I've been experiencing an annoying crackling sound in my PC's audio every time I turn it on, and it's been happening for the past few weeks to months. Sometimes the crackling stops for a day, but then it comes back. I've updated all my drivers, and I'm using Windows 11. I'm unsure if the issue is related to my motherboard or something else. Here's my setup:
- Motherboard: ASRock X870 Pro RS ATX AM5
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL40 Memory
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor
- GPU: PowerColor Red Dragon OC Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
I totally get how frustrating that can be! Since the crackling happens right at startup, it’s likely due to a driver or power management issue rather than a failing motherboard. Here are a few things you can try:
1. Disable Fast Startup in Windows.
2. Go to Device Manager and uninstall the current audio driver, then reboot for a fresh install.
3. Make sure your audio driver is the latest from ASRock’s support page, not just the one Windows automatically selected.
4. Check if the crackling happens on all outputs (like USB, rear jack, or front panel). If it’s just the front jack, the issue could be with that port.
5. Disable any audio enhancements in the Windows sound settings and consider updating your chipset drivers too, since they can cause audio issues.
If you can, let me know what audio device Windows shows and if you're using speakers or a headset!
I tried your suggestions! I turned off Fast Startup and uninstalled the audio drivers, then got the latest from ASRock. I switched USBs too (using a HyperX Cloud 3 headset wirelessly), but the crackling is still there, even when I use the wired version.