No Sound after Nvidia Graphics Card Installation? Troubleshooting Tips

The situation when no sound after installing Nvidia graphics card is quite typical for most video adapters, especially for those that have a video signal output in the form of a DVI or HDMI connector. And since almost all devices of this type have been supplied with similar interfaces for about 20 years, this can happen with any video card.

The fact is that a video signal output in DVI or HDMI format provides a digital channel for outputting sound to a display device. And if a TV or a monitor with speakers is used as such a device, then simultaneously with the image output, it is possible to output sound. That is, we can say that every video card with a similar interface has a built-in sound card.

Attention! In fact, such a statement is not entirely correct, since the DVI / HDMI channel does not transmit an analog audio signal, but a digital code that is converted into sound in a display device.

No Sound After Installing Nvidia Graphics Card

When installing video adapter drivers, many hardware manufacturers make sure that the device driver is also installed, which will redirect sound over the video cable. In this case, such a device is made the default Windows sound device. And if the display device (TV or monitor) does not have speakers, or they are turned off, then, naturally, the sound will not be output to them. This reason is the most common, however, there may be others.

The article discusses what to do if, no sound after installing Nvidia graphics card in order for it to appear again.

Why Sound Disappear After Installing Nvidia Graphics Card?

There may be several possible reasons for the loss of sound in this situation:

  1. Incorrect operation of the sound device driver.
  2. Reassign the default audio playback device.
  3. Incorrect work of system services for working with the sound driver.
  4. Conflict between the built-in sound card and the audio converter of the video adapter.

How to Fix No Sound After Installing Nvidia Graphics Card?

The solution to the issue of sound restoration can be done in one of the following ways:

Checking audio device driver

When installing new components, device drivers that are already installed in the system and work normally may “break”. This can happen due to the conflict between the resources of the new device and the existing ones, or due to the use of the same entry points by the procedures.

Be that as it may, you should check the sound adapter driver that was running on the system before installing the video card.

This is done in the device manager; in it you need to open the category “Sound, video and game devices” and see if there is a sign of errors on the sound adapter. It appears as an exclamation mark next to a device that is not working correctly.

If there is such a device, its driver should be updated, after which its operation will be restored, and the sound should appear. If there are no such devices, proceed to the next stage.

Check guide on Fix for Graphics Card Not Showing In Device Manager.

Playback devices

Find out which device is currently the default operating system in use. To do this, right-click on the speaker in the system tray and select “Playback devices …”.

In them, you need to select the previously used sound device and, by right-clicking on it, make it the default device.

Important! Sometimes, not all audio adapters may appear in the device list. To do this, select the “Show all devices” item.

If this does not help, they proceed to the next stage.

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System services

You need to run the “services.msc” file. In the window that opens, find the Windows Audio Endpoint Builder service and restart it. If no sound appears, then the service files are damaged.

They should be restored using the recovery program (run the sfc/scannow file). After a while, the service will automatically start and the sound will appear.

Read out Does My Graphics Card Support Directx 12?

Setting up sound in BIOS

If the built-in sound card was used on the motherboard, and it was disabled when the video card driver was installed, it should be enabled. This is done using BIOS tools.

To do this, you need to restart your computer and enter the system BIOS Setup. Next, in the section of external devices, you should enable the built-in sound adapter. It can be called, for example, “On-board audio device”. For it, check the “Enabled” checkbox.

Hi, fellow tech enthusiasts! I’m Syed Kashif Shah, and I’m proud to be your go-to expert for all things like problems, suggestions, recommendations related to graphics cards. As a seasoned Technology Consultant and Hardware Enthusiast, I’ve spent years in the graphics card troubleshooting and repair field.