GIGABYTE AORUS Z270X-Gaming K7 - Sound Popping Issue

[Nephron]

Hey - Ever since doing the build below I've had some random annoying popping sounds come through my speakers and headphones. It seems to happen mostly when launching Discord, Team-speak or League of Legends. The popping itself is very audible and is quite annoying as you can imagine. Below is system specs (everything is stock) and below that is what I've tried to fix said issue.

• CPU - Intel I7 7700K
• MOBO - GIGABYTE AORUS GA-Z270X-Gaming K7
• SSD - Samsung 960 Pro NVMe
• GPU - MSI 1080 TI Gaming X
• RAM - G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series DDR4
• COOLER - Corsair Hydro Series H110i

Things I've tried are below.

• Updating Realtek, Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5 drivers
• Disabled all sound effects within Windows and within Sound Blaster software
• Tried different sound ports on PC, (front vs back - No change)

At this point I'm at a standstill. In my years of piecing together systems I've never had a sound popping issue as this. I know as a last resort I can reinstall W10 and hope that fixes it or possibly buy a internal sound card.

Also maybe someone can help differentiate this - Is the actual sound card on this motherboard Sound Blaster while the codec used is Realtek? If so, why are there drivers for both? I'm only guessing at this but wouldn't two sound drivers conflict one another when installed? If so, why does Gigabyte's website list both?

Thanks and always stay [H]
-Nephron

 

[Nephron]

Anyone?

 

[Speedeu4ia]

Not really but I think there was something on car audio where you could wrap a ground around the RCA plug end. So maybe the ground is bad to the ports

 

[Nephron]

Interesting idea.

I think I may just go and upgrade to a 8700k and new chipset mobo.

 

[Absalom]

Also maybe someone can help differentiate this - Is the actual sound card on this motherboard Sound Blaster while the codec used is Realtek? If so, why are there drivers for both? I'm only guessing at this but wouldn't two sound drivers conflict one another when installed? If so, why does Gigabyte's website list both?

It's using Realtek hardware and Sound Blaster software. I'm not exactly sure why you need both software packages installed, but if I were to guess Realtek is providing a driver for the base functionality while Creative is providing "extras" through their software & licensing. If Gigabyte are providing either as seperate packages, then I'd say only the Realtek is required. But I could be wrong.

The Sound Blaster software is providing the Crystalizer Equalizer/Voice, Scout Mode, etc. If you can do without those "extras", I'd say you could uninstall it. Or at the very least, try that (if you already haven't) and see if your issue goes away.

 

[Nephron]

It's using Realtek hardware and Sound Blaster software. I'm not exactly sure why you need both software packages installed, but if I were to guess Realtek is providing a driver for the base functionality while Creative is providing "extras" through their software & licensing. If Gigabyte are providing either as seperate packages, then I'd say only the Realtek is required. But I could be wrong.

The Sound Blaster software is providing the Crystalizer Equalizer/Voice, Scout Mode, etc. If you can do without those "extras", I'd say you could uninstall it. Or at the very least, try that (if you already haven't) and see if your issue goes away.

Thanks for the reply. From what I can tell you're correct about the SB software. I may try a format to see if things get better but I'm really eyeballing the Z370 chipset and 8600k at this point.

 

[gunbust3r]

Popping is often a DPC latency problem. Badly written drivers, BIOS, or even the Gigabyte utility apps can often cause it.

 

[Nephron]

Yeah that's what I was reading. Downloaded a DPC latency program the other night and it did show problems. Can't recall what file it was specifically mentioning but it was one for the GPU.

I'll try formatting this weekend to see if that works. If it continues I may just RMA the board or buy a completely new X270 motherboard and RMA and sell.

 

[Nephron]

If I post some of the DPC error logs can someone assist with explaining what they mean to me?

 

[Nephron]

Attached is LatencyMon screenshot. Below is the report. If anyone has any thoughts on this it would be very much appreciated.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:04:40 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: FELMAN
OS version: Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 15063 (x64)
Hardware: Z270X-Gaming K7, Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 16335 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 420 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): 832.363989
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 4.919880

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 823.586865
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 2.154103


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 193.114762
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.133159
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.171495

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 412099
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): 2485.830
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 388.13 , NVIDIA Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.056435
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.211322

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 1467481
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 30
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 1
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 11
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): 11.426130
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 193.114762
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 3.786080
CPU 0 ISR count: 399024
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 2485.830
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 4.099824
CPU 0 DPC count: 1353978
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.975939
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 133.047381
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.060063
CPU 1 ISR count: 12978
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 755.344762
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.128528
CPU 1 DPC count: 16857
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.961253
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 91.401429
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000279
CPU 2 ISR count: 97
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 228.844524
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.078757
CPU 2 DPC count: 26554
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.860625
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): 107.770952
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.048160
CPU 3 DPC count: 9995
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.950676
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): 140.087143
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.069317
CPU 4 DPC count: 14841
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.896895
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): 108.967857
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.060848
CPU 5 DPC count: 10397
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.081253
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): 201.322857
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.180652
CPU 6 DPC count: 23735
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.873018
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): 88.444048
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.073591
CPU 7 DPC count: 11166
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Nephron]

Small update: Ran Windows update which seemed to help address this issue. I've noticed the overall popping issue has reduced about 70% but the popping is still there however instead of "pops" it's stubble clicks. I'm thinking this weekend I'll do a fresh install and at this point I believe it's driver related.

-Neph

 

[Batboy88]

Small update: Ran Windows update which seemed to help address this issue. I've noticed the overall popping issue has reduced about 70% but the popping is still there however instead of "pops" it's stubble clicks. I'm thinking this weekend I'll do a fresh install and at this point I believe it's driver related.

-Neph

Probably driver? unless something else wrong. believe I have about the same thing just the more entry mobo to that series. Loud and Crystal clear through the Headphones.