Sorry, yeah i wasn't having issues because it was a fresh reboot. My computer has been on and i am experiencing crackling sound at the moment. I might consider getting a copy of windows 8 and see if that helps, but i still think it's hardware related. http://www31.zippyshare.com/v/66911700/file.html Password: MSFN567 Since i'm experiencing the problems on a fresh install with barebone drivers, power management completely off (in BIOS and everything maxed in windows), wouldn't that be likely? I've experimented with different types of graphics cards, standard vga drivers, various amounts of chipset updates, bios update, single hard drive and graphics card only, different slots for the graphics cards.. I'm going to run a memtest for the whole night tonight just to see if that could be it, though unlikely since everything runs perfectly otherwise. It's a long shot but i'm completely out of ideas. I've also tried the integrated sound card and another external sound card, both which caused crackling. It seems to have become "better" after intensive searching for the past few weeks and fiddling around with different settings. I've also tried different usb ports but again, no change. Could fans cause interruptions? it's the only thing i didn't disconnect. I have a powerful PSU and a full tower case with lots of fans.