New build, old GPU, audio popping and poor video performance.

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Phrozt

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2016
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8
I've been trying a lot to address my issues, and in doing so found this site... hopefully you can help! First some basics.

Part List:
Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core, GeForce GTX 670 2GB, Level 10 GT Snow Edition ATX Full Tower - System Build - PCPartPicker

History of what has been done:
New build, several issues - possibly hardware, GPU, or windows apps : buildapc

A lot of the issues I've been troubleshooting so far have revolved around the NVidia driver - nvlddmkm. I am using onboard audio, and experiencing the pops in headphones and through speakers, both of which I've had for years with no issue. I took 3.5 minute snaps of watching youtube and playing a game (which definitely shows the nvlddmkm issue). One thing I noticed off the bat is that dxgkrnl.sys and storport.sys have the same ISR count, which seems odd.

One thing to note; there are times when I'm playing a game and am COMPLETELY bogged down... like 20 or lower FPS in games where I should have 140+, even with my rig performing poorly. That's when I experience tons of popping from the audio as well. If I alt+tab a handful of times, sometimes it appears that it will reset, my FPS will go back to somewhat normal, and I experience fewer pops. It's as if something failed and reset back to normal. Now, I do have TDR turned off, so the computer won't alert me/BSOD if the display driver crashes and recovers, so I'm guessing that's what happens.

On to the pics/data:

Youtube:
20160705Youtube-01.png
20160705Youtube-02.png

Read More:


Game:
20160705Game-01.png
20160705Game-02.png
Read More:


If you have anything else you want me to try, whether it be a benchmark, changing settings, etc. or if there is any other information you need to know, I'm more than willing to provide it!
 
Hi Phrozt. :welcome:

What antivirus are you using?
And firewall?
And antimalware?
Did you try to use windows built-in firewall/antimalware/antivirus only, after you removed completely all third parties security solutions?
If you shall solve your problem after you did it, you can obviously skip to provide the following informations...

Additional informations:

  • System information log
    You should run only one of the following commands, the one you prefer.
    Read More:
    Code: 
    msinfo32 /nfo "c:\users\YourWinAccountFolder\desktop\MsInfo.nfo"
or
msinfo32 /nfo "c:\users\%username%\desktop\MsInfo.nfo"
or
msinfo32 /nfo "%userprofile%\desktop\MsInfo.nfo"
    (Then upload it here)

  • Retrieve System Information, using speccy
    1. Download Speccy portable - actual version 1.29.714 (click), unzip/decompress it and put it on your desktop.
    2. When the program opens, it will retrieve some information regarding your system.
    3. Once it's done, select the File menu and choose Publish snapshot. Answer Yes to the confirmation message.
    4. On the next screen that comes up, choose the Copy to Clipboard button and paste this link in your next reply.
    5. (Or attach the log here, if you prefer to not publish it for some reason)

  • Download and install the Windows Performance Toolkit on dev.windows.com - Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 10 - sdksetup.exe 1.12MB (click):
    Read More:
    Then open an elevated command prompt (right-click on the windows start button on bottom-left corner, left-click Command Prompt (Admin)) and launch these commands:
    Read More:
    You can also read the original tutorial/guide and its following posts for more informations:How to Diagnose and Fix High DPC Latency Issues with WPA (Windows Vista/7/8) (click) (by Niemiro)
 
Last edited:
This is what I can see (for now):

  • your BIOS info shows --- Version: 1801 Date: 3/24/2016 --- but in the download page I see 2016/05/12
  • I can't find your NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 in (official?) Z170-DELUXE device list.
    I can find ASUS-GTX 650-E 2GD5 (BIOS: V80.07.35.00.AS13) and GTX660 DC2T 2GD5 (BIOS: V80.06.10.00.AS04)
    Hence it seems your GPU isn't supported, at least not officially...
    If I'm not wrong, the exact manufacturer and model is Gygabyte GV-N670OC-2GD.
    On gygabite website, I find:
    - vga driver: 362.00 --- 2016/04/13 ;
    - bios version: there are 4 bios for it, but they don't seem similar to what speccy shows: 80.04.19.00.0f
  • your RAM info shows --- Max Bandwidth: DDR4-2133 (1066 MHz) Part Number: F4-3200C16-16GVK ---
    In the RAM list I can find F4-3200C16D-16GVK 16GB(8GB*2) and F4-3200C16D-32GVK 32GB(16GB*2)
    Maybe did you get the second and speccy lose the D?
  • windows update: 12/30/1899 ???
    6/12/2016 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - Audio Device, Other hardware - Realtek High Definition Audio
    Installation Status: Failed
    Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Audio Device, Other hardware software
    update released in March, 2016
  • high definition audio device (Microsoft) says it's disabled and it says it's an error (but maybe this is normal, because there is realtek?).
    High definition audio controller and the network adapter are on the same IRQ (I don't know if this could help, nor how to change it)
    In system drivers there are:
    - hdaudaddservice -- Microsoft -- (hdaudio.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
    - hdaudbus -- Microsoft -- (hdaudbus.sys) - started: yes - state: running
    - nvhda -- nvidia -- (nvhda64v.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
    - intcazaudaddservice -- realtek -- (rtkvhd64.sys) - started: yes - state: running
    Could it be hdaudbus shouldn't be running?

