Noise from audio crackling or popping appears after system upgrade.
Noise from audio crackling or popping appears after system upgrade.
I upgraded my system a few months ago. I swapped the motherboard, CPU, GPU, and power supply. The change involved moving from Intel to AMD processors. I installed ASRock B550M-HDV, a Ryzen 5 5600G, and a GTX 1080 Ti. After setting everything up, I started Windows 10 as it came without any changes. It worked fine at first, but I noticed some audio problems—a crackling or popping sound. It doesn’t happen all the time and mainly appears when certain actions occur, like opening fullscreen apps or switching between windows. Sometimes I see pops while playing in fullscreen, and other times it happens when multiple apps run simultaneously on separate screens. Switching windows or tabs also triggers these sounds. I’ve tried various solutions: formatting drives, a clean OS install, different audio drivers, NVidia updates, checking for IRQ conflicts, reinstalling the driver with NVCleanstall, ensuring no power-saving mode is active, disabling unused devices, updating BIOS, and even using ASIO4ALL with my drum software. I also found a forum post suggesting the issue might be linked to wake-up events or sleep cycles. A quick LatencyMon test showed the problem persisted during gameplay, especially when playing Diablo IV in fullscreen with YouTube. The audio crackling was noticeable throughout the game, not just after launch.
I missed including the screenshot of the conflicts/sharing screen from msinfo32.exe.
I think this audio might be poorly designed on the board. I had a similar problem with an ASRock Taichi board that also developed coil whine later on, which wasn't related but suggested the board model wasn't great. At first, audio popping at the start is normal for some chips—they shut down when no sound is playing and restart when they wake up. Such noises often happen during CPU or GPU use when the audio circuit isn't properly isolated from other RF components. A faulty PSU could also worsen the issue by not regulating power well enough. In my case, it was the combination of the board and PSU that caused the coil whine.
Hey there! Glad you reached out. From what you shared, the suggestions I mentioned don’t seem to fit your situation. You’ve already excluded the PSU and GPU, assuming they might be the issue—though your PSU didn’t behave well with your setup. Since you’re using it from a system you know and trust, that’s likely a solid starting point.
There don’t appear to be coil whine problems, and it’s probably not the isolation issue. Your system handles demanding games without any audio distortion, which is great.
I’d say the challenge goes beyond just noise during CPU/GPU use. It could involve power settings, how your CPU talks to the board’s audio, or even the motherboard itself. The fact that you’ve seen others mention similar problems with DACs or audio interfaces suggests this might be a broader setup concern.
If you’re open to it, swapping in a DAC or audio interface could simplify things, but I think digging deeper into power configuration and board compatibility might be the next step. Let me know what you think!
Can I take a DAC from someone just to check it? I’m with Alex, it seems like the audio part on the board is what’s the issue. It sounds like you’ve already tried all the software solutions, and there’s a newer BIOS (2.62) available—your current version is 2.40, which is an older release.
I can test a DAC tomorrow. I feel anxious because audio was routed through my monitors (HDMI or DP) and the problem stayed, even though I didn’t use onboard audio. Thanks for the BIOS advice. I ignored the update since the issue existed before and I had the latest drivers. Concerning the BIOS, my board’s manufacturer site says my CPU is 5600G and it wasn’t compatible at launch. After updating BIOS to 2.40, I’m unsure if it’s safe to upgrade to a 5000 series chip or if I need a different CPU like Matisse, Renoir, or Varmeer. Appreciate the help!
Restore the chipset drivers again (if you haven't already... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
Refined the analysis further; I'm highly confident the issue lies with "ndis.sys" (network) or "nvlddmkm.sys" (graphics), with a potential involvement of "dxgkrnl.sys".