Linyanti
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2009
- Posts
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What will follow is a lengthy discussion of my system for anyone interested in the parts and how it may apply to your situation. But, the conclusion will be first to spare everyone else the tedium.
If you experience noise (hiss, etc.) when 3-D Gaming and do not experience this otherwise then the cause may be the extra electricity needed to power the videocard during gaming. The power consumption of the video card soars when playing a 3-D game. After much experimentation the solution that works for me to attenuate but not completely eliminate this problem is to clamp on ferrite chokes around the power cable(s) that go to the video card. I wanted to get the choke right at the connector but was only able to attach it on the power cables about an inch away from the connection because of the sleeving and shrink wrap tubing.
These chokes are pretty common and you may have some already. Here is an example for 3 dollars from Radio Shack.
Snap Choke Core - RadioShack.com
Now onto the pedestrian description. Here is my system: i7 920 CPU, EVGA x58 SLI Classified (759) motherboard, Antec Signature 850 power supply, WD Raptor 150, Mushkin HP3-12800 x3, Noctua NH-U12P, Vista 64 Ultimate.
Audio: Auzen X-Fi Forte 7.1, Auzentech OP AMP OPA637AU times two (only for right and left front, not for headphone amp section), Ming Da MC-8407 tube headphone amp (tubes rolled: Two x JJ Tesla EL94, Two x 12AX7LPS Sovtek), PS Audio Power Cable (expensive, used only because it was in a cabinet).
Headphones (these are the key to the experiment) Sennheiser PC 166 USB. This is a headset that has a USB adapter to hook in the 3.5 stereo headphone and 3.5 microphone. So this headset can either be hooked directly to the computer or Ming Da through the 3.5 mm audio connections or through a usb connection.
Cables To Go brand Velocity model cables (great blend of economy and quality) with 3.5 mm stereo out from the right and left front of the Forte X-Fi to two RCA connectors for the Ming Da and also a 3.5 mm extension cable from the headphone out on the X-Fi Forte to the keyboard area also to use for the headset. A 3.5 mm extension cable from the microphone input on the Forte X-Fi to the keyboard area for microphone input regardless of whether using the Ming Da or the headphone amplifier out from the sound card.
The Ming Da and the X-Fi Forte had over one hundred hours of solid use before testing.
Very brief sound review. The Ming Da is extremely interesting to use when gaming. Lots of subtle leaves moving, etc. The solid state gives "More" but I gravitate to the Ming Da. I have run every combination possible and in the end use the right and left front out of the Forte X-Fi to the Ming Da to the headphones. Including using 2/2.1 or headphones in the gaming mode. It is all different and the quality is very subjective.
Regardless, music through any of the above means has different textures but no noise. The clarity is wonderful in all of the situations. But as soon as a 3-D game starts up then the noise floor rises and there is ungainly hiss, etc. Once the game starts the noise floor is muffled and not noticed much. I have seen this problem mentioned in other threads.
The USB adapter was attached to the headphone and microphone on the Sennheiser PC 166 USB and then plugged into the USB hub on the monitor. The sound was "different" as expected but there was zero noise when starting up the 3-D game. It was so different that I played a whole game like it was new. The sound was not as good but it was quiet. Something is wreaking havoc in the pc case.
The slot for the GTX 285 video card is the top (leftmost red) PCIe slot and the sound card is in the second red slot from the rightmost slot in this photo. This is the suggested positon for two videocards since they are on different IRQ's.
http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/414/main3.jpg
There is some sort of component under the slot for the sound card and I do not know what it does. Maybe it could be contributing something. There are chokes installed on all of the audio cables coming out of the back.
I also thought that maybe it was all of the fans that are installed into the motherboard instead of into molex from the power supply. I disconnected these and there was no effect.
Then I started thinking that this problem is completely related to increased current to the videocard. Perhaps there is some nasty EMI coming off of the cables. The card takes two six connector PCIe power cables.
Techgage Image - eVGA GeForce 285 GTX SSC Edition
I took two ferrite chokes and put them on each of the power cables while listening to the 3-D noise and it went down dramatically.
I used to have Creative Soundblaster cards and did not remember as much noise in gaming but in those days there was one small power connector on my video card. Not the cabling and power required for these beasts of today.
I have got more of these ferrite cores in random drawers and will dig them out. Isn't more always better?
My next purchase (not soon that is for sure) may be for a USB DAC. Then the decision will be to go balanced or stay unbalanced.
I would be interested in a reply if anyone has this noise only with 3-D gaming and not just listening to music and whether the choke has any benefit or not.
