(Windows) Random CPU Spikes + Audio dropouts

Spy47 · Post by **Spy47** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:49 pm

Hi !

I've seen topics like this but only on Mac.
Live 7.0.2 was working perfectly until 2 days ago. I get random CPU spikes (up to 3000% or something in Live CPU meter) and audio dropouts even if I'm not doing anything.

Can anyone tell me all the possible causes of this?

My specs:

- Intel 2.4 GHz Dual Core
-1GB RAM
- Sound Blaster Audigy

Thanks.

Timur · Post by **Timur** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:18 am

What do you mean by "not doing anything"? Are you using Midi? Are you using Vista? Have a look here:

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

Spy47 · Post by **Spy47** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:04 pm

Timur wrote:What do you mean by "not doing anything"? Are you using Midi? Are you using Vista? Have a look here:

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

Thanks for the reply.

I'm using Windows XP SP2. By "not doing anything" I mean just having Live open without even touching it.

The CPU meter goes up to 3000% or something for 1 second between random periods. This produces audio drop-outs while playing.

I'm not using any MIDI device.

Edit: The only CPU meter that rises is the Live's CPU meter. The Windows Task Manager CPU meter doesn't seem to have any change and is always between 2% and 4%.

ewistrand · Post by **ewistrand** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:24 pm

Go into your power options in control panel and set your scheme to always on. You're seeing speedstepping at work.

ew

Spy47 · Post by **Spy47** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:13 am

I tried what you said, but nothing seems to change. I even checked my CPU speed with Intel identification utility:

My CPU does support SpeedStep but it doesn't seem to be affecting the speed. I even tried SpeedSwitchXP and setting it to Maximum Performance but nothing changed.

It even happened on my laptop today in a Live performance (kind of embarrassing. I had my laptop working with maximum performance too)

Timur · Post by **Timur** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:03 am

How much RAM is used by Live according to Task-Manager? And what CPU load does Task-Manager report when you set it's refresh rate to "High" (will display short spikes) and to "Low" (will show the average load)?

Even if you ain't using Midi try switching off all Midi Ports via Live's Preferences. Just to make sure about Speedstep set Windows' Energy-Managment to "Always On" (though Speedstep related problems usualy don't lead to Live's CPU meter running havoc).

In general, when Live's own CPU meter shows spikes upto several hundred or even thousand percent then it means that you're running against an internal bottleneck of Live. I have seen those mostly with Midi, but can well imagine other sources. If you're using external plugins (VSTs) try disabling those one by one. Also set your Plugin Buffers to a fixed value between 128 to 512 samples (Preferences -> CPU).

Try disabling Multicore support (Preferences -> CPU).

Spy47 · Post by **Spy47** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:30 am

Timur wrote:How much RAM is used by Live according to Task-Manager? And what CPU load does Task-Manager report when you set it's refresh rate to "High" (will display short spikes) and to "Low" (will show the average load)?

Even if you ain't using Midi try switching off all Midi Ports via Live's Preferences. Just to make sure about Speedstep set Windows' Energy-Managment to "Always On" (though Speedstep related problems usualy don't lead to Live's CPU meter running havoc).

In general, when Live's own CPU meter shows spikes upto several hundred or even thousand percent then it means that you're running against an internal bottleneck of Live. I have seen those mostly with Midi, but can well imagine other sources. If you're using external plugins (VSTs) try disabling those one by one. Also set your Plugin Buffers to a fixed value between 128 to 512 samples (Preferences -> CPU).

Try disabling Multicore support (Preferences -> CPU).

When a song is loaded, Live is taking up 458MB according to Task Manager.
I can't see the speaks in Task Manager in Fast or Slow refresh rates.
I don't have any MIDI device turned on in Preferences. Everything is Off.

I don't know about VST since this happens when I just have audio tracks loaded (no MIDI tracks).

I tried disabling Multicore but the problem persisted.

I'm really out of ideas. I thought it was Speedstep too because this happened in my laptop because of that, but as I mentioned, I tried everything to check that Speedstep was disabled.

Timur · Post by **Timur** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:00 am

Try using the onboard audio instead of the sound-blaster or using WDM/MME drivers instead of Asio. It might still be some problem between the two. Also use the RAM option on all your audio-samples to make sure it's not HD related.

Here's a thread about optimizing your system, but since the CPU spikes are only reported by Live's own meter it's likely a thing within Live that's not working properly.

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

By the way, did you use the DPC Latency Checker while running your audio-session or only on its own with no system-load?