High DPC Latency issues when playing games.

Michael6084

New Member
Messages
6
Hello all,

I'll try to make a somewhat long story short. A couple of days ago I found my computer running unusually slowly when gaming. My computer isn't a powerhouse, but it's run just fine with certain games like GTA5 and Civ 5 if the graphics options have been tweaked appropriately.

My sound started dropping out, sounding static-like. Tried checking the headphone jack and speakers, which turned out to be fine on their own. As I was playing, the framerate would drop out with the noise seemingly trying to catch up as well. After trying a number of regular things such as turning off programs that suck up CPU usage and memory, it still didn't help. Opened up my laptop and cleaned it out with an aircan, thinking it might be due to dust. Still, no dice.

I read somewhere that it could be due to high dpc latency, so I downloaded LatencyMon and a dpc latency checker. After letting them run for a number of times along with Windows xperf, it seems as though ndis.sys was the issue. I downloaded SlimDrivers to check on driver updates and it found that my network adapter (Qualcomm Atheros ar9485wb-eg) needed a new driver. Downloaded that, installed it, and still dpc latency was high. Tried disabling it via Device Manager and playing a game, still no dice. Found another possible driver causing the issue, hdaudbus.sys, causing high latency. Can't find a fix for this or ndis.sys through other posts and tutorials. Even tried going from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 to see if the drivers would work better on the OS type, but it made no difference.

Here's my specs:

  • Intel Core I7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz 2.40 GHz
  • 8 G RAM
  • nVidia GT 745m
  • Qualcomm Atheros AR9485WB-EG

I'm not one to usually post on forums about computer issues, as I can usually solve them on my own, but this latency issue has stumped me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
You have a pretty powerful computer. The biggest problems with games is that they are GPU intense and the GPU card needs the horsepower and a lot of RAM to handle them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
I get that, but they worked fine on my computer before for the past year until this DPC latency issue occurred this past week.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Have you updated audio drivers recently? Try rolling them back if so, see if it makes a difference.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Okay I'll try that. I've updated them just earlier today, but I'll try scaling them back to see if it makes a difference.

Side note: After looking at LatencyMon while playing a game, it looks like a combination of ndis.sys and nvlddmkm.sys. Maybe I'll try going back to a previous GeForce driver to see if that works as well. I disabled my network adapter while playing, and it helps somewhat, but it's almost negligible and is a temporary "fix." Nvlddmkm.sys still causes audio stuttering and buzzing while making a hit on the performance too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Updated to a previous driver for my audio (Realtek High Definition Audio) and still no luck. Currently getting an older driver for my GPU.

The sound works just fine as before with normal browsing, watching videos on YouTube, or listening to music. It's only when it comes to gaming. I don't think it's been an audio issue per se.

For example, sound and framerate is fine when I start playing a game. About 2-3 minutes in, audio starts to get buzzy and framerate starts to suffer. If I alt-tab out of the game, wait a couple of seconds and go back in, it's fine. About 30 seconds later, it gets choppy again.

I also can rule out it being a not-good-enough GPU. Before the latency issue, Borderlands The Pre-Sequel worked like butter at 60 frames per second. Now with this latency issue, it starts at 60, then stutters to about 3 frames per second, back to 60, then back to 3.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
It is also possible that an update was installed for the game, which can also change things. Same thing with an update for Windows, Since Microsoft cannot leave certain things alone.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
It isn't about just one game, it about all of them. I have too many to count and I run through this issue with every game I have.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Help Me!

I've been facing this exact problem for the past 6 months, haven't been able to get to a solution. I also tried rolling back to Windows 8,8.1, still the same problem. The thing that irritates me the most is that I've played some heavy duty games on my laptop since a year and a half and those same games are now giving me a lousy lag. I also used LatencyMon and found out that the issue could be dxgkrnl.sys or hdaudiobus.sys.
I've tried disabling, uninstalling and installing almost every version of every driver and still haven't been able to get past this issue. I've tried enabling/disabling all Anti-Virus software, Windows Defender and still faced the same problem. Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated!

System Specs:
Manufacturer: Sony Corporation
Model Name: SVF14214CXW
OS: Windows 10 Home.
Type: 64-bit
Processor Type: Intel® Core™ i5-3337U CPU@ 1.80GHz
Processor Cache 3MB

Display :
Resolution: 1600 x 900
Memory Installed: Memory 6GB (2GB + 4GB)
Graphics Processor: Intel® HD Graphics 4000
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
Arush Rao, have you checked the fan in your laptop when it's running? When I posted my issue with no one able to solve my problem, I figured all of the steps I took couldn't be a driver issue - did all I could inside and out. After opening up my laptop and trying to run a game, I found that the fan wasn't even running at all. The fan caused the laptop to overheat, which caused the audio to get buzzy and the framerate to drop tremendously.

Try checking to see if your fan is not working. If it isn't, very gently push the fan in the direction it should be going.

Not sure if it'll help you, but that's what the solution was to my problem back when I first posted this thread.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Thank you for that quick reply Michael. I found that my fan is running perfectly and just to be sure I also ran the Vaio fan diagnostic tool and it's safe to say that the fan is definitely not the problem here. Please let me know if there are any other issues that could possibly be triggering this. I have also found that when I open the Intel HD graphics control panel the supported and installed versions of DirectX differ from each other and when i run DxDiag the installed DirectX version is 11.2 which also happens to be a compatible version as per Intel HD graphics 4000 properties. I am attaching screenshots so you can take a look. Could this possibly be an issue? Please do let me know ASAP! intel grpahics.pngdxdiag.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
So after countless hours of searching and tweaking, i finally have found a solution that works for me! Found this post on reddit which had a link for this tool called Windows Tweak tool. After downloading the tool, open it up and disable all the options in the privacy tab and ensure your internet is turned off during gaming. Works like a charm. Hope this helps others. I'm also attaching a link for the Windows Tweak Tool. Hope this helps. Cheers! \m/

Windows Tweak Tool:
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-windows-10
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
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