XPS 8950, "hiccups" with audio and video

@fireberd 

So, how long do you have to keep LatencyMon running before you can determine it is capable of doing good real-time audio. Just 5-10 minutes like I did, or do you keep it running the whole time you are using the DAW apps?

How long to keep it running?  Depends, but when I test a system I run it for 30 minutes.  

I don't "task" the system, on initial tests, just what is running on a fresh boot - and that is all that's usually needed to determine if its clean or has an issue.

When I do any "DAW" (recording studio) work, whether its recording, mixing or whatever I always disable the NIC.  This is a carryover from earlier OS' but I've found a lot of DAW problems still relate to having internet enabled.  Probably something in start up.  

Each popping/crackling/dropout problem has to be addressed individually due to the many potential causes.  Wi-Fi is one often cause but not everyone has the problem due to Wi-Fi .   Another user, as previously mentioned in this thread bought an 8950 expressly for DAW work.  That user, after much troubleshooting (including Latency Mon) removed the NVIDIA video card and used the Intel CPU video and all his problems were gone.

I saw this and thought yall might be interested.

If not familiar with Humble-Bundle ... it is legit and the money goes to charity.

https://www.humblebundle.com/software/epic-music-producer-2022-software

Hi all -- I was experiencing this issue in July. There was a spike in latency exactly every 15 minutes (literally every 15 minutes).

Here's a link to my LatencyMon: https://twitter.com/GASpriggs/status/1553456709481517056/photo/1

This is just one tweet of a thread documenting SEVERAL attempts to try to resolve it. I had an audio interface, so I tried every USB port (no fix). I tried updating the graphics card driver (no fix). I tried updating the Intel drivers (no fix).

I did find a solution that worked for me: for me, the solution was uninstalling Dell SupportAssist. When I did that, the issue stopped. I then tried reinstalling Dell SupportAssist to see if it wasn't caused by some other change I had made in the same 15 minute time window. (For example, I had uninstalled the wifi driver, but when I reinstalled that and kept SupportAssist uninstalled, the issue did not persist.) When I reinstalled SupportAssist, the issue began happening again exactly every 15 minutes. So I uninstalled it again and have not ever experienced the issue again.

https://twitter.com/GASpriggs/status/1553530180173438979

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@subversiveasset wrote:

Hi all -- I was experiencing this issue in July. There was a spike in latency exactly every 15 minutes (literally every 15 minutes).

 

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Thanks for the report on Uninstalling Support Assist, as that should help some people finding there way here:

We have seen that for a while now over the years. Seems it's depended on various Processes and Services and tends to get overly-needy as it tries to monitor everything.

In another thread, we came across this other software causing Latency or communication problems over USB/Networking ports. Since I think some of yall use external audio interfaces, I thought it might be a helpful troubleshooting step here.

From my notes:

I've found that you can simply uninstall Intel Killer Performance Suite from Control-Panel/Programs-Features, and then reboot . I found that all the Killer/xTend Services were also properly uninstalled (but you should probably double-check for lingering Services anyway). The base ethernet Network Interface Card drivers are left in place and the NIC still works fine (actually, usually better than before as it's a leaner/simpler configuration).

Any luck... I'm having the same issues with the same computer and the same software

I'm also having disaterous incidents of DPC Latency. And I do believe it's related to the  NVIDIA GeForce  RTX 3060.  How did you get rid of the NVIDIA control panel?  

Just Support Assist. I still have SupportAssist OS recovery plugin for Dell update and SupportAssist Remediation.

I am getting the same issues here as well with a Dell XPS 8050 , So did you mean to uninstall all three "Dell SupportAssists"?  There's Support Assist,  then SupportAssist OS recovery plugin for Dell update,  and  lastly there's SupportAssist Remediation.  Should I uninstall all three?  Thanks. This issue has been driving me crazy since July 2022. Maybe even June. 

I'd uninstall everything related to SupportAssist (and Killer internet).

Has anyone tried using Process Explorer (free from Microsoft) to see if it can ID the specific process(es) causing the excessive Interrupts and DPCs? 

Launch PE and select Options>Always on top. Make the window small and put it off in a corner of the screen. When you notice lags, look in the PE window to see if it can ID the specific process...

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@BradHof wrote:

I'm also having disaterous incidents of DPC Latency. And I do believe it's related to the  NVIDIA GeForce  RTX 3060.  How did you get rid of the NVIDIA control panel?  

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No. Please look elsewhere (lots of good tips in this thread and others here).

No, don't get rid of the Nvidia-CP either (you need it).

Remember, many use Nvidia RTX-3060 and similar cards for VR, gaming, and other low-latency uses.

I'm not sure if I'm replying to the correct spot but I have had some luck as of yesterday. I'm still running the pc through it's paces to make sure but I have had 2 hours of no spikes in latencymon and no crackles, or stutter of any kind. Here is what I've done after all the fixes and tweaks so far.  I recieved an e-mail this morning from Dell Technical Updates. I have it sent regularly. This morning they sent this update. I think it's a BIOS update. For more than 2 hours, I've been DPC latency free. This was the name of the Update.    Dell-Update-Windows-Universal-Application_0RCG0_WIN_4.8.0_A00.EXE It was on the page  - Dell Update Windows Universal Application - I'm not sure how to point you thtere because it's not on the usual driver update page. Let's see if someone else has success. 

Yeah, still unresolved. I worked with Dell for the next month or two.  We  "again" uninstalled Windows 11 and re-installed Windows 11 from a thumb drive. I was told it was a clean install. I couldn't say. Still, I'm getting the clicks and pops. I may have to buy a new computer. a dedicated audio computer.  I hate to have to do this but no big box computer maker will sell me a Computer without the usual bloatware and hardware. And without testing it for DPC latency before sending it out.  You'd think after so many years of people working with computers for these applications that Microsoft would be able to get this right.  Instead it's gotten harder and harder. Dell said,

1- Sorry we can't figure out what to do, we cannot do anything else.  They just left me high and dry. 

2- All computers will have this issue. ????

I told them I have a Computer/Audio professional who will in fact make sure there's no DPC latency before he sends it out to me.  Dell said, "That's not possible".  Really??  It's a crapshoot and Dell runs away if you're experiencing it. There's too many variables. It's too complicated and no one seems to be able to fix this. 

Thanks for everyone's help.

Brad  

@BradHof   - For the record, the update you mentioned in your 02-01-23 post is not a BIOS updates. It's an update for Dell Update. That app and its partner, SupportAssist, are notorious for causing lots problems and performance issues.

If you still have either/both of those running, get rid of them. You don't need them and, as I said, they cause problems. 

There are some threads where users disabled onboard Realtek Audio and uninstalled Waves MaxxAudio Pro software, and then installed an add-in audio card to resolve latency issues.