Question Audio crackling/popping while playing some games ?

[tesnhinoia]

I recently purchased an ASROCK B550M Steel Legend + 16GBx2 XPG 3200 + Ryzen 5 4500 and I'm having problems with the 3.5mm audio jack. When I'm playing some games like Fallout 76, Baldur's Gate 3, Forza Horizon 5, Divinity: Original Sin 2 I hear a crackling/popping noise and just when I'm playing it it's driving me crazy. I tried everything and the best I found was that when changing PCIe Lanes Configuration to x8x8 or PCIe x16 Bus Interface to Gen2 the problem disappears completely.

My question is should I claim on the motherboard warranty? Or from the CPU? Or is there a way to fix this problem without having to change these options in the BIOS?
(the rest of my hardware is: MSI RTX 2060 VENTUS GP OC, XPG Core Reactor 750W)

What I already tried:

• disabling XMP
• clean SO install
• decrease/increase the sample/bit rate of the audio device
• disable exclusive mode/signal enhancements
• download the audio driver from the motherboard manufacturer's website
• using the default Microsoft audio driver
• update/reset the bios
• decrease/increase voltages VVDG
• disable NVIDIA HD audio
• disable HD audio in BIOS
• lower CPU clock
• lower CPU voltage
• disable resizable bar
• use another headset
• use front/rear panel audio jacks
• disable MPO
• old Realtek HD driver
• clean PCI-Express connector with isopropyl alcohol

The problem does not occur with the GPU HDMI sound or the cheap DAC/AMP that I have here.

I really need help, I searched all over the forum and Reddit and didn't find a concrete answer, and I need to be sure what the problem is before sending it to warranty. (I don't have any money right now, so buying an external DAC is out of the question at the moment)
(translated by google translate)

https://imgur.com/2BLLqOi

 

[CodeConnoisseur]

I don't have much experience with this, but I know that interference can be a huge issue for analog audio signals. Your different PCIe configuration may be solving the issue by reducing the amount of electromagnetic radiation as there is less electricity moving through the board. Especially while gaming and the GPU being under load could increase this interference depending on its proximity to the audio chips. Again, this is a complete guess, and if it were true I'd expect many others to be having the same issue as it'd be a fundamental design flaw. Assuming you're using headphones, does the cable have a ferrite bead or anything? Do you have another pair you could try?

There was a similar issue in this post and by the end they were in fact suspecting motherboard damage, but the consensus seems to be that these cheaper audio chips are sensitive. If you talk to an ASRock support agent they should be able to walk you through validating that it's RMA-worthy before starting the process so there's reduced risk of rejection if that's what you're concerned about.