DPC Latency Issue (Popping/Crackling audio) dxgkrnl.sys & nvlddkm.sys

[nostos156]

Hi,

For the past few months I've been having crackling audio issues on my USB DAC. This first happened on a G45 motherboard with Windows 8.1 and 10. I've since upgraded to X99/5820k and the issue is STILL there, as shown here:

I'm not sure where to start trying to eliminate this because I'm so frustrated.

Specs are:

ASUS X99-S updated to latest BIOS.
5820k currently at stock clocks
16GB DDR4 Ballistix RAM
120GB/500GB SSDs 840 Evo
Nvidia 980Ti
Windows 10 Pro

And yes, I have disabled EIST and C states in the BIOS where possible.

 

[nostos156]

Forgot to post the driver process tree:

 

[nostos156]

Upon reading about some xperf traces, I did one of those while blasting the NIC - I have heard it can cause issues in W10.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/agah4ymz6ij9ar5/CPU.etl?dl=0

 

[nostos156]

Even though nobody has replied yet, I've still been trying to track it down. Did another xperf properly and ran some games while it played, and this is the result:



Does the fact that the nvidia kernel sits above 1ms on the fragmented duration mean much in this case? Would be really grateful for any help in interpreting the data.

 

[HR5171A]

Try to disable the NVIDIA High Definition Audio and the NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (****** drivers which causes conflicts, especially on Windows 10) in the device manager and see if your crackling sounds disappear. If that doesn't work you could also try to reinstall your graphic card drives without the NVIDIA High Definition Audio. I've also read that it can happen by having a bad graphic card (although, I'm not sure of this) - in some cases, people have exchanged their graphic cards and the issue disappeared. But did this issue also happen on Windows 8/8.1? The drivers on Windows 8 are (at least for now) much better than on Windows 10.

The Intel LAN drivers are also a known to cause stutter and crackling sounds. So you could also try some older drivers or newer ones, if there are any. Or disable them and investigate.

 

[Earnest]

Wow. I have the exact same issue with nvlddmkm.sys and I also use GTX980ti. Did you manage to solve this? My LatencyMon screenshots look awfully similar to yours.
~

 

[rubez]

whats the fix here? i was having pops/crackle when trying to make music in a DAW...

dxgkrnl.sys 5.154759
nvlddmkm.sys 2.905380

i updated my sound drivers (only have onboard sound) and LOWERED by buffer in FL studio to 256 (was 512 - i heard too much buffer can actually paradoxically cause problems). touch wood, no pops or crackle since, running omnisphere 2.

but i still would like to lower these driver figures anyway (or if the crackle returns!)

i don't even use my gfx card for gaming any more, so maybe using onboard graphics would solve it?)

it still pops everytime i change the preset/patch in my synth program if the previous audio was still playing/tailing off. i don't think it should be doing that... should it?

 

[OldGrayGary]

The issues do seem to be related to the Nvidia drivers, especially when the onboard sound is a Realtek chip (which is common, since it is used in so many systems). We haven't found any complete cure ... but have often managed (as you have) to limit the pops and clicks to only occasional annoyances.

The latest version Nvidia drivers helped on some systems, if you haven't tried them yet. And installing them using the "Custom" and "clean install" options seems to help too.

For the large jump in pagefaults, see if you can limit background cpu usage by indexing, file-sharing, 24/7 news feeds, calls & messenging, etc.... at least while gaming or working on music.

 

[DanzoMeteor]

Hey Rubez, what is your Antivirus? I found Bitdefender was the biggest culprit to causing sound issues in FL studio, videos from my HDD and online. And do you have the KILLER ETHERNET driver?
What about your Realtek device -Latest driver (all sounds disabled, all enhancements disabled, COMMUNICATIONS: do nothing)

 

[rubez]

i do have realtek onboard sound, latest drivers installed and effects disabled. don't know about comms.

yes i believe i have the KILLER ETHERNET thing, i seen that in the uninstall bit. i use avira free.

isn't 'dxgkrnl.sys 5.154759' abnormally high, and would cause problems?

i haven't yet disabled the network/wifi adapter to see if that helps. the only problem is the problem can vanish for an extended period then come back with a vengeance, making it hard to troubleshoot.

should i uninstall KILLER ETHERNET? what is it?

 

[DanzoMeteor]

i do have realtek onboard sound, latest drivers installed and effects disabled. don't know about comms.

yes i believe i have the KILLER ETHERNET thing, i seen that in the uninstall bit. i use avira free.

isn't 'dxgkrnl.sys 5.154759' abnormally high, and would cause problems?

i haven't yet disabled the network/wifi adapter to see if that helps. the only problem is the problem can vanish for an extended period then come back with a vengeance, making it hard to troubleshoot.

should i uninstall KILLER ETHERNET? what is it?

I've been having similar troubles to you, and they have been eliminating itself one by one. The main issue is Windows 10 immature engine and that most companies don't have correctly working drivers. In previous windows, these problems were rare.
In my own thread, I posted that Nvidia (DXGKRNL.SYS) is aware of this dpc latency issue and will address it in a future patch. However, it seems Nvidia doesn't cause enough of an issue to overload the system with audio glitches unless pushed hard.

Killer Ethernet: The hardware itself is good, but its concept is totally ridiculous. There has been a number of reviews and tests that killer manager doesn't actually get your more bandwidth and speed. At best, it does nothing. But at worst, it actually chokes your internet. So I decided to use the "driver only" killer internet from MSI. I don't have the manager installed anymore and it helped tremendously. I'm really glad I didn't waste money on MSI gaming 9 ACK, which really is just another $100 on the second level Killer Ethernet upgrade. It's bad enough at default as it is!

Also check your mouse software. Steelseries "breathing" effect I found was noted for my usb disconnects and sudden CPU spikes when that event occurred.

And yes in the Audio Communications tab, check "DO NOTHING."

Then check what other software processes u have cluttering up the system.

Gary has been helping me quite a bit here, and I hope that together we can liberate our computers of this Windows 10 Latency madness. If we google this, we can see that all the same things happen in Win 10. Storport.sys, usbport.sys..nvidia driver, ndis.sys. Really, WIN 10 is still in beta!
If all else fails,we can revert to Win 8.1 I guess

 

[Earnest]

For all I know, the problem is Windows 10. I ran latencyMon on two completely different systems, and the results were the same as above. Both had Windows 10 installed and experienced the occasional audio popping.

 

[DanzoMeteor]

For all I know, the problem is Windows 10. I ran latencyMon on two completely different systems, and the results were the same as above. Both had Windows 10 installed and experienced the occasional audio popping.

I tested 2 other l aptops with a recent install of Windows 10 and both of them showed high Latency mon errors too. But it seems some systems are more susceptible and some are just fast enough to ignore them. Windows 10 has got too many flaws right now.