Sound problems with new graphics card in PC games

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by domfjbrown, Aug 4, 2005.

  1. domfjbrown

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Exeter (not quite Cornwall!)
    When I turn the frame rate limiter off in GTA Vice City, the sound starts crapping out almost immediately (though the graphics look ACE). The radio stations sound fine, but car sirens and chopper noises either go phasey or buzzy, and when you pan around you get a horrible "stripping" noise - is this RF breakthrough into the soundcard, overheating, or software - any ideas? (main case temp=40C, CPU=44C, GPU = 58C after a good long burn).

    Specs: XFX 6800GT (8x AGP) graphics, 256 mb
    SB Live! (the original!)
    AMD (Newcastle) Athlon 64bit 3000+ cpu
    Gigabyte GA-k8NPRO SKT 754 Nforce mobo
    Corsair (VS1GBKIT400C3) 1024MB ram

    'Twas working fine with my old Asus graphics - which I, err, broke, taking out the machine. Oops. Since it doesn't happen with the framerate limiter turned on, I reckon it's either software issues or the GPU kicking into overdrive that's causing interference with the audio :(

    Would reinstalling the SBLive drivers, and reinstalling new drivers for the graphics help - or could this be a DirectX issue?

    Any ideas greatfully received!
     
    domfjbrown, Aug 4, 2005
    #1
  2. domfjbrown

    stuartswan

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2005
    Messages:
    125
    Likes Received:
    0
    why dont you just stick the frame limter as high as it goes?
     
    stuartswan, Aug 4, 2005
    #2
  3. domfjbrown

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Exeter (not quite Cornwall!)
    It's either frame limiter on or off - at on, the card looks identical to my old one! If this happens in this game, it's bound to happen in Doom3, San Andreas etc, so basically £200 down the toilet.
     
    domfjbrown, Aug 4, 2005
    #3
  4. domfjbrown

    PBirkett VTEC Addict

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,456
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    The Toon
    Mate, have you tried using the onboard sound on your motherboard? its probably better than the SB Live by now.
     
    PBirkett, Aug 4, 2005
    #4
  5. domfjbrown

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Exeter (not quite Cornwall!)
    Err, no... Reason being there's no MIDI port, and I want to make computer music, but don't want to fork out for an expensive card until I've decided if I either have the talent or patience... (both probably in short supply - he he!).

    At least, the mobo's sound sockets don't appear to include midi/joypad...

    Any ideas re the hardware I have now though?
     
    domfjbrown, Aug 4, 2005
    #5
  6. domfjbrown

    Rory satisfied

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    1,084
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ipswich
    have you tried emailing Rockstar?

    Theres also no harm in trying teh mobo sound temporarily to see if the problems with the SB live
     
    Rory, Aug 4, 2005
    #6
  7. domfjbrown

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Exeter (not quite Cornwall!)
    If I enable the mobo sound, can I leave in the SBLive? I can't be arsed to keep opening up the case when this should have been easy...

    Err, no, re Rockstar. It was working fine with my other card, so it's obviously some intereaction methinks...
     
    domfjbrown, Aug 4, 2005
    #7
  8. domfjbrown

    lhatkins Dazed and Confused

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    864
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Honiton, UK
    Dom, I take it you have uninstalled the old drivers (there is also a utility to clear the registery, Driver cleaner 3 ) and installed the latest nvidia drivers? Probably will not cure the problem but its a place to start.
    No certainly not £200 down the toilet cos you last card was a not great, the game probably will not take advantage of the new features of your new card, it wouldn't have been written for it, so SA and Doom3 being newer games will be fine.
     
    lhatkins, Aug 4, 2005
    #8
  9. domfjbrown

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Exeter (not quite Cornwall!)
    Ah, but surely if the card's running away at full power (and causing MASSIVE audible interference into the bargain) with Vice City, it's going to be really poor in San Andreas and any other modern game?

    As for the onboard audio - I can't be dealing with trying to connect the CDR/DVD audio cables to the mobo's sound, so it's persevere...

