complete. So now i have shrunk this issue to the drivers but im not so sure and I will really really appreciate it if someone helps me here because this problem is getting on my nerves and even after a month im unable to solve it.

Thanks.

EDIT: Found out the problem, It was caused from upgrading the bios to ver. 0572 and somehow it was bugged. How I found out was by changing the processor by borrowing my dad's e8400 processor and installing it into the board. Hoping not to have a same issue and seemed it worked, no noise,clean and stable running system. Then, putting on my own core2quad it came again. That made me wonder , and I tried to mess up the bios settings, hoping to find the problem.



So, after much disabling/enabling testing, I came across this option dubbed "Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology". Disabled it and rebooted, then what? No more noise! and the system ran smooth without any problems. Went to learn about this particular technology and found out that this option when enabled will automatically down-clock and up-clock the processor clock frequency in real-time due to the condition it's in, for example, it down-clocks the frequency when to 2ghz and when running on full speed to 2.33ghz on my processor. This makes efficient power consumption and reducing heat, that seemed a good technology but it caused considerable problems for me.

For a checking reason i installed cpuid pc-wizard and checked my processor and it showed 1999.31 Mhz current clock and by checking the technology tab on the details list it showed that speedstep is enabled but dynamic fsb is disabled. So, dynamic fsb caused problems on this processor (huh!). But I happy that my problem is now long gone and i thank again the posters for their contribution.

As for the headphones problem, It was caused by a bad front-panel and it had a little short-circuit on the usb port and when plugging anything on it caused the noise.

That can happen with onboard audio solutions, unfortunately. That's why professional audio uses Firewire interface, outside of the pc.

What you can do is go into the bios and see if spread spectrum is enabled. If not, set it so.

I'll try that in the meantime, maybe that might be the problem.

I have an Intel DP35DP motherboard (and Win 7 64 bit). I'm not using the integrated SigmaTel audio. I have a separate sound card and I'm not getting any high pitched sounds. It may be the SigmaTel. Are you using the latest driver from Intel? (The latest Vista driver even has the System Mixer, that previous versions did not have).

I got the PCI Simple Communications controller error in the Device Manager too - a friend also gets that on his DP35DP so it's a global problem on Win 7. The Intel management software is not compatible with Win 7 and most likely the problem. The Intel software to monitor the board temperatures, voltages, etc is also incompatible. I keep checking the Intel downloads hoping they will update them for Win 7 but nothing so far. Trying to install the management software in a compatibility mode doesn't work - it looks like it will need Windows 7 specific software.

I should have mentioned, speedfan does work and shows the CPU temps.

Thanks for the reply! Glad to see someone still using the intel dp35dp board, I strongly think that the sound drivers are causing the problem. As for the drivers, Intel still hasn't released both the ME and the sound drivers so i can't make sure to get the newest. You mention that this board uses sigmatel audio but then why intel labels it as IDT audio? Beats me but I guess I gotta wait for new drivers to come out.

Oh, as for the vista audio driver which I downloaded and thought I'll give it a go on this OS the driver installed nicely without any compability issues but the sound was terrible in a way, it sometimes skipped and both the dolby virtual surround and 5.1 surround didn't work. The high pitched sound was more louder after installing the driver on Windows 7 but i had no issues in vista so I rolled-back to the previous driver, I hope that intel releases new drivers cuz i like this board and it's the best one from intel I purchased.

If Intel doesn't release any new drivers, I might get an external soundcard which i guess will resolve the issue.

Thanks again.

IDT is the new "name" for SigmaTel. IDT bought SigmaTel about two years ago and has renamed it to IDT. Sometimes I forget and still refer to it as "SigmaTel".

As I mentioned I'm using an HT Omega "Striker 7.l" PCI sound card. It works great and has the System Mixer function. Newegg.com - HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

The dp35dp motherboard works well for my application. I use the PC for Recording and the Firewire chip is the desired T.I. chip. Most of the firewire recording interface units are designed around the T.I. chip and work best with the T.I. chip.

i have the intel dp35dp also but my only problem is that the front panel dont work!!!!
so no sounds problems for me
but no front panel

DP35DP and Windows7 x64. I running HD sound drivers 6.1.7600.16385 dated 7/13/2009. It seems to work fine for me.

It could also be from dirty power into the pc. If you have the time and energy to test, move the pc to another location in the home to a power line from the circuit breaker with least power being used.

Also, touch a metal part of the case and see if it goes away while doing that.