NP9150 Sound problem

I've noticed a buzzing/static noise (headphones) when playing certain video games (notably Skyrim, DayZ, BF3, though not Civ V for some reason). In Skyrim this happens on the main menu; however, when I alt+tab out of the game, the game's music is still running but without the static noise.

Based on that it doesn't seem like a hardware problem to me. I still have two weeks to return/exchange the laptop if necessary, though.

Has anyone encountered this issue before, and is there anything I could try to fix it? The buzzing noise isn't too bad, but at times it is very noticeable and quite annoying.

 

have you tried updating your drivers or using different headphones?

 

I have the same buzzing noise when using headphones while playing games via Steam (Skyrim, Saint's Row the Third, NFSHP). It's not present when listening to music or streaming video. It's not enough to drive me into insanity, but it's noticeable. I don't have a fix, OP, but I'm here to support your cause.

 

If the noise doesn't vary with volume, it's most likely onboard interference (cheap, poor design). You may be able to drop the interference below your headphone's sensitivity with an in-line attenuator (e.g. 3.5mm airline adapter) and then crank the volume to compensate. Otherwise, not much that can be done except using an external USB sound card or S/PDIF amplifier instead of the integrated audio.

 

I don't think it's a hardware issue, since it occurs only under specific circumstances (see first post about Skyrim). I would expect the computer to ship with the latest audio drivers (released in May) but I'll try reinstalling them anyway when I get home.

 

The integrated audio and internal connections is right above the GPU. So if you experience this noise mostly when you have certain GPU activity, this is a good indicator that it is hardware related. Personally, I couldn't bare the interference in a P170HM for this reason. With senstive in-ear noise isolation earphones you tend to hear the noise floor of just about any audio driver. Typically it's white static noise that easily goes un-noticed. But in this case, there was clear inteference articfacts well above the noise floor, independent of volume, and present even when no audio stream was being output. The noise was not necessarily related to GPU activity either. So this is just one of the reasons why I use a USB sound card. The integrated audio is most likely identical cross all P-series models.

 

Thanks, that's some good info, and it explains why the noise is present during gaming but absent while listening to music. I don't recall hearing the buzzing while watching videos, but I'm assuming it might be because it's not stressing the GPU like gaming does. Interesting...

 

That might be the right explanation. I still don't understand why there is no static from Civ V (even with everything maxed out). Also I'm pretty sure that even when Skyrim is minimized, the Nvidia GPU is still being used, and when it is open, it's rendering some smoke on the main screen... which should be a light task for the 680m and yet generates the most static (which also tends to fade after a while).

The other thing is that I only noticed this a few days ago. When I first got the laptop I'm pretty sure there was no such noise, which led me to believe Skyrim was glitching until I noticed it in other
games as well.

I'll have to get a USB sound card I guess.

 

EMI and interference issues can have certain "sweet spots" where they tend to peak at certain load levels. So the interference may be present at moderate load only and not when the GPU is running a maximum power. Same for CPU activity. What can also happen is that at low or high load, the frequency of intference artifacts can shift outside the audible spectrum, so you don't here it, but the problem is there.

If it's a new laptop being broken-in and you're fairly confident the problem wasn't there when you got it, then it's possible some components such as capacitors are failing. If you have a chance to compare with a farely identical setup and it's comparatively really bad, it's not a good sign and might be worth considering an RMA.

 

Thank you for the explanation, the interference reference sweet spot makes a lot of sense.

I can't be sure it wasn't there entirely when I got it, but it definitely wasn't as noticeable. I noticed it first after I had played around 5 hours of Skyrim/BF3. I guess I have a week or two to see if it gets worse. I can live with bad audio but if something more serious is failing...

 

Is there anyway to prevent the on board soundcard from picking up the static noise? Like some sort of tape or something like that.

 

Is this people with the 7970m cards or the 680m that are having this sound issues?

 

Yes to 7970M and I will tell you about 680M in a few days once it arrives.

ASUS Xonar U3 all the way.

 

I have the same problem I rarely use speakers and I always use headset. The quality was so terrible that I had to switch to USB headset. It is a seriously problem with something that is costing nearly 2k

 

I have this same problem with the 680M, so not limited to the ATI card. Anyone found a solution yet?

 

Update: Muting the PC speaker in Playback Devices>>Levels completely solves the issue.

 

And listen through Digital Output? By the way GTX680M and GTX675M both give the buzzing sound.

 

No, I'm just using the analogue 3.5mm headphone jack.

 

I think he means 'PC Beep' rather than the main laptop speakers.

 

So you are not getting any static noisy (buzzing sound) through the jack now when dGPU is on?

 

Im not having any of these problems