Sound problem with mic with VGA under load

[reiseiJules]

OK before I go into the issue, I am aware that there are threads that relate to this, however with my problem I feel that I am half way to resolving the problem... also I know that people frown upon thread hijackers, so I thought I would create new.

So the issue as far as I know... well the thread title says it all. I've identified what conditions create the problem, however I don't really know why, or what I could do to rectify it. I used the "listen to device" to better hear it, and basically when I'm on the desktop, I can hear a feint whining, however when I fire up a video game I hear an audible and loud buzzing which pretty much competes with the in-game audio. This isn't a problem if I'm just playing a game on my own, but when live streaming or recording with Fraps, if the mic is set to accept sounds, I will get the buzzing along with the game audio. The only way I can completely nullify this annoying sound when recording is to tell the recording program to completely ignore the microphone.

I have tried a number of things to attempt to resolve this issue. First of all I can pretty much rule the motherboard out of the equation as it is a relatively new board. Also I can rule out my headset and power supply as they are both under a month old, and my soundcard as this problem occurs with both my internal Creative X-Fi card and my onboard Realtek HD Audio device. Given that this sound seems to be most evident when the VGA is being stressed, am becoming more and more of the opinion that my graphics card (Nvidia GTX275) is the problem device, however what confuses me is why these annoying sounds only occur when a microphone input device is "recording".

So what am I looking for? I guess am asking what could be causing my mic to broadcast these sounds, why graphical stress is sending out these sounds, and what I can do to resolve it. I'm not too keen on buying a new video card, especially when I don't actually know if that will resolve the problem. I've also heard about EMI being a possible cause of this issue with poorly or unshielded cables, but I've tried turning off various electronic devices, moving my phone away, physically reinstalling the devices in the base unit (tower), cable tying everything away from the cards, even relocating the computer to a completely different room at the other end of the house, so I think I can rule out EMI as well.

Please help with any possible advice that you can give me. If you've had a similar problem and installing a new graphics card was the answer to it, please let me know as well. As I've already stated, it's not an issue if I'm just playing games, but if I want to record my voice for commentary or simply just talking to other people on Skype while streaming or recording with Fraps, it's an automatic no-go.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fireberd]

I don't have a fix for your problem but a couple of comments. Because you have a new motherboard, power supply, etc you can't rule them out. New parts can have problems. If the video card is "under stress", it is heating up (possibly overheating) and also drawing additional power from the power supply and if the power supply isn't up to it there can be additional problems. You didn't fill out the "My System Specs" so we can't comment specifically on your system.

 

[reiseiJules]

Sorry, I've now filled in my system specs.

The reason I was ruling out the other devices is because I had a similar sound with my older motherboard / PSU combo, and I'd really like to think that I am not unlucky enough to get two faulty motherboards and/or power supplies in a row. I don't think the GPU is overheating as there is sufficient cooling in my computer (3x 120mm fans, 1x 200mm fan) and as far as I know the CPU and motherboard temps struggle to get over 40C (not sure what that is in Fahrenheit), so the GPU temp wouldn't get much higher than that. I'll find some monitoring tools and run them while gaming to get specific temperatures for the CPU, mobo and GPU.

 

[fireberd]

Deg C is fine, that is what I use for monitoring my temps. Gaming, generally, is worst case for the CPU, GPU, etc.

I like the free SPECCY program as it's reported temperatures more closely follow along with the Intel supplied monitor that came with my Intel motherboard. Some temperature monitoring programs can vary widely on what they report.

 

[reiseiJules]

Cool thanks. Well I've downloaded and installed it, and played 3+ 4v4 games of Starcraft II, and the readings have all been good. CPU <48C, motherboard <36C, GPU <68C, and the two hard drives never made it past 30C, so overheating is out the window.