[yurtpoh]

i keep getting frequent clicks and pops during playback. they don't show up on an audio track if i'm recording, but it is extremely obnoxious.

what frustrates me is that i'm running PT11 on a fairly new computer (built it 6 months ago), and i'm still having CPU spikes and other issues. i've set the playback engine H/W buffer all the way to 2048 samples, and the "ignore errors" box is unchecked... i have 16 stereo audio tracks (no plugins); 2 guitar tracking tracks bussed to one aux with an amp emulator (that is currently bypassed for CPU space); and 13 MIDI tracks all tracked to an Inst track with a drum emulator... (holy cow, i said the word "track" a lot)
i'm trying to fiddle with the drum's MIDI ticks to help blend it into the current audio, but the clicks and pops are making it hard to concentrate...

i've opened up "System Usage" and noticed that every once in a while my CPU usage spikes all the way to 100% for no reason (it's not a plugin or track that causes it; it happens randomly, not in a consistent place). and sometimes when i'm not even playing it back, the CPU usage spikes... there is nothing running in the background, and i ran a full system virus scan just a few days ago and it came up clean...

my project is 32bit 192kHz, running through an ASUS xonar essence STX soundcard... my CPU is an i7 Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 and i have 16 gigs of RAM... i'm running windows 8.1... what is the problem, and how can i fix it? i'm getting fed up with this.