occasional crackles when realtek audio driver installed

[Customizor]

Hi
i built myself a new computer and it has an ASUS Rampage 3 Formula motherboard which has:
SupremeFX X-Fi 2 built-in 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
Audio Feature :
- X-Fi® Xtreme Fidelity™
- EAX® Advanced™ HD 5.0
- THX® TruStudio PRO™
- Creative ALchemy
- Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection
- Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel

I install the Realtek audio driver software and i get access to all my cool EAX advanced HD, THX truStudio etc.. things on that list BUT i get crackling noises every now and again when playing music/games whatever.
However i uninstall the audio driver software and i get no crackling sound when i listen to music or such, but i cannot access any of the features anymore.

Whats going on here? its not the speakers or headphones i use, they have been tested on multiple devices, this only happens after the audio driver is installed and the audio features are activated.

New info:
My PC spec is:

CPU: Intel i7 980 3.33Ghz 12mb cache 6 core
GPU: 2x GTX 460 1GB
MB: Asus Rampage III Formula
RAM: A-Data Plus v2.0 XPG 2GB 1866Mhz 8-8-8-24 x3 in triple channel
SSD: OCZ agility ~400-500mb read&write
HDD: 1TB 7500RPM WD caviar black

this is all brand new, i just finished building it all a while ago, so there is like no crap running in the background like viruses or unneeded programs.

my speakers are just small desktop 2W speakers, and i also use iPhone headphones, i have tried using the front jack on my pc & the rear jack (one that says "front" and is a light green colour) i get the noises nomatter if its headphones or speakers.

if i chage audio drive to nvidea from my graphics card and plug speakers into audio jack on my monitor which gets the HDMI audio from the GPU i get perfect sound.
Uninstalling Realtek audio driver makes my pc use a microsoft audio driver it must have default, but it sounds fine.
i just cant do ANY of the audio features available from the motherboard without it. and i worry its not HDMI/cinematic surround without this?

 

[fireberd]

The audiio driver is one area that can cause the noise. You should be using the driver supplied by ASUS rather than a "generic" RealTek driver. The ASUS driver should supply you with all the features. Is this not the case?

 

[Customizor]

New info

Yeah i have used the supplied driver software that came with the motherboard, and also tried an updated download version.

the noise im hearing is similar to that of what you hear if u plug in speakers while they are on. probably a bit less strong though

i am wondering is it the hardware on my motherboard, like when i use the realtek audio driver it enables that HD audio hardware which the audio runs through but the connection is loose somewhere along the line?
uninstalling realtek audio and having the PC run off microsoft audio driver sounds fine, also playing through my graphics card HD audio sounds fine, but still i cant use any of the audio features unless i have realtek audio driver installed..

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Customizor, Welcome to SF. May we get your complete spec's and details on the speakers and how you have them connected. Are you running other programs at the time or just listening to music/gaming. Have you looked into minimizing programs running in the background from your start up?

 

[Customizor]

New PC

My PC spec is:

CPU: Intel i7 980 3.33Ghz 12mb cache 6 core
GPU: 2x GTX 460 1GB
MB: Asus Rampage III Formula
RAM: A-Data Plus v2.0 XPG 2GB 1866Mhz 8-8-8-24 x3 in triple channel
SSD: OCZ agility ~400-500mb read&write
HDD: 1TB 7500RPM WD caviar black

this is all brand new, i just finished building it all a while ago, so there is like no crap running in the background like viruses or unneeded programs.

my speakers are just small desktop 2W speakers, and i also use iPhone headphones, i have tried using the front jack on my pc & the rear jack (one that says "front" and is a light green colour) i get the noises nomatter if its headphones or speakers.

if i chage audio drive to nvidea from my graphics card and plug speakers into audio jack on my monitor which gets the HDMI audio from the GPU i get perfect sound.
Uninstalling Realtek audio driver makes my pc use a microsoft audio driver it must have default, but it sounds fine.
i just cant do ANY of the audio features available from the motherboard without it. and i worry its not HDMI/cinematic surround without this?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Well for computing power you sure don't have an issue. My thoughts now run to electrical interference. Please try to un-seat and re-seat the Audio card cleaning with air the slot which it's plug-in.....oh and do you have any other slots you can swap this audio card into to see if it's quieter?
Also try going to the master volume control panel and mute all un-needed devices like microphones and things and see if that helps, then add volume back for each device till the noise returns to help identify.

 

[Doronz]

Was this resolved?
I have a similar problem, an EXTREMELY annoying sound, which is only heard occasionally, but still manages to ruin music and movies for me... Like the original poster, I also have a realtek sound chip (on my motherboard), and the way he described the noise makes me think we have the same issue.

Win 7 64bit
motherboard: Intel DH67CL
CPU: core i7-2600
memory: DDR3 2x4GB
no other cards at all (no sound card, no gfx card)

The noise is driving me insane... I can't enjoy music, and I'm an inch away from throwing the damn BRAND NEW machine out the window...

 

[Doronz]

Another detail: the noises usually stop after a reboot, and become more frequent the longer the PC is used consecutively.

Edit - I see this is a big issue that has been discussed here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/22369-realtek-windows-7-64rtm-crackle-static-popping.html

Dozens of pages. Guess I better start reading...