CPU spiking in win7x64 when using a USB Headset

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SuperToast92

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
130
(This is also posted under Networking and Security, my apologies if that was the wrong section, and also my apologies in advance for double posting.)

Hello,

As long ago as I can remember, whenever I'm using my USB headset (Microsoft LifeChat LX3000) on a VoIP call (doesn't matter which program: Skype, Xfire, Steam, etc.) my CPU's 4th core will spike to around 40-50% in intervals of roughly 15 seconds. When I end the call, the spikes stop. I noticed that the System Interrupts service is the highest on CPU usage in the Performance Monitor whenever I'm in a call, as shown below:

cpuspiking2.jpg


You can see the spikes in the graph of the sidebar gadget, too.

I'm completely up to date with Win7 x64 Home Premium, SP1 included. I've tried a couple Hotfixes related to the issues that would not install (error was the update was not applicable for this computer), I'm assuming that's because they were included in SP1 as well as other Windows updates.

I've tried going through device manager and manually uninstalling the USB drivers and rebooting Windows to have the system reinstall the drivers, no luck there either. BIOS is also up to date as well as the Intel chipset driver.

The spikes are quite annoying because they cause momentary freezing while gaming or watching videos. Is there an easy fix to this?? I've been looking for awhile now with no luck...thanks!
 
Have you attempted to update the chipset & USB drivers? It may have to do with old driver code that's conflicting with newer code in apps.
 
I guess I'm failing to see the problem. A single core is spiking when using a CPU prioritized function. Is this behavior not what you expected? The CPU is not going to sit idle.

If you want to find the exact service, sort your Task Manager by CPU utilization (not average) and wait for a spike. The program will jump to the top of the order.
 
It is probably clearing a buffer when the usage spikes.

That being said, it is very typical of devices that should really be going through real hardware going through USB instead.
 
Ah okay. It's intriguing how I don't have this issue on another system of mine, using a USB headset as well. I'll try a different USB headset the next chance I get (which won't be for a few more weeks) to see if it's an issue specifically with the headset I'm using. I know the CPU won't be idle, but these spikes just seem abnormal to me, going from <10% to about 50% spikes at these regular intervals. Plus like I mentioned, I can't reproduce this symptom on other systems.

Also, I noticed it's the audiodg service that is related to the CPU spikes.
 
I'm noticing the same with my USB DAC as well, spikes (100% cpu) on core 0 every 15 seconds. I'm trying to figure out the problem.

Here is an article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981214

It didn't exactly solve my problems. After installing SP1, the spikes occur every 90-100 seconds now. It's concerning because I will likely need a low-latency environment for audio in the future, so spikes such as these need to be minimized.

TC, what motherboard do you have? Sadly I don't remember this happening with my previous Gigabyte P55 setup.


Edit: An update... try using USB 3.0 ports. My audio problem seems to be gone, no more spikes. The USB 3.0 controller on mines is from ASMedia. I'll have to see if my graphics card will mess things up since the USB 3.0 controller on my motherboard supposedly shares resources with PCIe.

Also, my audio problem is mostly solved by using the motherboard's SPDIF out, since my DAC accepts coaxial/optical. I'll assume that using the old fashioned passive microphones will work as well.

Will do some more testing and report back.
 
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Have you attempted to update the chipset & USB drivers? It may have to do with old driver code that's conflicting with newer code in apps.
Click to expand...

Unless it is a third party driver, the driver will never update (q.v. USB 3.0). The "drivers" for chipset/core logics are always the Windows drivers. Unless those are updated from a SP, you gain nothing but updated power and/or interface information that Windows uses from the new inf's.

For example, you can update your system using a recent chipset utility from Intel. But as you can see the same PCI.sys driver will be used, as well as USB driver that were previously configured.
 
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