Resolve audible GPU noise on external USB audio interface

Willapp

So, I've done quite a lot of research online and tried many things to resolve this, all with no success.

I recently bought an external USB audio interface (PreSonus audiobox USB 96) and some Yamaha HS-5 speakers which I've hooked up to my PC. The PC is a custom build with some recently upgraded components (MSI Z390 Gaming Plus Mobo, RTX 2070 GPU, Intel i7 8700K CPU).

During normal desktop usage (web browsing etc.) there is a tiny amount of hiss coming from the speakers, but it's barely noticeable. However, when gaming or doing any GPU intensive task (e.g. running a video stress test), the audible noise increases significantly to the point where it's incredibly irritating. I've ruled out the speakers being an issue, because the same noise is audible when using headphones via the interface.

Other things I've tried in an attempt to fix or reduce the noise:

1) Running all components from a single wall socket to rule out a 'ground loop'.
2) Buying a UPS to rule out noisy power in my flat.
3) Buying a USB cable with ferrite coils on both ends to try and suppress any electrical noise between the PC and interface.
4) Connecting the USB cable to every different USB port on my PC (front and back panel, a mix of USB2 and USB3 connectors).
5) Using my old GTX970 GPU instead of the RTX2070.
6) Disabling XMP profile in the BIOS to stop any overclocking of CPU and memory.

The fact that it happens with both GPUs suggests the noise is coming from the motherboard or PSU. However, the PSU is a Corsair gold 850W and using HWInfo64 I have verified a stable voltage during load testing, so I think/hope it's not the PSU.

My question is what else I could try in order to fix this? I can't leave it as it is because the noise is very noticeable, and I need the external interface because I also have a music keyboard that I want to use to make music with Cubase/Ableton and the interface is key for this. I don't want to keep buying components blindly to try and fix it.

Any suggestions appreciated

next010

I've experienced this over the years too more than once, I don't know the exact cause other than it's interference of some kind and very hard to troubleshoot.

I found the USB audio cards always had hiss on them, in one case using a dedicated PCI-e USB card solved the issue. I remember getting a PC card that had the same USB3 controller that Apple used in their Mac's, the cards brand is long gone now most likely but it may have been similar to this, in another replacing the GPU solved it.

The one sure fire solution was a dedicated PC sound card which is not an option in your case.

Only other suggestion I can think of is disable the GPU video acceleration decoding/encoding and use CPU only, if that helps at all when doing your video work.

There aren't many PC sound card forums still around that I know of but there is one here that someone may have more suggestions.

Willapp

Thanks, I'll re-post there and see what happens. May also look into the PCIe USB card suggestion, if they aren't too expensive.

techquest

Not sure if it will fix it but here's another recommendation from someone who had the problem