[SOLVED] Stuttering during network activity - High DPC latency (ndis, tcpip, several others)

[AJS]

Hi.
Windows 8.1 x64
MSI B85M-G43 (on-board sound and internet by Realtek)
Intel Xeon E3 1241v3
MSI nVidia GeForce GTX970

I'm experiencing audio and mouse lag/stutter. I've noticed it starts when upload/download speed exceeds 500kb/s. I found several guides on this site on how to diagnose the issue and find the culprit(s), but I don't know what to do with them afterwards. I already had all the latest drivers, so I reinstalled them - didn't work; had no luck deleting them all and letting Windows handle updates; tried installing the earliest compatible version - solved the problem for a month and now stuttering has returned. I've updated all the drivers again (might as well, if it no longer helps?)

I did the WPA/xperf thing several times over the last day. Most times it listed those with "duration" above 0,9ms:
ndis.sys | NDIS 6.20 Wrapper Driver - Windows Update
Wdf01000.sys | WDF Dynamic - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime
nvlddmkm.sys | nVidia Video drivers - Get from OEM for laptops
tcpip.sys | Microsoft TCP/IP Driver (networking related) - Windows Update
dxgkrnl.sys | DirectX Graphics Kernel - Windows Update
storport.sys | Microsoft Storage Port Driver - Windows Update
ntoskrnl.exe | NT Kernel & System - Windows Update
dpclat_driver.sys | ?
(The latest check attached as a screenshot)

Disabling network adapter or sound devices didn't stop stuttering, neither did stopping antivirus/firewall or making firewall block all traffic, but strangely enough (for me), when I'm just not using internet (not downloading/uploading/loading a page/have anything using traffic in background) - everything is fine; so, is "not downloading anything" =/= "blocking traffic with firewall" or "disabling network adapter"?
I also attached screenshots of DPCLatencyChecker with uTorrent in background (the one that's all red) and with uTorrent disabled, just refreshing two pages in FireFox (yellow one with few red spikes); and a screenshot from LatencyMon Drivers page.
LatencyMon's stats:

Read More:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
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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 0:26:48 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
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Computer name: V
OS version: Windows 8.1 , 6.3, build: 9600 (x64)
Hardware: MS-7823, MSI, B85M-G43 (MS-7823)
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1241 v3 @ 3.50GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 16308 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
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Reported CPU speed: 350 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 1 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
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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): 37260,940393
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 11,731543

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 37258,014685
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 6,710118


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
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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): 184,7340
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0,138979
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0,220150

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 4283478
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
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
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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): 26103,6720
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ndis.sys - NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification), Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0,046170
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: tcpip.sys - TCP/IP Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0,237586

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 7359098
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 290
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 59
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 120
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
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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: adguardsvc.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 39314
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 29172
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 1008172,175714
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0,099599
Number of processes hit: 29


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 81,562543
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 184,7340
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 28,328072
CPU 0 ISR count: 4283478
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 26103,6720
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 22,278216
CPU 0 DPC count: 6554412
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 30,523914
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): 12846,800857
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 1,058571
CPU 1 DPC count: 82120
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 37,828348
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): 13416,047714
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 1,467589
CPU 2 DPC count: 168326
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 38,785083
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): 12892,704571
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0,904104
CPU 3 DPC count: 58984
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 22,991139
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): 12931,722571
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 1,181465
CPU 4 DPC count: 158494
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 34,784231
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): 13258,904857
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 1,035196
CPU 5 DPC count: 69579
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 25,400031
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): 13436,119143
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 1,457682
CPU 6 DPC count: 172466
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 34,723582
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): 12933,554857
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 1,188904
CPU 7 DPC count: 96045
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If anybody could help me regarding what do from here with stuttering, I'd be very grateful.

 

[AJS]

OK, I guess the problem's solved now: it was Adguard (it's an ad-filtering software, highly recommend it despite everything). Disabling use of some "WFP-driver" in it's settings and rebooting the computer did it. No problems for the past week.

 

[xilolee]

Wow good to know and good job!
Thanks for letting us know it.