Sound of popping or crackling when high GPU or CPU is running
Sound of popping or crackling when high GPU or CPU is running
Experienced with the same problem on a new Ryzen 5800X, I resolved it using two approaches. Although crackle and pops were infrequent, they appeared more often as the machine ran longer without restarting. To recreate the situation, I executed Prime95 while streaming Spotify, and within seconds the audio became indistinguishable due to excessive noise.
First solution: Update BIOS The firmware should include the latest AGESA updates for USB/Infinity Fabric and similar features. Upgrading from AMD AGESA ComboAm4v2PI 1.0.8.1 to ComboAM4PIV2 1.2.0.3b fixed all issues, allowing XMP speeds. Note: Audio hiccups occurred when the CPU reached 100%, but no further noise followed.
Second solution: Disable XMP On the previous BIOS, instead of using the high-speed profile (3600MHz) at various frequencies, I ran it at JDEC11’s 2666MHz (1333*2) for 20/19/19/43/62 at 1.2V. This improved playback quality at the cost of about 5-7% performance loss. Observation: Audio played perfectly even during Prime95 execution.
Other attempts included raising InfinityFabric voltages beyond safe limits (didn’t succeed) or downgrading PCIe4.0 to PCIe3.0 (significant speed drop, not tried).
Please be certain this system wasn’t overclocked beyond the BIOS’s default settings. MSI’s “GAME Mode” had no impact. The B550 MSI Mini-ITX AMD 5700XT with 32GB DDR4 at 3600MHz was used alongside a Sabrent 2TB PCI4.0 NVMe M-Audio air amplifier (192|6).
The new house isn’t likely a major concern, even though some components have become much lighter due to rising copper costs. This suggests the power problem isn’t significant.
It's firmware issue on the board. A ground loop sounds different than crackles and pops. The crackles and pops OP described sounds similar to the pops when the ALSA/WASAPI drivers' buffers are too small, or latencies are too tight; but those are not the issue since OP did try adjusting buffer sizes. The new BIOS has the updated AGESA firmware and it removed the crackle and pops from my DAC. I do not think OP has flashed his BIOS. I bought my board a few weeks ago and it still had the BIOS from 2020. Interference is very unlikely on an external DAC, especially when using balanced cables. If it was interference on the analog output of a headphone jack, it would sound like faint dial-up chatter.
I’d wager on this being an EMI issue. It’s clear when the PSU struggles. That’s because the power junction sends pulses into the... names. And when you’re running 3D workloads, the GPU draws more power. Overlays are hardware-accelerated rendering. I once used a cheap power supply, but I was frugal, lazy, and just curious. So I connected my CPU, GPU, board, and drives to separate power sources. It not only fixed it but gave me the most stable OC ever on that chip. Basically, electromagnetic noise is leaking into your sound. Have you ever heard thunder on the radio?
I'm sorry to bring this thread to your attention. A friend encountered the same problems after installing MSI Ventus x3 GEFORCE 4070. She had saved up for it after her old GPU failed, and issues started after receiving the new one. At first, we suspected audio problems with buffer rates and tried disabling exclusive mode. Later, we thought it might be a power issue until drivers became the culprit—after cleaning them, it stopped. However, it reappeared once drivers were installed. Interestingly, when she updated her motherboard’s BIOS, it worked briefly before drivers crashed again and caused a brief crackling. Eventually, we narrowed everything down to the CPU, rebuilding the PC entirely. Once the new GPU was in, it began to crackle through her sound cards before driver installation. We've already dismissed the GPU, motherboard, case, power supply, SSD, and now only the CPU. This has been a long process, and she turned to this forum after noticing similar symptoms—especially when streaming on Discord and they start to crackle.