Where's my bottleneck?

[secutanudu]

I have a pretty fast system (I think). Full details in my signature, but the quick rundown:

• 6-core i7
• 16GB RAM
• Crucial SSDs (both system and audio drives)
• Thunderbolt Lynx Converter

I can usually run with 128 sample buffer with no issue, though sometimes I get clicks & pops. I'm wondering - what could I upgrade, if anything, to be able to run at 64 or even 32 sample buffers?

My RAM, CPU, Disk i/o never seem to peak, but I also can't get down to super-low buffer sizes without clicks and pops. I never get any errors about PT being low on memory or CPU.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[guitardom]

The lynx Thunderbolt had serious issues. The driver has just been updated in the last week or so to fix these issues.

[secutanudu]

Thanks - just updated, still seems to be the same performance though.

[guitardom]

Your system is more than powerful enough. You more than likely have configuration issues in your build between Windows and or your Bios.

[secutanudu]

Hmm - I'll go through the avid optimization guide again. I'm pretty sure I got it all though.

[The Weed]

See if there's anything in this thread that might help.

[secutanudu]

He did seem to think it was his video card drivers. I have a Radeon 5670 HD that's gotta be at least 5-6 years old, there are no newer drivers than the ones I have (which are from 2015).

Most of the things on that list i've already done. I've even reformatted my computer and replaced the audio drive (not in an attempt to fix this issue, but it didn't help).

I wonder if it's worth replacing the card? I don't need anything crazy.

[lemix]

It might sound a bit strange, but do you have an image backup with W7 / 64 ?
Of course the thunderbolt interface would not be available..do you have a FW PCIe card solution with that Lynx ? Or even a USB ?

I can run an average size session with 64 buffer , even VO recording with 32..without any issue. I use a TI chip PCIe FW card..and Allen&Heath GS -R24M interface ( an actual console )

Buddies of mine who installed W 10, all seem to have some issues..
just saying ...I might be way off



W7 pro 64_i7 3930K_16GB_ Nuendo 6.5.4-7.1.30 & PT 12.4------Mac Mini OSX Lion_PT 10.xx-----WXP, Wavelab, Plextor Premium, Hofa DDP
Allen&Heath GS R-24M_ full rack of vintage analog boxes _UAD2_Nugen_iZotope_Melda_Waves_Plugin Alliance_McDSP_Soundtoys
1.0_2.0 and 5.1 monitoring

[The Weed]

Run LatencyMon and see if there is something causing issues.

[secutanudu]

Just wanted to give this thread another shot. With a moderate to large session, I am unable to run at even a 256 Sample buffer without clicks and pops. Any thoughts on how I can improve this?

Is it possible that my old video card is the culprit?

Here's a UserBenchmark report:
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/7734378

Here's a LatencyMon report - I took the capture while playing a session using a 256 sample buffer (and getting clicks and pops):

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be suitable for handling real-time audio and other tasks without dropouts. 
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for  0:00:58  (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name:                                        BIGBLUE
OS version:                                           Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 16299 (x64)
Hardware:                                             All Series, ASUS, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC., X99-DELUXE II
CPU:                                                  GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5930K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Logical processors:                                   12
Processor groups:                                     1
RAM:                                                  16291 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed:                                   3498 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
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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):   276.639830
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   2.835792

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       270.492278
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       0.969193


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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):              38.054889
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time:       HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%):          0.012123
Driver with highest ISR total time:                   portcls.sys - Port Class (Class Driver for Port/Miniport Devices), Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%)                          0.018482

ISR count (execution time <250 µs):                   23942
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
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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):              330.768439
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time:       Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%):          0.059875
Driver with highest DPC total execution time:         Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%)                          0.169755

DPC count (execution time <250 µs):                   319227
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs):                2
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs):              0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.


Process with highest pagefault count:                 none

Total number of hard pagefaults                       0
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process:          0
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs):          0.0
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%):              0.0
Number of processes hit:                              0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.63560
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs):                38.054889
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.127859
CPU 0 ISR count:                                      23162
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs):                330.768439
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.827397
CPU 0 DPC count:                                      260351
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.277364
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):                57.70040
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.012011
CPU 1 DPC count:                                      2677
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.379759
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):                154.905660
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.047235
CPU 2 DPC count:                                      8305
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.260015
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):                49.422527
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.006894
CPU 3 DPC count:                                      1734
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.343054
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):                87.823899
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.033113
CPU 4 DPC count:                                      6315
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.291942
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):                52.232133
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.013633
CPU 5 DPC count:                                      2378
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.350970
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):                64.92510
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.038371
CPU 6 DPC count:                                      7003
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.291650
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):                50.387650
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.012568
CPU 7 DPC count:                                      2332
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 8 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.326598
CPU 8 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 8 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 8 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 8 DPC highest execution time (µs):                54.624357
CPU 8 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.032973
CPU 8 DPC count:                                      5973
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 9 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.566822
CPU 9 ISR highest execution time (µs):                11.658662
CPU 9 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.000809
CPU 9 ISR count:                                      780
CPU 9 DPC highest execution time (µs):                129.177816
CPU 9 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.094828
CPU 9 DPC count:                                      12770
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 10 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.337863
CPU 10 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 10 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 10 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 10 DPC highest execution time (µs):                60.277873
CPU 10 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.03720
CPU 10 DPC count:                                      5815
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 11 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.328991
CPU 11 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 11 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 11 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 11 DPC highest execution time (µs):                58.001144
CPU 11 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.025598
CPU 11 DPC count:                                      3576
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________