Given that I'm fried and here is night, I can't check the trace (I saw only speccy e msinfo32)...
Maybe someone else (more expert than me) will check it in next hours.
Good night :sleep: and see you tomorrow. :)
 
Xilolee, thank you so much for responding! Here are my immediate responses. Note, I'm pretty behind on a work project, and my wife should be popping our baby out any day now, so if I go mute for a while, either or both of those could be the culprit, lol.



  1. your BIOS info shows --- Version: 1801 Date: 3/24/2016 --- but in the download page I see 2016/05/12
  2. I can't find your NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 in (official?) Z170-DELUXE device list.
    I can find ASUS-GTX 650-E 2GD5 (BIOS: V80.07.35.00.AS13) and GTX660 DC2T 2GD5 (BIOS: V80.06.10.00.AS04)
    Hence it seems your GPU isn't supported, at least not officially...
    If I'm not wrong, the exact manufacturer and model is Gygabyte GV-N670OC-2GD.
    On gygabite website, I find:
    - vga driver: 362.00 --- 2016/04/13 ;
    - bios version: there are 4 bios for it, but they don't seem similar to what speccy shows: 80.04.19.00.0f
  3. your RAM info shows --- Max Bandwidth: DDR4-2133 (1066 MHz) Part Number: F4-3200C16-16GVK ---
    In the RAM list I can find F4-3200C16D-16GVK 16GB(8GB*2) and F4-3200C16D-32GVK 32GB(16GB*2)
    Maybe did you get the second and speccy lose the D?
  4. windows update: 12/30/1899 ???
    6/12/2016 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - Audio Device, Other hardware - Realtek High Definition Audio
    Installation Status: Failed
    Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Audio Device, Other hardware software
    update released in March, 2016
  5. high definition audio device (Microsoft) says it's disabled and it says it's an error (but maybe this is normal, because there is realtek?).
    High definition audio controller and the network adapter are on the same IRQ (I don't know if this could help, nor how to change it)
    In system drivers there are:
    - hdaudaddservice -- Microsoft -- (hdaudio.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
    - hdaudbus -- Microsoft -- (hdaudbus.sys) - started: yes - state: running
    - nvhda -- nvidia -- (nvhda64v.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
    - intcazaudaddservice -- realtek -- (rtkvhd64.sys) - started: yes - state: running
    Could it be hdaudbus shouldn't be running?


1) This is rather odd, because my mobo BIOS *is* 1801. However, in checking CPU-Z, while it shows 1801, it has the date as 3/24/2016. I went the the 1801 driver zip file that I downloaded, and the .cab file itself DOES have the 2016/05/12 date on it. http://phroztnet.org/screen/ts/20160707-mobobios.png

2) It seems to be a rather small device list for graphics cards, much less for components overall.. surely that can't be an all inclusive list?
Driver - Again, it's odd that Speccy is showing 362 as my driver, because looking at GPU-Z, it shows 368.39, which is the one I would have installed, because it was released Jun 07. That being said, there was literally a new driver released yesterday. I wonder if the reason that speccy is returning an older driver date is because there are still some files out there from older drivers?
Bios - GPU-z reports my GPU BIOS as 80.04.19.00.0F. I did some looking around, and I did find a site with bioses for my card listed. It appears there is a newer one available for my specific card, so I can look into that. VGA Bios Collection | techPowerUp

3) I can verify both from my newegg order and from the package that the memory came in, that it is F4-3200C16D-32GVK DDR4-3200 PC4-25600 16GBx2... CL16-18-18-38 @ 1.35v
However, Sandra SiSoftware lists it as F4-3200C16-16GVK DDR4-3200 PC4-25600U 16GBx2 15-15-15-36 4-51-16-5
CPU-Z reports 16-18-18-38 though.

