Electrical noise or interference

[Baconelite]

Hey fellas, I'm having trouble figuring out the cause of an issue and I'm hoping you can help me.

 

Okay so lately I've noticed a faint electrical/static noise from my headset when I'm gaming. I first noticed it in Star Citizen where it was quite loud and high pitched, but didn't think much of it as the game is nowhere near done. Later I noticed it in Minecraft, which I have completely muted, so I thought it was very odd, although it was not as bad as in Star Citizen. It was also present in FTL, but I turned on the frame limiter and VSYNC and it almost disappeared completely. I even sometimes get it when scrolling on web pages, including here on linustechtips.

 

I have googled a bit and read that it could be because of electrical interference and I tried plugging my computer in from a different plug separated from the others, but no success, I was still getting the noise.

I am currently using the back audio port of my PC and I have tried using the front audio port instead, but it's MUCH worse on the front.

 

When I unplug or plug in USB devices on the back, the noise disappears for a few seconds but always comes back.

 

These are my specs:

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45

GPU: ASUS GTX 970 Strix, not OC

CPU: i5 4670k, not OC, cooled by a Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO I believe it's called.

Memory: 2x8 GB @ 1600 mhz. They are not identical sticks, but same memory and speed.

PSU: Corsair CX600 80+ bronze

Storage: 120 GB Kingston SSD for the OS, 1 TB HDD for games. Just installed a new 240GB SSD but it hasn't changed anything (didn't expect it to either).

 

 

 

Any ideas what could be causing it? I'm really hoping it isn't my hardware.

[ANONYMOUS_POTATO]

Its the headphones.

[ANONYMOUS_POTATO]

Try different headphones first if the same things happens it is the computer 

[Baconelite]

It has crossed my mind. It's an onboard sound card. I don't think it's my headphones though, as there is a difference from the back to the front audio port. I've tried plugging my headphones into my laptop and other devices and there have been no issues.

 

What worries me most is that it gets worse in more demanding games and it might be the GPU.

[ANONYMOUS_POTATO]

Yea. But anything can be causing the interference.

[Baconelite]

Just wanted to say that the problem seems to have fixed itself somehow. Thanks for the help, though.