    Any idea if there's a utitility around for removing the old ATI drivers then? I deleted the offending item (as per instructions) from the system->hardware part of control panel?

    EDIT - just saw your link - duh! Will try after I've left yours tonight dude :)
     
    domfjbrown, Aug 4, 2005
    #9
  10. domfjbrown

    lhatkins Dazed and Confused

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    864
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Honiton, UK
    Arr the driver cleaner was for Nvidia cards, so you had an ATI before hand? hum that explains a lot, had problems moving from ATI to Nvidia last time, that's the problem they leave behind all sorts of "mess" in the system registery, did you goto Add/Remove programs asl well to ensure no "ATI" software was present.
    No expert in this area, but without a frame limiter the card will run as fast as it can, what if the sound card can't keep up, this would produce the effect your getting right? Which iw why you need to "limit" the speed of the card, in newer games the card will be pushed harder and so not "run away" so much, thus not cause this problem (probably spouting BS but it makes sense to me).
     
    lhatkins, Aug 4, 2005
    #10
  11. domfjbrown

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Exeter (not quite Cornwall!)
    You might be right re the frame limiter - but I was wrong here - I mean I had an ASUS (not ATI) nvidia card before - but all the same, I'll try jiggling the cards around (if nothing else, for better airflow) and then see what happens when I reinstall the sound and video drivers from a clean registry. From there, I'll panic if San Andreas/Doom act up! I think your theory about the game physically not being able to keep up with the card MAY be right...
     
    domfjbrown, Aug 4, 2005
    #11
  12. domfjbrown

    Rory satisfied

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    1,084
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ipswich
    i do get a few sound problems with SA (I use a Terratec DMX 6fire). Sometimes the engine noises stop and also the noise of the helicopters and motorbikes have some really bad digital distortion on them. I presume its the fault of the game though, given the rather analytical system thats its played through ;) SA is a fantastic game though...should really start a new thread about it :)
     
    Rory, Aug 4, 2005
    #12
  13. domfjbrown

    lhatkins Dazed and Confused

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    864
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Honiton, UK
    i'm have GTA SA but haven't got around to installing it yet, as only recently built and got my pc working and now still only have the use of 1 hand, grrrr, really frustrating!
     
    lhatkins, Aug 4, 2005
    #13
  14. domfjbrown

    Tenson Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2003
    Messages:
    5,947
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    How does SA compare to Vice City? That was the last one I played but I did really love it.

    Regarding the sound problems, are you overclocking? If so, then maybe the PCI bus speed is a bit high as I think the PCI bus and the CPU bus are linked to ratio's of each other.

    Check for BIOS updates for the mobo, there may be known conflicts.
     
    Tenson, Aug 4, 2005
    #14
  15. domfjbrown

    domfjbrown live & breathe psy-trance

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    2,641
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Exeter (not quite Cornwall!)
    No way! I don't believe in it - I run everything at designed speed - if I want faster, I either upgrade or viciously rearrange my environment ;)

    Good call - I'll have a fiddle over the weekend (will have resident geeks in to help out!).
     
    domfjbrown, Aug 5, 2005
    #15
  16. domfjbrown

    nsherin In stereo nirvana...

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2003
    Messages:
    728
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Portsmouth, UK
    Re: BIOS upgrades - agreed. I built a new Athlon 64 3000 system last weekend and installed the chip onto an Asus A8N-SLI motherboard (only using a single GeForce 6200 at the moment - even that's an improvement over my old FX5700LE)/ However, getting back to the point, the board shipped with a BIOS dated from November last year. The latest one was released in June or so. Six months is a long time (in computer-terms) and quite a few fixes could have been implemented, so it's worth updating. I don't overclock either and my CPU seems to hover nicely at about 40 - 42C. Quite happy with that - it's rock stable too.

