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RX580 Audio interference
- Thread starter mattspace
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Not using Harmon Kardon. Using shielded studio monitors and mixing console. Everything is properly grounded. No issues at all with same setup and NVIDIA GPU in MP5,1. Will hookup via optical when I test next week if I do not return the card before then. Also will try the front 3.5mm jack with same setup.
Only thought right now is the bottom of the RX580 backplate and screws touch the metal of the MP5,1 chassis and may potentially create this issue. May need a buffer (thermal pads on all screw heads) below the GPU to add separation. The GTX1080 has more clearance below and does not touch the chassis.
Only thought right now is the bottom of the RX580 backplate and screws touch the metal of the MP5,1 chassis and may potentially create this issue. May need a buffer (thermal pads on all screw heads) below the GPU to add separation. The GTX1080 has more clearance below and does not touch the chassis.
does moving the card to Slot 2 make the problem go away for you? That would be a test of the theory. If it does, I'm assuming a thin sheet of something insulative between the card and the processor cage would suit.
Will also test that next week when the RX580 goes back in.
I was able to reinstall the Sapphire PULSE RX580 8GB this AM in slot 1. Removed the two screws closest to the PCIe connectors and added thermal pads on two remaining bottom GPU backplate screws. There are absolutely no audio interference issues. This is the same exact setup used previously that did create audio interference issues.
See this post for photos and more info:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-for-pcie-slot-2.2134562/page-2#post-26413743
See this post for photos and more info:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-for-pcie-slot-2.2134562/page-2#post-26413743
Guys this is a engineering flaw in the RX 400 500 series.
This isnt a grounding issue, ive spent hundreds of hours trying to solve this, and its due to the cards pulling way way over the limit on the pci-e slot.
Toms hardware did a review about this on the 480, and stated how it will case a "hear what you see" effect across audio. RMA your cards hopefully they have a 1060 to offer instead.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-rx-480-polaris-10,4616-9.html
With peaks of up to 155W, we have to be thankful they're brief, and not putting the motherboard in any immediate danger. However, the audio subsystems on cheaper platforms will have a hard time dealing with them. This means that the "you can hear what you see" effect will be in full force during load changes; activities like scrolling may very well result in audible artifacts.
Every single rx series does this, and its horrible; destroyed my audio.
AFAIK, only the reference RX480 has this issue. And the issue fixed by AMD via driver update.
However, since no such driver update available for MacOS. Therefore, we better avoid RX480 reference card. But most after market card which has more than single 6pin input doesn’t have this issue.
Also, RX580 doesn’t have this issue natively.
I did lots of tests on my PULSE RX580, it does able to pull slightly more than 75W occasionally from the slot when running Furmark. IMO, that’s acceptable. GPU spike is normal, and we won’t consider that monetary peak is “outside limit”.
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I have a 470, 8pin power and it still bleeds audio see what you hear into my sound card. 1060 perfectly fine.
I won't doubt there is audio bleeding on your system. I just don't think that has anything about "the cards pulling way way over the limit on the pci-e slot"
You can monitor the power draw of your RX470 via iStat or Hardware Monitor, etc. I doubt your card is drawing way over 75W from the slot.
Have you tried placing thermal pads on the screws on the GPU itself or removing screws close to the PCIe connection? Keeping the GPU from physically touching ANY part of the chassis of the Mac Pro appears to resolve the audio issues for most cases. 100% resolved with the RX580 in authentic 5,1. Never experienced the audio issues with NVIDIA GTX 680 or GTX 1080, but DID experience with RX 580 using exact same cables and setup.
See this thread for images:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-for-pcie-slot-2.2134562/page-2#post-26413743
May be this is the reason. The very first thing I do after I get the RX580 is remove the screws next to the PCIe slot to make sure it can fit in without any problem.
I never run the RX580 with those two screws installed.
Yes, removing those screws basically fixed the issue. Believe you were the one who originally suggested and thank you. Thermal pads helped as well when using all 4 PCIe slots.
Only run the RX580 when doing testing or specific software tasks at the moment. Still in High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G5019) and using the GTX 1080 FE whenever possible. Have a few video tools that use CUDA and until they embrace METAL fully, it will be difficult to change over without majorly sacrificing speed and render times.
Those unbalanced mini jack cables (even shielded) are notorious for picking up noise from power supplies and cables. You want to try to use short runs and keep them far away from power sources and electrical cables.
I too have a bit of hum from my 5,1 MP 1/8" output jack (using the stock 5770 GPU). For "hum-free" mission critical work, I use an external Firewire audio interface with balanced XLR cables to my mixer and speakers. (Using balanced cables is the real key to hum-free audio!)
I too have a bit of hum from my 5,1 MP 1/8" output jack (using the stock 5770 GPU). For "hum-free" mission critical work, I use an external Firewire audio interface with balanced XLR cables to my mixer and speakers. (Using balanced cables is the real key to hum-free audio!)
This audio humming issue was isolated to RX580 being the source of the problem. The GTX 1080 FE and GTX 680 for Mac both never had the humming using the same exact cables and setup. Removing the two screws on the PCIe connector side of the RX580 in combination with thermal pads on the other screw heads 100% resolved the issue.
Truly believe it is a grounding issue and/or an issue with the power draw from RX580. The Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB version is a massive card that really pushes (I believe exceeds) standard 2-slot GPU sizes. Have provided size measurements in one post to document this. It is a tight fit in Mac Pro 5,1 when using all four available PCIe slots.