4)
- The high definition audio device that you see listed is actually from my graphics card, which is why I disabled it. I kept trying to uninstall it, but it kept coming back. At least I got the "NVIDIA" part off, and now it's just a generic HD audio device.
- I see that the HD audio and network adapters share IRQs, but the HD audio adapter should be the NVIDIA one, which is disabled.... so that shouldn't be an issue, should it? Also, this would be for the wireless adapter, which I'm not using. I did go ahead and disable it though, so perhaps that will help.

- hdaudaddservice -- Microsoft -- (hdaudio.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
- hdaudbus -- Microsoft -- (hdaudbus.sys) - started: yes - state: running
- nvhda -- nvidia -- (nvhda64v.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
- intcazaudaddservice -- realtek -- (rtkvhd64.sys) - started: yes - state: running

I actually don't see any of these services listed in taskmanager (not in processes/details/services) or in services control panel.. where can I find these? I know hdaudbus *did* pop up in my original post with a fairly high ISR count.

Speaking of the original post though, do any of the things I highlighted jump out to you as an issue?

Thanks!
 
Phrozt said:
2) It seems to be a rather small device list for graphics cards, much less for components overall.. surely that can't be an all inclusive list?
Click to expand...
Honestly I don't know. You could send an email to gigabyte and see what they reply...

Phrozt said:
Driver - Again, it's odd that Speccy is showing 362 as my driver
Click to expand...
It isn't speccy, I checked gigabyte website. Maybe you are downloading and installing drivers from nvidia whereas should you download and install them from gigabyte? (you'll see many questions from me because I'm not an expert... Probably you know more!).

Phrozt said:
- hdaudaddservice -- Microsoft -- (hdaudio.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
- hdaudbus -- Microsoft -- (hdaudbus.sys) - started: yes - state: running
- nvhda -- nvidia -- (nvhda64v.sys) - started: no - state: stopped
- intcazaudaddservice -- realtek -- (rtkvhd64.sys) - started: yes - state: running

I actually don't see any of these services listed in taskmanager (not in processes/details/services) or in services control panel.. where can I find these? I know hdaudbus *did* pop up in my original post with a fairly high ISR count.
Click to expand...
Because they are drivers. You can probably change their status with the SC command, but I don't know if it's a good idea...
Check their status is safe instead:
Read More:
Sorry but I still didn't have time to check the trace (and by the way I'm not sure I'll find something...).
 
Updated nvidia and realtek drivers... still got popping.

Ran LatencyMon while playing a game, and got some severe display crashes. These were coupled with audio glitches, but I'm sure those were because the display driver was crashing.

Here's the interesting thing though... eventually the entire system locked up from a video point of view, but there was sound in the background playing just fine.

I definitely think this is related to the video card, even though it was fine in the other system. Going to try a bios update for the GPU... wish me luck, lol.
 
Hi all

Phrozt --- quite a light show you've got going there.

Quick-fix try:
Try booting into Safe Mode & see if your light show continues (probably won't). Remove your current audio, video, and networking drivers while in there. Start in Device Manager, and then visit Programs & Features and clean up any leftover utilities or related software.

When reinstalling the Nvidia drivers, use the "custom" method, and also choose the "clean install" option. You can choose to do without several of the optional GeForce Experience modules, and perhaps the Nvidia Streaming Service. Here are a few guides to the pros & cons for most of those optional Nvidia modules:
Disable NVIDIA Streamer Service and other NVIDIA processes - gHacks Tech News
Turn Off NVIDIA Windows Services You'll Never Use | Lifehacker Australia

This might help for short term relief. In the long run, though - see below
_______________________________________________________

Try a clean install of Windows 10.

Program Files, Program Files (x86), and user profiles
In your first link, you mention moving things from the old installation to the new. That's not a problem if you simply move documents from one Document folder to another ... but of course you shouldn't do that with things in the Program Files, Program Files (x86) folders ... or copy a user profile from one system to another. The hidden ProgramData folder shouldn't be copied, either. .... When these folders are copied, the Registry entries that such programs rely on will likely either be not present, or simply problematic.

If you've done all three of those: you might want to start over with a fresh download of the latest build of Windows 10 directly from Microsoft, and do a clean install. Set the BIOS/UEFI settings in your motherboard setup to defaults. After the clean install, make sure to turn on System Restore. Then let the inevitable rounds of Windows Update begin. You can speed these up by manually "checking for updates" & selecting "install now". With System Restore active, if an update proves to be unstable, you can simple use System Restore to safely return to stability. You'd want to check through the list of updates that arrived just prior to the instability ("View my update history"), and then research the likely suspects. Don't install any utilities, games or programs until the new installation has no more Windows updates for the base system.

