High DPC latency, audio crackling, lag Win7x64

[KenJiNx]

Hello. first of all sorry for my bad english, is not my native language.


I have this problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocKfYNV-xHo

and this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdKuZW3ERQ(this is my pc)

Specs are:
Cpu: Intel i5 4670k
Mobo: Asrock Z87 Extreme4
Ram: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 1600mhz CL8 2x4GB
Vga: Sapphire R9 290 Tri-x 4GB
SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB
PSU: EVGA Supernova 750W G2
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64bit


i read the excellent guide inside forums for dpc latency, i run LatencyMon for 43 minutes, with full activity, youtubing, online-gaming, watch a movie from HDD.
Here is the results:



And here is the text from LatencyMon

Read More:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________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. At least one detected problem appears to be network related. In case you are using a WLAN adapter, try disabling it to get better results. 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 0:46:01 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.




_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: ULTIMATE
OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
Hardware: ASRock, Z87 Extreme4
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4670K CPU @ 3.40GHz
Logical processors: 4
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8121 MB total




_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 3400,0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 398,0 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.


WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.






_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 24815,373991
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1,916468


Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 24677,136010
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 0,557054




_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 287,766471
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: ataport.SYS - ATAPI Driver Extension, Microsoft Corporation


Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0,020150
Driver with highest ISR total time: hal.dll - Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL, Microsoft Corporation


Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0,033785


ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 2972413
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 11
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
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): 25030,742353
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ndis.sys - NDIS 6.20 driver, Microsoft Corporation


Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0,094818
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: iusb3xhc.sys - Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation


Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0,317776


DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 20478079
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 518
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 4
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: chrome.exe


Total number of hard pagefaults 10909
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 1896
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 574884,252941
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0,242063
Number of processes hit: 47




_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 117,747787
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 287,766471
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 3,731435
CPU 0 ISR count: 2972424
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 25030,742353
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 32,839380
CPU 0 DPC count: 19893704
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 42,385297
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): 432,002353
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0,773855
CPU 1 DPC count: 149038
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 39,913648
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): 663,480882
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0,828712
CPU 2 DPC count: 221641
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 15,166599
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): 590,212647
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0,655181
CPU 3 DPC count: 214219
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What i have try:

reset bios(its the latest)
Update all drivers from manufacturer's site.
disable devices from device manager, one by one, but problem exists even i disable ethernet adapter, with another device(usb3, dxgkrnl, etc).
Remove vga (sapphire r9 290) and use the onboard(4600). also i remove one stick of ram.



What other can i do ? its a hardware failure ? can i RMA the mobo? (asrock z87 extreme4, i dont want this option cause i will stay without pc for about 3 weeks.)
Anything else?

Thanks in advance for helping me :smile9:

 

[TomasD]

To properly troubleshoot issues with high/frequent DPCs/IRPs, we require a XPERF trace. Please follow these steps to generate one:

1. Download Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows and run the setup.
2. Select Windows Performance Toolkit feature (all the others can be unchecked) and proceed with the download/installation.
3. Once the installation finishes, open an elevated Command Prompt by right-clicking on CMD.EXE shortcut in your start menu and selecting Run As Administrator from the context menu.
4. Type the following command, which will start tracing, in the Command Prompt window you just opened:
   

   xperf -on PROC_THREAD+LOADER+PROFILE+INTERRUPT+DPC+DRIVERS+POWER+IDLE_STATES -stackwalk Profile -BufferSize 1024 -MinBuffers 256 -MaxBuffers 256 -MaxFile 256 -FileMode Circular

   If you see a yellow warning "xperf: warning: This system is not fully configured for x64 stack tracing" after running the above command, please complete these extra steps (otherwise, proceed to the step #5):
   
   Read More:

   1. Run the following command which will stop the tracing:
      

      xperf -stop

   2. Run the following command to enable stack tracing (by disabling Paging Executive):
      

      REG ADD "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" -v DisablePagingExecutive -d 0x1 -t REG_DWORD -f

   3. Reboot the computer
   4. Once computer reboots, proceed from the step #3
   If you see a red error "xperf: error: NT Kernel Logger: A device attached to the system is not functioning. (0x1f)" after running the above command, please complete these extra steps (otherwise, proceed to the step #5):
   
   Read More:

   
   

   1. Run the following command to disable Driver Verifier, which causes the above error:
      

      verifier /reset

   2. Reboot the computer
   3. Once computer reboots, proceed from the step #3
   
   If you see a red error "xperf: error: NT Kernel Logger: Cannot create a file when that file already exists. (0xb7)", please do the following (otherwise, proceed to the step #5):
   
   Read More:

   
   Make sure you do not have any programs that capture ETW data already running. Some examples of these are:
   
   

   • Process Explorer
   • Process Hacker
   • Resource Monitor
   • Process Monitor
   • Latency Monitor
   • Another instance of XPERF or WPR
5. Perform some activities with your computer for few minutes, making sure the issues you reported are reproduced.
6. Run the following command, which will stop the tracing, in the command prompt window you already have opened:
   

   xperf -stop -d C:\CPU.etl

7. Compress file C:\CPU.etl
8. Upload the compressed file to a file sharing service (e.g. OneDrive or DropBox).
9. Share the download link here.

