How to optimize windows 10 for Scope to avoid clicks and pops!?

[petal]

Thanks again for helping out.

Everything I can find (including the points on your list) are set to max, or no power management etc.

Thanks for the scripts. Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not sure I need to be able to shift between balanced and high performance modes, since this disk (ssd) is dedicated for audiowork?

[petal]

I ran Dumo and got this result:

Dumo1.png (56.5 KiB) Viewed 11604 times

I remember updating chipset drivers etc. years ago, but today I'm not sure what is right and important anymore?

[garyb]

the driver update might be.

[petal]

Well, the newest chipset/MEI-driver I can find on Asus's website, is older than the one that Windows has installed by default.

The one that DUMo is poining at as the newest, I can't find on Intels website. The newest I can find on Intels website does not support my chipset (H81):
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downlo ... product=53

When I run the Intel Driver & Support Assistant, which will check my system and look for the newest intel drivers that works for my system, I'm told that everything is up to date.

I think I've gone as far as I can down this path and unfortunately I am not click free.

Next thing I'm gonna try is a beer, followed by a chilled bottle of red wine.

Suggestions as what to try are still most welcome!

[t_tangent]

What ULLI setting do you have Scope set to. Try increasing it just a bit and see if that works

[petal]

I did try that as well, unfortunately it made no difference

[petal]

I decided to start all over. Reset the Bios and do the recommended adjustment all over. Reinstalled Windows 10, Disabled the onboard audio drivers to avoid IRQ-conflicts, updated alle drivers and adjusted windows for most power hungry "best performance". Still getting pops

[garyb]

why are you married to hardware that isn't working correctly?
Scope requires precision timings because it is a real-time device. it is possible for a motherboard to be faulty and still work acceptably well for a standard soundcard.

you should NOT be having these issues. if there is not a specific app or plugin that is making trouble, and you have all of the basic tweaks done, there is a fundamental problem, most likely at the hardware level. i am sorry to say this.

i NEVER use "best performance" power-wise. i use "balanced", i set the minimum and maximum cpu level at 100%, turn off selective suspend for usb, in bios, turn off any turbo or hyperthreading, and disable EIST. no problems, no clicks...

[valis]

Thanks again for helping out.

Everything I can find (including the points on your list) are set to max, or no power management etc.

Thanks for the scripts. Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not sure I need to be able to shift between balanced and high performance modes, since this disk (ssd) is dedicated for audiowork?

I use the power management scripts because I toggle them on the fly as needed, and then set options per profile as mentioned above. I have one for leaving the machine on (preventing sleep) but otherwise conserving a ton of power, for my machines that still have spinning drives in them. Didn't include that one.

It's usually necessary to set your BIOS/EFI to similar settings as in the OS, and which takes priority (OS scheduling of power features or BIOS/EFI settings) will depend on your implementation from your board maker.

I remember updating chipset drivers etc. years ago, but today I'm not sure what is right and important anymore?

IMEI *might* make a difference, it's basically the glue that links the CPU to the rest of the system (Platform Controller Hub) and runs MINIX3 on what is essentialy an Intel Quark x86 cpu. So microcode updates can help keep things in step with current OS updates (especially those that seek to mitigate memory leak issues--which have the effect of slowing our cpu's down). This on its own shouldn't be causing clicks however.

Same for chipset drivers. Usually updated Intel chipset drivers also keep things in better step with OS and driver updates, and can help features that weren't working with certain peripherals. Again shouldn't be your primary cause of clicks.

One thing I was more or less suggesting was trying to determine what shares with your OTHER PCIe slots, and then giving things a shot there. However I'm still not clear on whether it's your Xite or Scope PCI having clicks...

[garyb]

it is highly unlikely that either is making clicks. it's be more likely to be a clock problem than a software one, but obviously it could be anything....

[petal]

why are you married to hardware that isn't working correctly?

Well, Scope has always been a very tricky mistress to please - I've been with her for 18 years, so I know! I guess I was/am still just trying to please the lady. Divorcing her has crossed my mind, but I don't think I'm quite there yet.

I'll change focus tomorrow, and test ram/mobo and see if it's time to buy her a new wardrobe.

[valis]

Also it occurs to me, do you have a toggle in your BIOS for RTC and HPET (system timers)? The latter is much higher precision but it's worth trying both when a system is having issues and exposes that control. No idea how current Win10 builds respond to having RTC rather than HPET, if your system even exposes that.