I recommend NOT installing the ASUS motherboard utilities. So far, their track record in Windows 10 doesn't shout success.

Then - if audio/video stuttering/artifacts continue, here's a list you can try for the "usual suspects":


_______________

Some things to try for limiting audio/video glitches due to high latency issues and high hard pagefault issues

SSDs
Since SSDs are dropping in price and growing in size, I've lately been recommending that the worst-offending audio-pop suffering programs/games be installed onto the SSD. Windows doesn't take up all that much room, and neither do a few games (you can still keep "saved games" and other non-demanding software installed to a larger "spinning" hard drive, along with your photo, music, and video collections).


SATA ports
Some users who haven't seen any improvement by means of updating drivers have had success by altering their SATA port usage. A recent thread here concerns a system where the audio stuttering was helped by unplugging a DVD SATA drive (...and our tech Cluberti was nice enough to help explain why) ... The last few posts are where you will see mention of the SATA ports (and the nature of USB polling & the effect on latencies) .... Here's a link to that thread:
https://www.sysnative.com/forums/wi...efaults-fresh-install-usbport-sys-others.html


Hard Pagefaults
For the high hard pagefaults, it can help to:
1) Limit startup processes that you don't need
2) Limit Windows-Updates file-sharing (in Settings > Updates and security > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Choose how updates are delivered > turn off "updates from more than one place" - that will limit unnecessary background network activity)
3) Limit the amount of "telemetry" (data sent to Microsoft ... choose the "Basic" option in Settings > Privacy > Feedback & Diagnostics ... and you can try "Never" as your "Feedback Frequency" while testing your latency issues)
4) Limit any Notifications that you don't need or want (Settings > System > Notifications & actions (ie: you don't need "Windows tips", etc.)
5) Turn off "Live" tiles on your Start Menu (to limit unnecessary background updating of any information you don't want or need)
6) Uninstall any Windows "Universal" apps that you don't want or need (Settings > System > Apps & features -- click the app you wish to uninstall) ... and for those that you don't want, but can't uninstall (some of the built-in apps) - you can still keep them from starting unwanted services (in Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) or startup modules (in Task Manager > Startup tab)


Drivers
Hunt Windows 10 compatible drivers for any older hardware - especially any USB devices (gaming mice, keyboards, audio controller boxes, musical instruments, mixers, video/audio capture devices ....etc)

Nvidia drivers / ASMedia USB 3.1 drivers / Network drivers / storage drivers (especially Intel's iastor.sys) ... these are a few of the worst offenders. Sometimes newer Windows 10 drivers work. Sometimes a generic works better.

Antivirus
Some users find that certain modules of their antivirus program can have a rough affect on their audio quality. For some, it is especially noticeable when using the third-party firewall. You can try reverting to using just the Windows firewall, or to turn off a feature in the third-party firewall that blocks port scans (since most routers/modems/gateways have built-in port scanning blocking, it doesn't necessarily lower your defenses, since your hardware provides the service). Some systems have been reported to have trouble with some versions of Norton and Avast in Windows 10. As time goes on, these issues should subside.


Virtual Memory & a large set range
Since some computers experience the audio/video glitching during gaming, and Latency Monitor graphs often point to high hard pagefaults as a contributing factor (as in the pagefault tips above), I like to recommend testing things with the Virtual Memory settings for your computer manually set to a generous range (generally, with the lowest value the amount of your total installed physical system memory, and the highest value twice that number). This is an overly large range = but it can prove useful for testing. [after testing, the upper range could be lowered to one and a half times the physical memory total]... The reason for the large set range is that some games are infamous for memory leaks, and the large range might give you a better chance of surviving the memory trouble caused by the game with the memory leak.
_______________________________________________

If I get a chance later on, I'll have a look at your trace, too.


[ ... and hi there, xilolee - busy around here, huh! ]
 
P.S. .... one more odd little item to add:

I've seen a few references to systems that have had the Nvidia drivers recently changed from one version to another: sometimes the monitor(s) refresh rates are set incorrectly - even though the resolution & such are still accurate. Take a sec and double-check that your LCD screens are set to their preferred refresh rate (usually 60hz or so). The troubled computers I mentioned had their refresh rates set to 30hz ... which leads to problems, of course. For a number of users, they had to set the resolution to a lower, but acceptable, resolution, and then re-select their native resolution - which then allowed them to select their proper refresh rate.

Never a dull moment.
 

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