Truly believe it is a grounding issue and/or an issue with the power draw from RX580. The Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB version is a massive card that really pushes (I believe exceeds) standard 2-slot GPU sizes. Have provided size measurements in one post to document this. It is a tight fit in Mac Pro 5,1 when using all four available PCIe slots.
Strange that it's a grounding issue since the GPU draws from the same power source as the MP. Perhaps the 580 "screw-to-chassis-contact" reveals a problem with the MP audio jack not being properly grounded? (Likely, if this interference similarly pops up with other GPUs or PCIe cards) Anyway, glad to hear you resolved the issue.
Never tried connecting via the front headphone jack under the power button when the issue presented, but was curious if it was also impacted. It very well could be a poorly designed (or poorly grounded) 3.5mm rear jack. Use optical or USB DAC whenever possible.
I'm having the same problem with my RX580 aorus. The problem came up recently, as i'm using this card for 6 months.
I have an Asus Xonar DG sound card with an seinnheiser HD650 and the sound is just fine in all occasions, except when I start a game (I don't use photo or video softwares).
I just start the game and I hear the buzz (like hearing a bad microphone turned on), and this is related to the framerate, as I change the max FPS or graphics quality, the noise change occurs too.
I'm awared about the PCI power draw problem. I switched the headphone from the sound card to the motherboard. Same problem. I take off the RX580 and started the game with just the onboard video card: no buzz or whatsoever!
I'll test this video card in my friend's PC, and his RX580 Asus in mine. If the problem persists, I'll contact gigabyte for the warranty.
I have an Asus Xonar DG sound card with an seinnheiser HD650 and the sound is just fine in all occasions, except when I start a game (I don't use photo or video softwares).
I just start the game and I hear the buzz (like hearing a bad microphone turned on), and this is related to the framerate, as I change the max FPS or graphics quality, the noise change occurs too.
I'm awared about the PCI power draw problem. I switched the headphone from the sound card to the motherboard. Same problem. I take off the RX580 and started the game with just the onboard video card: no buzz or whatsoever!
I'll test this video card in my friend's PC, and his RX580 Asus in mine. If the problem persists, I'll contact gigabyte for the warranty.
Isn't this the phenomenon referred to as coil whine?
I've never had that on any Mac (but then I have never owned a modular Mac either) but all my PC's have had it in some form or other - the more capable the GPU the worse. My current GTX1070 is pretty annoying in this regard.
Not found a cure for it so far and appreciate the difference when I have the headphoness plugged into my Trashcan and it's not buzzing when the GPU is being pushed. Quality time.
I've never had that on any Mac (but then I have never owned a modular Mac either) but all my PC's have had it in some form or other - the more capable the GPU the worse. My current GTX1070 is pretty annoying in this regard.
Not found a cure for it so far and appreciate the difference when I have the headphoness plugged into my Trashcan and it's not buzzing when the GPU is being pushed. Quality time.
can it be coil whine even if I'm only hearing it from the headphone? Otherwise, the pc itself is very silent..
I couldn't say but in my case the PC does emit fan noise at all times when running - certainly enough to mask anything subtle.
Googling around for 'headphone GPU buzz' this device comes up as a possible solution: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019FC6ZQQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
FWIW, I sortof solved the problem - I have an XBox plugged into one of my Benq displays via HDMI (which I bought soon after upgrading to the RX580). The Benq, like the dell before it, outputs audio from the HDMI to a 3.5mm minijack. In turn, I have that plugged into a passive audio combiner (Belkin RockStar, I think it's called) which takes inputs from the monitor, and the computer, and pipes them to the speakers.
Anyway, it was that connection - the monitor to the Rockstar, that was carrying the static sound that occurred whenever anything was done by the GPU, which makes me think it's more to do with the display changing.
I solved it largely by placing a chunky audio filter inline between the monitor & the Rockstar, unfortunately it's also crushed the volume. What I really need is some sort of audio mixer that can take multiple 3.5mm inputs and apply individual boost, then mix to a single output.
Anyway, it was that connection - the monitor to the Rockstar, that was carrying the static sound that occurred whenever anything was done by the GPU, which makes me think it's more to do with the display changing.
I solved it largely by placing a chunky audio filter inline between the monitor & the Rockstar, unfortunately it's also crushed the volume. What I really need is some sort of audio mixer that can take multiple 3.5mm inputs and apply individual boost, then mix to a single output.
It may solve the problem, but doesn't explain why I was able to use my system for 6 months without any issues. Just now I can listen music very clear, but if I just open a game, the buzz comes.
Even a light game like PUBG mobile, the RX580 keeps the fan shut off, but the buzz is there.
I would not use your monitor's 3.5mm output because its DAC is probably simpler than your motherboard.
yes, but the monitor is routing the audio from the XBox - it takes the audio from the Xbox's HDMI that goes into the display. Otherwise I'd have to put an HDMI audio breakout inline between the Xbox and the display.
Maybe my problem is different, but I noticed this on my hack after moving from a GTX 980 to a powercolor Rx 590 in order to have mojave support. I'm using a USB audio interface (Roland octa-capture). The weird part is that if I don't go through the headphone amp, I don't hear the problem, so I figured it was the headphone amp, but I didn't have any such issues with the GTX 980.