CPU spikes causing pops and clicks

[danteZav]

Recently, suddenly and out of nowhere ableton has been struggling to play projects with CPU loads of up to 190%. These projects I have worked on before with no problems and at decent cpu levels and with under 30 tracks each.

This problem started from one day to another with version 9.6.1 and without me changing anything in the settings or audio interface..

I am running a windows 8.1 OS
AMD fx 8320 8 core 3.5ghz
16 gb ram
500 gb samsung evo SSD where I have installed all my software and plug ins (it has 270gb free)
A 1t 7200 rpm drive for storing stuff

I have tried almost everything to solve this problem. I have bumped up the buffer size of my audio interface to the max, enabled multicore support, freezing tracks, I even downgraded to version 9.5 and I still have this problem.

This is a small video clip of a project I recorded before a had the problem a month ago with the CPU meter in ableton staying mostly around 30 and 40% compared to how it is now. Same project, same settings and same machine.
https://youtu.be/sCUOI77w49U
The first part of the video is the project playing fine.. and the second is with the CPU problem.

Please help

[Stromkraft]

I have bumped up the sample rate of my audio interface to the max

You expect better performance above 44.1 kHz? It's the other way around. Go back to 44.1 kHz for now.

Have you investigated if some other process is using significant portions of the CPU?

[danteZav]

You expect better performance above 44.1 kHz? It's the other way around. Go back to 44.1 kHz for now.

Have you investigated if some other process is using significant portions of the CPU?

What I meant was my buffer size within my audio interface. I have monitored the CPU and nothing else is running along stressing it in processes. It's only ableton using 20% resources tops.

Now that I come to remember about 5 nights ago when I was powering off my computer it said "update and power off computer" as I have automatic updates on. That has been the only change made lately.

[Stromkraft]

I have monitored the CPU and nothing else is running along stressing it in processes. It's only ableton using 20% resources tops.

Now that I come to remember about 5 nights ago when I was powering off my computer it said "update and power off computer" as I have automatic updates on. That has been the only change made lately.

Well, I've had to reinstall Live twice in situations like this. The same with Windows (7 in my case). Which is why a regularly made bit by bit backup copy of the whole disk is a swell idea.

You can view that as a last resort of course if you have one. If not, ruling out hardware, drivers, new plug-ins, broken settings and what not is the game. That or a fresh re-installation, which of course doesn't help if there are hardware problems.

[miekwave]

Recently, suddenly and out of nowhere ableton has been struggling to play projects with CPU loads of up to 190%. These projects I have worked on before with no problems and at decent cpu levels and with under 30 tracks each.

This problem started from one day to another with version 9.6.1 and without me changing anything in the settings or audio interface..

I am running a windows 8.1 OS
AMD fx 8320 8 core 3.5ghz
16 gb ram
500 gb samsung evo SSD where I have installed all my software and plug ins (it has 270gb free)
A 1t 7200 rpm drive for storing stuff

I have tried almost everything to solve this problem. I have bumped up the buffer size of my audio interface to the max, enabled multicore support, freezing tracks, I even downgraded to version 9.5 and I still have this problem.

This is a small video clip of a project I recorded before a had the problem a month ago with the CPU meter in ableton staying mostly around 30 and 40% compared to how it is now. Same project, same settings and same machine.
https://youtu.be/sCUOI77w49U
The first part of the video is the project playing fine.. and the second is with the CPU problem.

Please help

I have always ran into more issues with AMD cpu than Intel cpu in DAW environment. Dare I say, Intel i5/i7 series are more stable than any AMD on the market, but I am looking forward to seeing DAW banch for new AMD ZEN cpu. I like AMD procs for gaming/internet/office stuff, but not for DAW. AMD CPU i/o resource allocation is usually more than i5/i7 so realistically where you would use 60-70% intel CPU for DAW operations, with your AMD its closer to 40-60% real cpu being allocated to DAW operation (thats why you are seeing spike I might presume).

Tips:
Use AMD CUDA plug ins instead of CPU plug ins, this will take advantage of your GPU to process reverbs and will give your CPU more breathing room.
Try higher buffer size and lower resolution, this will free up your cpu from buffer choking
Remove All i/o operations you do not need, this includes network card/exsternal monitors (Not needed), controllers you are not using, bluetooth, etc, this will freeup your Realtime i/o processes for DAW i/o operations

[danteZav]

things have gotten a hell of a lot more stable after doing the following..

updated the BIOS
updated my sound drivers
updated all my NI synths I'm using (from the service center)
gave ableton and NI synths admin rights
updated my motherboards USB peripherals
plugged my soundcourd into a USB 2.0 port not 3.0 (my card doesn't support it)
disabled CPU throttling from the BIOS
set my power options to high performance (no cpu throttle)
Set processor scheduling to "Background services" (supposedly it improves soundcard's performance on Windows)

and finally on some tracks I had done some resampling and bounced them to audio, i did this to some bass and sub bass sounds and ableton auto warpped the wav files, and even though I had created those myself when I played the wav files they were clicking and popping warpped in complex pro mode so i unwarpped them and they play much smoothly now.

[miekwave]

things have gotten a hell of a lot more stable after doing the following..

updated the BIOS
updated my sound drivers
updated all my NI synths I'm using (from the service center)
gave ableton and NI synths admin rights
updated my motherboards USB peripherals
plugged my soundcourd into a USB 2.0 port not 3.0 (my card doesn't support it)
disabled CPU throttling from the BIOS
set my power options to high performance (no cpu throttle)
Set processor scheduling to "Background services" (supposedly it improves soundcard's performance on Windows)

and finally on some tracks I had done some resampling and bounced them to audio, i did this to some bass and sub bass sounds and ableton auto warpped the wav files, and even though I had created those myself when I played the wav files they were clicking and popping warpped in complex pro mode so i unwarpped them and they play much smoothly now.

Cool thanks for the update!

[danteZav]

Cool thanks for the update!

also I had a lot of audio files such as cymbals, claps, snares, hats and other synth shots loaded on simplers (the new version) and it was in auto warp which uses 10% more CPU than normal and a sampler..
check this video I made and watch the CPU meter as I switch from simpler to sampler and back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAzMYcBZXxA