F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop Hardware issue detected – soundcard may be damaged.

Hardware issue detected – soundcard may be damaged.

Hardware issue detected – soundcard may be damaged.

Y
yannickryan
Junior Member
17
01-12-2022, 07:19 AM
#1
I’ve been working with computers since the early 90s and have helped fix many issues over the years. Right now I’m feeling lost and can’t figure this out without assistance. I really need your help, though maybe a real test environment would be best. My sound card is a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z, linked to a NAD Stereo Amplifier. A few days back the amp would activate its protection mode if powered on while the PC was running. If you disconnect the amp and then power it up, it works fine. Later, the sound card stopped functioning completely—either no sound or very faint, distorted audio. It seemed old, so I thought some parts were out of service. I tried using an external DAC and everything worked normally, no protection circuits triggered. Eventually, I bought a new sound card, which fixed the problem. But now, two days after installing the new Sound Blaster AE9, it’s acting the same way as the first one. It looks like both sound cards might be damaged. I don’t have another machine to inspect the parts easily, but I do have an SSD for testing a different setup. In a Windows 10 install with fresh drivers, the issue persists. Recently, I upgraded from an RTX2080 to an RTX4090 and added Seasonic Power Supply. Perhaps the motherboard is the problem—early issues included a non-functional front USB-C port that would sometimes power on but not boot. I’d have to try the board, power supply, or amplifier next. My system specs are: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit, MSI MEG X570 ACE (BIOS 7C35v1J, latest), AMD 5900x (stock), 64GB RAM, 4x KHX3600C17D4/16GX (3600MTs, XMP profile 1), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (AD102-300) [Gainward GS], several NVMe drives from Seasonic PRIME PX PX-1300 (1300W). My computer is making life difficult this holiday season and I’m feeling really frustrated. edit: text color set to automatic
Y
yannickryan
01-12-2022, 07:19 AM #1

I’ve been working with computers since the early 90s and have helped fix many issues over the years. Right now I’m feeling lost and can’t figure this out without assistance. I really need your help, though maybe a real test environment would be best. My sound card is a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z, linked to a NAD Stereo Amplifier. A few days back the amp would activate its protection mode if powered on while the PC was running. If you disconnect the amp and then power it up, it works fine. Later, the sound card stopped functioning completely—either no sound or very faint, distorted audio. It seemed old, so I thought some parts were out of service. I tried using an external DAC and everything worked normally, no protection circuits triggered. Eventually, I bought a new sound card, which fixed the problem. But now, two days after installing the new Sound Blaster AE9, it’s acting the same way as the first one. It looks like both sound cards might be damaged. I don’t have another machine to inspect the parts easily, but I do have an SSD for testing a different setup. In a Windows 10 install with fresh drivers, the issue persists. Recently, I upgraded from an RTX2080 to an RTX4090 and added Seasonic Power Supply. Perhaps the motherboard is the problem—early issues included a non-functional front USB-C port that would sometimes power on but not boot. I’d have to try the board, power supply, or amplifier next. My system specs are: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit, MSI MEG X570 ACE (BIOS 7C35v1J, latest), AMD 5900x (stock), 64GB RAM, 4x KHX3600C17D4/16GX (3600MTs, XMP profile 1), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (AD102-300) [Gainward GS], several NVMe drives from Seasonic PRIME PX PX-1300 (1300W). My computer is making life difficult this holiday season and I’m feeling really frustrated. edit: text color set to automatic

B
Beatress
Member
161
01-16-2022, 11:16 AM
#2
Have you used the same modular cables as before?
P.S. Adjust the text color to "automatic" for better visibility.
B
Beatress
01-16-2022, 11:16 AM #2

Have you used the same modular cables as before?
P.S. Adjust the text color to "automatic" for better visibility.

B
Bartercardinal
Member
169
01-16-2022, 06:52 PM
#3
Thanks for the suggestion! I incorporated the cables from the updated Power Supply and the 12VHPWR included with the RTX4090.
B
Bartercardinal
01-16-2022, 06:52 PM #3

Thanks for the suggestion! I incorporated the cables from the updated Power Supply and the 12VHPWR included with the RTX4090.