Vista - Gigabyte MB + Vista 64-bit + Soundblaster Issues FIXED!

Greetings Everyone,

I had a major issue w/ my sound, and finally just figured out what was causing the problem. I wanted to share this following information with any of you that might find themselves losing sleep, dumbfounded, and/or otherwise unable to find help elsewhere (I couldn't find anything on this particular issue!).

The issue: sound distortion, crackling, poping, and other abnormalities w/ sound.

Let's break this down fast:

My System:

- Windows Vista Premium Home Edition 64-bit (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1
- EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Over-Clocked Edition Graphics Card (Drivers: 7.15.0011.8250)
- 640GB Westren Digital Hard Drive
- Intel Core i7 CPU 940Mhz
- Gigabyte EX58-UD4P (Bios version: 6.00PG) MotherBoard
- SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI Edition (Driver version: 5.12.0001.2007)

Background Info:

I had a clean installation of Windows Vista (3rd installation after testing w/ another hard drive, and confirming my hardware wasn't causing my sound issues), all Microsoft's recommended/critical updates installed, all Motherboard drivers installed, and so forth. Clean sparkling new system, sound was working great, and then as I was installing other programs .....the sound problem/issue returned (see above for details)

The Resolution:

If you own a GIGABYTE MotherBoard (newer!), and have installed GIGABYTE's Dynamic Energy Saver Software, and have it ENABLED through BIOS + The Program ....then this CAN CAUSE ISSUES w/ YOUR SOUND!

Immediately upon disabling the program's features (which I had previously manually enabled myself), all my sound distortion, crackling, and poping issues disappeared! Gone! Problem solved! Once again ALL my music, videos, youtube.com videos, etc have returned to working/sounding flawless!

So, if you are out there, and facing similar issues with sound under the same circumstances/hardware I have, then check to see if that's what's causing it! I hope this helps others like myself!

Who'd of thought THAT would be the issue behind a sound problem. This almost drove me insane! Anyhow, good luck and happy computing everyone! *salute!*

Warm Regards,
Syric

Updated BIOS (F6 to F7): Award Software International, Inc. F7, 3/31/2009

Ok, I need to follow-up this post because my popping, crackling, and other sound issues returned. The issue: Hyper-Threading (HT) turned ON! I found this out via random circumstance and a bit of luck. The short version is I had been running my system a couple days w/ Hyper-Threading turned off (recommended prior to doing a BIOS update), and then re-enabled it after I was done and got around to installing the update. Sound was fine prior to re-enabling HT.

The Issue: horrible sound quality that would cause popping, crackling, distortion, and slow-mo or speed-up effects.

The Resolve: On a i7 system running a 64-bit Vista Home Premium Edition OS, and using a SoundBlaster sound card, you may need to turn OFF Hyper-Threading in your BIOS in order to fix your sound issue(s)

Note: You may also want to forego/disable using SoundBlaster's X-FI Crystalizer. Using this seemed to cause sound improvements SOMETIMES, but more often than not it created a roller-coaster effect w/ the "percussive sounds and transients." Anotherwords, the sound would fade the music in/out constantly. This feature isn't suppose to that, but it does on my system. Another wasted feature ...for now :/

Upon me doing this, I have no further issues w/ my sound. I've tested mp3 formats, playing various CDs, and crossing between Windows Media Player and iTunes for playing this media.

How do I find out what mother board I have because I have the same sound problem.

To find out what type of Mother Board you have depends on the OS you're running. What ya got?

CPU-Z will tell you your motherboard's make and model.

CPUID

It looks like this is my motherboard Systemboard with NVIDIA® nForce® 720i Chipset (MCP7A-D) here are the specs for my computer
Gateway Official Site: Shop - Desktops – LX6810-01 Product Details - LX 6810 01 Product Details

I took the cover off my tower to see what sound chip I had but there are no big chips. Then I went to NVDIA to see what it said and I couldn even find my motherboard on the site. I installed the newest realtek drivers and it still gives me the cracking,poping, and slowmotion sound that gets worse over time.

Any help or ideas would be great.