High latency and stuttering audio

[Lufferov]

Hi,

I just built a new PC and I'm suffering with stuttering, crackling audio. I checked my latency with DPC Latency Checker and LatencyMon. They both report REALLY high latency, but I have no idea why or how to fix it. Can anyone tell me what the problem is here? I can't fix this and I can't cope with the audio!

For the record, yes I've checked all drivers & firmwares are up to date etc...





============
PC Specs:

Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.00GHz
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 Motherboard
16Gb RAM Kingston DDR III
MSI AMD Radeon R9-295 X2
1TB Samsung SSD
4TB WD HDD

Log file from LatencyMon:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. Also one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates. 
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for  0:01:19  (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name:                                        HOME-PC
OS version:                                           Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware:                                             Z97X-Gaming 7, Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
CPU:                                                  GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Logical processors:                                   8
Processor groups:                                     1
RAM:                                                  16229 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed:                                   3991.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed:                                   4176.0 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   15769.674181
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   31.626141

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       15757.357732
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       21.814760


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs):              1007.668755
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time:       storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%):          0.002817
Driver with highest ISR total time:                   storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%)                          0.007267

ISR count (execution time <250 µs):                   11182
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs):                0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              14
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs):              0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs):              15918.859684
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time:       dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%):          0.400142
Driver with highest DPC total execution time:         dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%)                          0.512043

DPC count (execution time <250 µs):                   278894
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs):                9
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs):              0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count:                 wudfhost.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults                       2044
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process:          758
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs):          316349.218742
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%):              0.725408
Number of processes hit:                              16


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       5.240989
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs):                1007.668755
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.045946
CPU 0 ISR count:                                      11196
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs):                15918.859684
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s):                   3.099301
CPU 0 DPC count:                                      251551
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.520995
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 1 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs):                150.328239
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.031688
CPU 1 DPC count:                                      5307
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.052830
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 2 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs):                221.929341
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.022808
CPU 2 DPC count:                                      5118
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.238572
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 3 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs):                82.625908
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.007933
CPU 3 DPC count:                                      2062
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.015087
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 4 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs):                286.479579
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.023812
CPU 4 DPC count:                                      5046
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.701145
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 5 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs):                175.559008
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.013382
CPU 5 DPC count:                                      2334
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.961912
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 6 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs):                101.874217
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.031263
CPU 6 DPC count:                                      5888
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.488407
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 7 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs):                85.156602
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.007193
CPU 7 DPC count:                                      1754
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Lufferov]

are you using any gigabyte monitoring software? try closing all those first

be sure to flash to latest motherboard bios aswell,if it still does it try reseating the gpu and memory

Closing Gigabyte monitoring software didn't help, running F6 firmware which seems to be the latest that I can see. I've already had the PC apart and rebuilt with the problem persisting.

 

[Lufferov]

update the direct x drivers and the intel rapid storage drivers,then see if it improves

might need latest intel management drivers,find them on gigabyte website,google for latest direct x drivers

the latency should be in the green,not red

I already installed the latest drivers from the Gigabyte site for my motherboard. I couldn't figure out how to use the "Marvel Preinstall Driver" though as there was no setup file in the download. The same was true for the "Intel SATA Preinstall driver", but everything else has been installed. It made no difference to the latency results.

 

[Lufferov]

How does it perform with the 4gb hdd disconnected ?

I haven't tried that, I've already disconnected my DVD/Blu-Ray as I'd heard that can cause problems. Not tried the data storage drive though! I'll give it a go and report back...

 

[Lufferov]

GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 - F7 http://www.mediafire.com/download/8dxavd87bowj7p8/Z97XGAMING7.F7.zip

latest beta f7 bios

I don't normally shy away from beta stuff.. but a beta BIOS sounds like it could be a terrible plan. Any idea if there are release notes with it? Just wondering if it specifically addresses any problems that might be the cause of my latency issues.

 

[Lufferov]

they don't list the fixes,they generally have newest oproms,sata/chipset/lan ect

can always flash back if it doesn't cure or improve things

flash through qflash and you'll be fine

Flashed the F7 beta BIOS but it didn't like my AMD R9 295 X2 it seems. Couldn't get the Catalyst driver to enable Eyefinity and it didn't seem to see the second GPU on the board. No CrossFire stuff was visible like I'd normally see.

Checked the latency anyway but no change so I've gone back to F6 again. Unplugging the HDD didn't help either. Think my next option is just to start again and re-install Windows which is very dull, especially if that doesn't fix it either!

 

[Lufferov]

Do you have a spare HDD or something lieing around? You could install windows to that and if the problem persists then you haven't lost your original install still... or perhaps even a partition on a current drive? Not so sure if that's a good idea though, someone may be able to say if it's viable?

That's a great idea, I do actually have a 256GB SSD that is in my old PC. The plan was to put it in this new machine anyway.

well the bios was worth a try I guess

have you tried looking in device manager and disable/re enable drivers? take care with usb though as your kb wont work to re enable the usb ports

from the latency checker its the direct x drivers

google/download ddu display drive uninstaller,and uninstall gpu drivers/do a clean install

I tried disabling almost everything I could think of. I didn't disable my display adaptor because I wasn't sure what would happen if it disabled my monitors.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the R9 295 X2. It's basically two R9 290 GPUs on one PCIe X16 board. Wondering if that's just overloading the PCI bus? But really I'm just picking up bits from other things I've read. I don't really know what I'm talking about to be honest. I wouldn't have thought AMD would have released the board if that was the case anyway, and I'm sure the problem would be a lot more widespread if it was.

It's frustrating, as normally I'm the "go to guy" when it comes to PC problems. But with this I'm totally out of my depth and there's nobody else I know who I can call on...

I'd like to try different hardware to see if that helps, but I don't have any and this was a very expensive build, almost £2k. So with it not working it's left me feeling rather depressed frankly, and it's a shame because I should be enjoying this beast that I've built.