Thank you.

 

[KenJiNx]

Wow thanks for professional and fast answer :)

The file is ready and here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cknghcri60f7nt/CPU.rar

 

[TomasD]

Wow thanks for professional and fast answer :)

The file is ready and here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cknghcri60f7nt/CPU.rar

Thanks, but do you think you could try capturing one more trace? My WPA seems to be crashing while exploring the one you've provided.

 

[KenJiNx]

Yes, here you are https://www.dropbox.com/s/izhir9xxdhmthis/cpu1.rar?dl=0
I will also upload an uncompressed file, but my speed is bad, i need about 3 hours

Thats a terrible screenshot from DPCLatency..

 

[KenJiNx]

Yes, here you are https://www.dropbox.com/s/izhir9xxdhmthis/cpu1.rar?dl=0
I will also upload an uncompressed file, but my speed is bad, i need about 3 hours

Thats a terrible screenshot from DPCLatency..
View attachment 10826

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ctk6kcfjqvmnkvy/cpu1.etl here is the uncompressed file.

 

[TomasD]

Are you sure you were playing a video file and experiencing the same issue as in your Youtube video during the capturing of the XPERF trace? DPCs and ISRs are way below the thresholds at which you would be experiencing issues:

 

[KenJiNx]

These big spikes were before my pc format, after that the spikes is more and shorter. It happens when(for example) i see a youtube video, and open two tabs in chrome at the same time. Or when skyping and surf chrome.

This is it! I found this video which shows exactly my problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvJm9KcCM2M

 

[TomasD]

These big spikes were before my pc format, after that the spikes is more and shorter. It happens when(for example) i see a youtube video, and open two tabs in chrome at the same time. Or when skyping and surf chrome.

This is it! I found this video which shows exactly my problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvJm9KcCM2M

So, were you playing video and surfing Chrome while generating the XPERF trace as requested above?

 

[KenJiNx]

Yes, you can see nothing referred to the problem in the XPERF trace?
I can report one more trace, if it is necessary..

Thanks for your time and help :)

 

[TomasD]

Yes, you can see nothing referred to the problem in the XPERF trace?
I can report one more trace, if it is necessary..

Thanks for your time and help :)

I would appreciate if you could generate a one more. Make sure you experience multiple issues during the capture.

 

[KenJiNx]

Ok, i just capture xperf trace again.

Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i02ht4spotulcb6/cpu2.rar

And a screenshot with dpclatency, while im capturing the xperf trace.

 

[TomasD]

Thank you.

The issue is visible now and the XPERF DPC graphs looks similar to the ones in DPCLatencyChecker:



Looking into the stack, aswNdisFlt.sys (Avast! Firewall Driver) driver seems to be behind this. Could you please try removing (at least temporary) Avast! to see if the issue disappears?

 

[KenJiNx]

Hello again, your help it was awesome. Almost all lags gone. Probably the avast firewall was the problem.

Now i have rarely big spikes, in dpclatency is about 1million ms



Here is one more xperf file with a big lag captured inside :)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fma0rfiee1gz26x/cpu3.rar

 

[TomasD]

Hello again, your help it was awesome. Almost all lags gone. Probably the avast firewall was the problem.

Now i have rarely big spikes, in dpclatency is about 1million ms

View attachment 10927

Here is one more xperf file with a big lag captured inside :)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fma0rfiee1gz26x/cpu3.rar

Try installing the latest Intel RST driver.

 

[KenJiNx]

I had already had the latest version of RST, but i repaired them.
Now is much better than it was before. But there are still big spikes.

Now its totally random when the "lag" hits.
here is one more xperf trace file

https://www.dropbox.com/s/42wl3rptpy8hbtw/cpu4.rar

sorry for bothering, is there anything else to do or i must leave it..?

 

[TomasD]

I had already had the latest version of RST, but i repaired them.
Now is much better than it was before. But there are still big spikes.

Now its totally random when the "lag" hits.
here is one more xperf trace file

https://www.dropbox.com/s/42wl3rptpy8hbtw/cpu4.rar

sorry for bothering, is there anything else to do or i must leave it..?

I see no spikes in this trace. Both DPCs and ISRs look very normal.

 

[KenJiNx]

I still have big lag spikes about 100.000 ms in dpclatency program.
But its rare about one in 10 or 20 minutes. how i can capture them in xperf file.. ://

 

[KenJiNx]

ok i bump this thread cause i have again huge lag spikes!

Here is one more link for xperf traces
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cknghcri60f7nt/CPU.rar?dl=0

i catch an about 1 million ms lag spike... while watching full screen youtube video 720p..

 

[TomasD]

ok i bump this thread cause i have again huge lag spikes!

Here is one more link for xperf traces
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cknghcri60f7nt/CPU.rar?dl=0

i catch an about 1 million ms lag spike... while watching full screen youtube video 720p..

I can see a single huge (taking 100% CPU time) spike in your trace. The spike seems to be coming from TCP module. Removing NetLimiter should get rid of the spike as well.