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nForce drivers and sound quality

K

kuk

Platinum Member
Got my Abit NV7m up and running yesterday, and although I loved this board, there seems to be a constant issue with sound.
Using the shipped nForce drivers, when playing through MP3s, sometimes the sound will become metalized (as if a borg is singing the music .. terrible), especially under moderate loads.

Using the latest drivers from nVidia, scrolling would crackle the sound, and the metalized sound issue is still present.

Has anyone experienced something similar? I'm going nuts here.


Kuk :|
 
Who do you think is at fault? nVidia? No. ABIT. All the ABIT boards I had (2) have given me nothing but headaches.
 
let me know how it turns out, because i was planning on picking up one of these boards for a highly integrated slim-line system i'm building in august.

but fi the sound is a serious concern, then i might opt for a SIS 650 board + P4...but i'd rather not.
 
I have the same board, Abit NV7m. No problems with sound whatsoever. Perhaps you should post your complete specs, what kind of software/hardware you have.
 
I just changed to the Abit NV7-133R board on Friday. My sound was horrible until I installed the 1.05 drivers. I haven't been on the computer much so I don't know if there are still some crackling issues but I do know the new drivers made a huge difference. If you are already using the 1.05 set, I don't know what may be wrong. Do you have any PCI cards in your system? If so, what slots are they in?
-DAGTA
 
Here are some specs:

- Abit NV7m
- Athlon XP 1800+
- 256MB PC2100, using only one slot (PC1600 mode)
- No PCI cards attached
- PS/2 mouse and keyboard

1.03 Drivers seem better than 1.05 ... no scrolling cracking, but metalized sound with intense scrolling.
I haven't flashed to the new BIOS (there seems to be conflicts when updating BIOS with the NIC MAC address) ... I'll try this latter. Documentation on the newer BIOSes doesn't indicate any sound issues.


I'm still bummed by this one ...
 
Add another memory DIMM. Basically, the one DIMM you have installed is totally tied up with the graphics & CPU, leaving almost no bandwidth for anything else.
Running the DIMM at PC1600 spec is not helping matters either. You are bandwidth starved enough as it is. Since you have an XP1800+ there should be no issues involved in running memory @PC2100.

Greg
 
uh yeah, sure greg...

running 2d apps isn't bandwidth intense, and even if it were, there's single-channel DDR chipsets utilizing high bandwidth 3d cores and the sound is fine (i.e. SIS 650 has comparable 3d performance to nforce's, and it's single channel DDR)....u DON'T need another stick of memory...that's a crock of monkey poop.

did u update to the latest bios?..just because it doesn't report fixes related to sound issues odesn't mean it won't fix your sound related issues, especially if they're related to certain timing issues, etc. that have been resolved in the latest BIOS...also, try setting the fail-safe settings in the BIOS, and disable all onboard peripherals (i.e. LAN, serial, parallel) except the sound...see how it turns out.
 
This may sound stupid but what OS are you using? Did you do a fresh install of the OS or simply carry it over to this motherboard? I am running WinXP on MSI nForce mobo and I am not experiencing any audio related problems. I do alot of things in the background as well.

My system config:

Geforce 4 Ti 4600
Matrox RT2500
2 ide 60GB hard drives
Pioneer DVD Rom
Pioneer DVD-R Drive
Floppy
WinXP
NVIDIA 1.05 nforce drivers
Samsung PC2100 DDR memory (1 stick) 256MB
 
I have setup several nForce motherboards myself and never seen this problem, although I haven't used any NV7M's. (MSI's and Asus)

Couple questions that might help others here, are you using the onboard video?
What power supply are you using?
What OS are you running?
Did you uninstall the original drivers before installing the 1.05's?

 
For me, the 1.05 drivers are trouble-free and is probably the best. Under the MIDI option , you don't have any 'effects' enabled, do you?
Also, I don't understand why, when using only one memory stick, that you are in PC1600 mode? Memory can still run at full, PC2100 speeds with just one stick, Maybe you meant twin-bank (which activates when you have two sticks of RAM)?

A few more questions;
Are you using the on-board video?
What kind of speakers do you have? Try the different settings under 'output' and 'speakers'.
 
nortexiod. You don't have a clue, sorry.

He is running a cpu that expects memory running at a 266mhz bus on a 200mhz bus (why I don't know) and is using the nforce integrated graphics as well. That does impact memory performance with only one dimm (the memory isn't even satisfying the cpu, let alone cpu graphics & everything else). I don't care what a SiS chipset might or might not do - we are discussing nforce here.

Updating to the latest BIOS is a good idea also. Check you acpi settings also.

Greg
 
OK, some general comments:

I am running on a fresh install of Windows XP. There are no PCI devices attached, nor an AGP card. My PSU is 300W, AMD approved.

Gstanfor: Here is why I suspect this is NOT a bandwith problem:

- Sound becomes distorted and remains distorted for some time (besides the scrolling problem). A bandwith issue might make the issue arise only momentarily.
- I don't think sound is very bandwith intensive, since I've been able to play thorugh MP3s on a Pentium 200 (66mhz and very slow memory). This is far slower than DDR with integrated video.
- This problem only appears with sound ... heavy loads has no influence with video, which plays very smoothly.
- Lastly, I don't think many manufacturers would accept the idea of having to run with two DIMMs, or else there would be problems ... and certainly there are thousands of users running on only one DIMM.


Other remarks:
The "PC1600 mode" I mentioned was somewhat of a mistake ... I read a review earlier to writing that, and the reviewer wrongly mentioned this as PC1600 mode. I really meant Twin-bank.
I will only update the BIOS this Friday, since I can't live without this computer until the week is finished. I'll try to follow nortexoid advice, and disable the other components in the and try to find the problem. I'll report back with any results.


Kuk 🙁
 
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