I am adding a link that shows the power cable. I put the choke around the cable where the label that says, "Pin PCI Express" is located in the top photo.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coo...ic-psus_4.html
If you experience noise (hiss, etc.) when 3-D Gaming and do not experience this otherwise then the cause may be the extra electricity needed to power the videocard during gaming. The power consumption of the video card soars when playing a 3-D game. After much experimentation the solution that works for me to attenuate but not completely eliminate this problem is to clamp on ferrite chokes around the power cable(s) that go to the video card. I wanted to get the choke right at the connector but was only able to attach it on the power cables about an inch away from the connection because of the sleeving and shrink wrap tubing.
These chokes are pretty common and you may have some already. Here is an example for 3 dollars from Radio Shack.
Snap Choke Core - RadioShack.com
Now onto the pedestrian description. Here is my system: i7 920 CPU, EVGA x58 SLI Classified (759) motherboard, Antec Signature 850 power supply, WD Raptor 150, Mushkin HP3-12800 x3, Noctua NH-U12P, Vista 64 Ultimate.
Audio: Auzen X-Fi Forte 7.1, Auzentech OP AMP OPA637AU times two (only for right and left front, not for headphone amp section), Ming Da MC-8407 tube headphone amp (tubes rolled: Two x JJ Tesla EL94, Two x 12AX7LPS Sovtek), PS Audio Power Cable (expensive, used only because it was in a cabinet).
Headphones (these are the key to the experiment) Sennheiser PC 166 USB. This is a headset that has a USB adapter to hook in the 3.5 stereo headphone and 3.5 microphone. So this headset can either be hooked directly to the computer or Ming Da through the 3.5 mm audio connections or through a usb connection.
Cables To Go brand Velocity model cables (great blend of economy and quality) with 3.5 mm stereo out from the right and left front of the Forte X-Fi to two RCA connectors for the Ming Da and also a 3.5 mm extension cable from the headphone out on the X-Fi Forte to the keyboard area also to use for the headset. A 3.5 mm extension cable from the microphone input on the Forte X-Fi to the keyboard area for microphone input regardless of whether using the Ming Da or the headphone amplifier out from the sound card.
The Ming Da and the X-Fi Forte had over one hundred hours of solid use before testing.
Very brief sound review. The Ming Da is extremely interesting to use when gaming. Lots of subtle leaves moving, etc. The solid state gives "More" but I gravitate to the Ming Da. I have run every combination possible and in the end use the right and left front out of the Forte X-Fi to the Ming Da to the headphones. Including using 2/2.1 or headphones in the gaming mode. It is all different and the quality is very subjective.
Regardless, music through any of the above means has different textures but no noise. The clarity is wonderful in all of the situations. But as soon as a 3-D game starts up then the noise floor rises and there is ungainly hiss, etc. Once the game starts the noise floor is muffled and not noticed much. I have seen this problem mentioned in other threads.
The USB adapter was attached to the headphone and microphone on the Sennheiser PC 166 USB and then plugged into the USB hub on the monitor. The sound was "different" as expected but there was zero noise when starting up the 3-D game. It was so different that I played a whole game like it was new. The sound was not as good but it was quiet. Something is wreaking havoc in the pc case.
The slot for the GTX 285 video card is the top (leftmost red) PCIe slot and the sound card is in the second red slot from the rightmost slot in this photo. This is the suggested positon for two videocards since they are on different IRQ's.
http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/414/main3.jpg
There is some sort of component under the slot for the sound card and I do not know what it does. Maybe it could be contributing something. There are chokes installed on all of the audio cables coming out of the back.
I also thought that maybe it was all of the fans that are installed into the motherboard instead of into molex from the power supply. I disconnected these and there was no effect.
Then I started thinking that this problem is completely related to increased current to the videocard. Perhaps there is some nasty EMI coming off of the cables. The card takes two six connector PCIe power cables.
Techgage Image - eVGA GeForce 285 GTX SSC Edition
I took two ferrite chokes and put them on each of the power cables while listening to the 3-D noise and it went down dramatically.
I used to have Creative Soundblaster cards and did not remember as much noise in gaming but in those days there was one small power connector on my video card. Not the cabling and power required for these beasts of today.
I have got more of these ferrite cores in random drawers and will dig them out. Isn't more always better?
My next purchase (not soon that is for sure) may be for a USB DAC. Then the decision will be to go balanced or stay unbalanced.
I would be interested in a reply if anyone has this noise only with 3-D gaming and not just listening to music and whether the choke has any benefit or not.
I am adding a link that shows the power cable. I put the choke around the cable where the label that says, "Pin PCI Express" is located in the top photo.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coo...ic-psus_4.html