Inspiron 3847 sound port is integrated on motherboard.  there is no discrete add on sound card that you can replace.   [IMAGE] you can install a Creative PCIex1 sound card.  the motherboard has two PCIex1 slots.  you may be able to do it yourself.  it is a relatively easy project. Re: when I disconnect the speakers and use headphones (directly from the back of the desktop's audio port), there is no static at all. How can this be?  speakers and headphone have difference resistance load.  headphones generally have a much higher impedance than room speakers.  Very little power is required to make an ear bud sound loud as all the energy is directed towards the eardrum.  In the case of speakers, the power requirements are much larger.  your PC integrated audio fail to send high power to speakers but can still drive headphone.  This is like old speakers that are okay at low volume, but sound distorted with static when volume turned up.
Hi, (not a Dell employee, and not a computer expert, but an owner of the desktop Inspiron 3847.) I read this thread:  [URL]#M16906 And am still not sure of the solution. 1. Getting a lot of aggravating static, even after switching out the pair of speakers. So, this would surely indicate a problem with the sound card. 2. Yet, when I disconnect the speakers and use headphones (directly from the back of the desktop's audio port), there is no static at all. How can this be? (Probably not a smart question!) Assuming it is indeed the sound card gone bad after all these years, how do I go about replacing it? 1. Which replacement card to get? (the one by Creative Labs in the above thread? Around $40 at Amazon.) 2. And then, a subjective question - around what should I be paying for this new sound card to be installed/tested in the desktop? I live in the Houston area and recommendations for any reasonable computer repair place would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, in advance! Robin        
Inspiron 3847, sound card