Audio dropouts / CPU usage spikes

Yahliamir · May 25, 2019

Hello, I've had audio issues for a long time that persisted through a couple Windows installs.

Basically, audio cuts out for 0.5-1 second with an audible crack or pop, then comes back. usually PC also freezes for a split second at the same time.

Apart from that being extremely annoying I use my PC for music recording and if this audio dropout happens while recording, the recording track gets cut off at the point the dropout happened, forcing me to start over.

I used to get really annoying CPU usage spikes as well, I can't confirm it's still happening (I'm on a pretty fresh windows install, around a week) - but I suspect this is the same issue as before.

After some googling I learned this can be caused by DPC latency and have been monitoring my latency levels with Latencymon. I had some drivers that caused a high DPC count, including Nvidia drivers. I since tried swapping out my GPU and using the built in graphics instead, it helped a lot! but still not stable enough according to Latencymon.

Anyone have experience with this kind of issue? thanks

Specs:

Asus Z97 pro

Intel i5-4690k

EVGA GTX770

8 GB ram

Windows running on a Samsung 850 pro 128GB SSD

Using a Steinberg UR44 external audio interface if that matters, although I checked in the past and the issues persist even with it disconnected.

.Apex. · May 25, 2019

14 minutes ago, Yahliamir said:

Anyone have experience with this kind of issue? thanks

A screenshot of Latencymon would help alot, I've had experiences with that issue but it's different for every system, mine turned out to be a USB controller/driver problem, you can try disconnecting all USB devices and see if the issue goes away i guess

Yahliamir · May 25, 2019

I did two 5 minute tests, one with the stock graphics, and one with the GTX770. PC was completely idle in both. Both came out ok actually, perhaps a longer test is needed?

GTX770: