G. Gorman wrote:

You guys are fast to reply - Thanks!

The Motherboard is a P4S8X-MX

And, yes I get the buzzing sound when the volume is med-high but nothing
playing. It is louder when plugged into the front audio input than in the
rear.

There's a hint ;-)

I'd try disconnecting the front audio ports (all of them) from the
motherboard. If that fixes the rear port, you know the cables to the
front are inadequately shielded or part of a ground loop.

Sounds like it may be the grounding problem. Any suggestions to get rid of
that? Will installing a (new) soundcard take care of it (and disabling
on-board sound)?

Quite possibly, but also quite possibly not. Better to understand the
problem before throwing money at it.

Other information that might help:

What does your external audio system consist of? Is it externally
powered? From the same outlet? Have you tried headphones?

P2B

"P2B" wrote in message
.. .


G. Gorman wrote:


Whenever I turn up the onboard sound from Windows, I get a
buzzing/crackling sound.

Do you get a buzzing/crackling sound when there is no signal (i.e. volume
high but nothing playing), or are you referring to signal distortion?

The former suggests a poor connection or grounding problem, while the
latter suggests a software problem (BIOS PCI latency timer setting can
cause it, for example).

P2B


I updated the MB's Bios and the Realtek AC97 Drivers to no avail. Anyone
know what it could be?

Thanks