Odd question... Does anyone hear buzzing from their monitor or speakers when this game is minimized?

[Taka]

It's hard for me to tell whether the monitor or speakers are the culprit here because my speakers are part of my monitor.

Basically, I noticed that when I alt+tab out of the game (fullscreened), I hear this weird high pitched buzzing noise coming from my monitor/speakers. I didn't notice till now cause I always play with my headphones on. And it has to be this game, or some aspect of this game (which may be shared with other programs/games), because I just tried a number of other games and programs fullscreened and alt+tabbed out of them and I heard no buzzing.

Does anyone else have this problem? Any idea what might be causing it?

If it matters, I have the 60 FPS patch installed.

[User Not Found]

I don't have this issue at all. And I'm using 60fps also.

[Kaldaien]

You'll get this a lot when you use analog audio. Frankly, monitor speakers that use an analog plug are silly because of this. Most headsets these days have RAMDACs built-in and the audio decoding is done outside of the computer.

The problem is EMI caused by the GPU, interfering with the sound card inside the computer. Digital audio output such as USB audio, S/PDIF, DisplayPort or HDMI is unaffected.

[Taka]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

You'll get this a lot when you use analog audio. Frankly, monitor speakers that use an analog plug are silly because of this. Most headsets these days have RAMDACs built-in and the audio decoding is done outside of the computer.

The problem is EMI caused by the GPU, interfering with the sound card inside the computer. Digital audio output such as USB audio, S/PDIF, DisplayPort or HDMI is unaffected.

Okay that sounds really interesting but... I didn't really understand it... Explain like I'm five, please?

Also, is there any way to fix it?

[Kaldaien]

If your monitor uses a stereo plug for audio, expect the GPU to cause interference at high load. There is no real way to fix it, I'd suggest using HDMI audio or something instead.

[Taka]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

If your monitor uses a stereo plug for audio, expect the GPU to cause interference at high load. There is no real way to fix it, I'd suggest using HDMI audio or something instead.

But I haven't noticed that noise with any other games, even other high-load ones. And it's only when I minimize the game. When it's maximized I don't hear it.

[Kaldaien]

When it's maximized, there's a framerate limiter that keeps GPU load low. When it's minimized, there's not.

I can remove the limit altogether for you and it'll run at 400+ FPS. At which point you will hear a really otherworldly whining sound coming from your monitor :)

[Taka]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

When it's maximized, there's a framerate limiter that keeps GPU load low. When it's minimized, there's not.

I can remove the limit altogether for you and it'll run at 400+ FPS. At which point you will hear a really otherworldly whining sound coming from your monitor :)

Okay so here's the question - is it something dangerous? Can my PC/Monitor/Speakers be damaged from this or is it just annoying?

[Kaldaien]

No, it's purely an annoyance. They make EMI shielded sound cards for this purpose, but they're not even always effective.

The best solution is to use HDMI or DisplayPort audio, if your monitor supports it. You will get a clean audio signal free of interference that way.

[Taka]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

No, it's purely an annoyance. They make EMI shielded sound cards for this purpose, but they're not even always effective.

The best solution is to use HDMI or DisplayPort audio, if your monitor supports it. You will get a clean audio signal free of interference that way.

Well, I know my monitor doesn't support HDMI - only DVI/VGA. What's DisplayPort?

[Kaldaien]

DisplayPort's the alternative to HDMI. They're just two competing standards, they serve the same purpose -- audio, video and some data on a single cable.