    Getting decent memory is also worth paying the extra cash for - often only an extra £3 or so per module. I use Kingston ValueRAM and have never had any memory problems as result.
     
    nsherin, Aug 5, 2005
    #16
  17. domfjbrown

    lhatkins Dazed and Confused

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    864
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Honiton, UK
    nsherin, Asus boards, if you read the thread I started about the problems I had with mine, exactly the same, dam mobo shipped with a bios version that wouldn't even recognise my chip! But in Asus boards you also have to use "their" tested memory, which is also a PITA. I've got a A8V Delux, last time I'm buying an Asus board, too much hassle. I'm looking to up grade my Nvidia Ti4400 but don't know what to yet, the 6200 was an idea, but the memory bandwidth is only 64bit (the ti4400 is 128), 6600 is out of my price range at the mo.
     
    lhatkins, Aug 5, 2005
    #17
  18. domfjbrown

    nsherin In stereo nirvana...

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2003
    Messages:
    728
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Portsmouth, UK
    Interesting point re: having to use certified memory. Haven't had a problem with this - and my memory has been used with two other Asus motherboards. Compared to others, I've found them to have good feature sets and decent documentation. An unfortunate experience you've had there.

    However, I agree - it's silly to have to flash the BIOS before you even put your CPU in - not sure how anyone's meant to be able to do that! Sounds like you were unlucky there!

    The 6200 is PCI Express, whereas your Ti4200 is IIRC, an AGP card. Or does the A8V Deluxe take both? Again, I found the 6600 was too pricey - and you couldn't SLI them - you have to use the GT version, so I thought it pointless buying a £80 graphics card that I couldn't do SLI with. Better to buy a cheap one (if you plan to go SLI and haven't got the budget for 6600GT) and upgrade later. Performance from MS FS2004 (the only game I've tried on it) at 1280x1024 was pretty impressive actually. It felt smoother than my FX5700LE.

    The A8V uses a VIA chipset, which would explain many of your problems. I've had lots of quirks with VIA chipsets - problems with SoundBlaster Live! cards, problems with an NVidia TNT2 on an old PII/PIII-based VIA board, as well as general unstability. As a result, I'll never use another VIA-based chipset again! SiS has also been troublesome for me in terms of stability - errors that I thought were memory-related, which actually turned out to be the motherboard, problems with ATA connetors etc.

    For an Intel system, I'd go with Intel chipsets, although given my experience with NVidia chipsets on the AMD platform (very favourable), I'm sure they'd also be a good choice (the only one if you're going SLI). For an AMD-based system (either Socket A/754/939), I've found NVidia-based boards to be fast, stable and reliable.
     
    nsherin, Aug 5, 2005
    #18
  19. domfjbrown

    Tenson Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2003
    Messages:
    5,947
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    My experience with Asus Intel based boards has been perfect. Gigabyte is good as well but seems to have a few more conflicts with things and just doesn't go as fast.
     
    Tenson, Aug 5, 2005
    #19
  20. domfjbrown

    lhatkins Dazed and Confused

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    864
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Honiton, UK
    Yes your right the A8V is a Via chipset and yep agree this is where most of my problem lie, I shouldn't have been so much of a cheapskate and bought a Nvidia board, I think that would have been better, though now with the "certified" memory in it all seems very stable, not had any more problems with it, I use the onboard sound which seems good enough, interesting with my board I do get a midi port, unlike dom, in Dom's machine we used a Gigabyte board with Nvidia chipset and had no problems (other than not reading the manual and not working out how to load the Sata chipset drivers d'oh!).

    I have seen a XFX GeForce 6200 256MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail which I though might be a bit of a bargin, 128bit memory path, and all the new features my TI4400 doesn't have also my card is only AGP x4, also its got NO FAN so looks good, very tempted with that, especailly at that price, even if it doesn't work could wack it on ebay and might even make money on it, as the cheapest 6200 card I've found elsewhere is £60+. I can not justify spending £100+ on a graphics card, when I've spent so little on the rest of my setup and still got lots of features for the money.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 6, 2005
    lhatkins, Aug 6, 2005
    #20
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.