Beyond that I know with my systems they tend to gather more & more hardware and software that treat the machine like current gen hardware eventually causing problems when you use it to the edge. I have that issue not just with Scope & Audio but also when doing 3D & Animation work. Same software but different generations (2-3 years later) plus an upgraded GPU and a few extra internal peripherals/HDs can turn what was a snappy user experience into a drag. Beyond that, I'm sorry you're having problems.

When I moved away from my Scope rig as a primary use machine some years ago, I found I could really tailor its build to do just what it needs to do. I don't think I've even added plugins to that machine in many years or upgraded Bidule etc, though I do upgrade Scope and continue grabbing stuff from here (mdl's and dev's).

[petal]

I appreciate the support in these dark times

The BIOS on this motherboard does not give me an option to toggle between RTC and HPET.

Many years ago I learned my lesson, trying to make an AMD-based system work with SCOPE. Since then I've always build every system around the fact, that SCOPE both PCI and XITE had to be the center of the build. Including this build, where I saw that Soniccore had used this very Mobo. I also double checked here, and the opinion then was that: "it should work".
I've had it for a few years now, and did notice the occasional pop, but I've lived with it because I knew hunting down those pops could be time consuming, and I wasn't using the system that much anyway. Until last week where I decided that now was the time to sink in the hours (days) to get a click free system on an ssd dedicated to music, and here I am, still working on it

I just checked the RAM with MEMtest - No errors.

Now I'm looking for a way to test the MOBO.

[valis]

Stress testing and DPC tests. AIDA64 has burn in test for systems and there’s many solo apps for that.

[petal]

Thanks again Valis, Gary and everyone else who have helped me on this most educating voyage into "how computers works today!"

I've run memtest and system stress tests, and so far the conclusion is that this system works as it is supposed to within "normal" parameters.
Now I know and understand what Gary is saying that, SCOPE-hardware may very well be even more sensitive than what is within these normal parameters. So at this point I am ready to pay my way out of it and get new and better hardware.

But I need to understand what better hardware exactly is in this case? What are the defining parameters I should be aware about?

One thing that I've become aware of is that the number of PCIe-lanes, might play a role here.

My current systems chipset only has 6 of them. Maybe running 1xXITE + 3xSCOPE-PCI-cards + 1 x SATA(2xHDD+1SSD) + 1xLAN + 2xUSB3 + 2-4xUSB2 is too much for this system to handle?

My question is this. How important are the numbers of PCIe-lanes to our scope systems in order to avoid clicks and pops?

[dante]

So you are running XITE-1 as well ? The thin power cable that runs from the wall wart to the XITE-1D - how is that situated in relation to other full voltage power cabling ? Isolating that reduced clicks and pops from my XITE-1D.

If you think one of (1xXITE + 3xSCOPE-PCI-cards + 1 x SATA(2xHDD+1SSD) + 1xLAN + 2xUSB3 + 2-4xUSB2) is causing clicks and pops, then turn them off one at a time to see what difference it makes. Process of elimination like this is what led me eventually to find the wall wart cable issue.

[petal]

I did read your post on that finding, and resituated it close to the XITE itself so that the thin power cable is no longer within close prximity to any 220v power cables. However, it made no difference here at my place.

And yes, I guess the next logical step is to remove all but what is needed to run the XITE and see how that works out. My theory now however, is that the 6 PCIe lanes are the bottleneck causing pops and clicks on my system.

[valis]

I think that is probably likely.

[petal]

Unfortunately stripping the system down to only run the XITE did not make the system "click free". There's more at play here than only 6 PCIe lanes. What that is we will never know. I'll either have to live with the clicks, get a different Mobo for my 4790k CPU and hope that it is the Mobo and not something else. Or dive all in and get a new shiny flashy all up to date computer.

If I go new and shiny, I have been considering the ASUS PRIME H370 PLUS. It has 20 PCIe lanes and It has room for the XITE and 2 of my SCOPE-PCI cards:
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/PRIME-H370-PLUS/

I could find one report of a SCOPE user using this board:

https://forums.scopeusers.com/viewtopic ... US#p335983

Unfortunately he also had problems (random CPU Spikes) which showed up, when he upgraded to windows 10. Unfortunately we never got the ending to that story, so we don't know if he managed to make it work.

Do you guys see any reason why this should not work?

I'll put a 9700k in there, 16GB DDR4, 1 x M.2 HDD + my old GFX, my SSD and the 2xHDD's I've got.
On USB ports I'll be running my Novation Summit, Elektron RYTM, Ableton Push2 and come fall an Expressive E Osmose as well.

[petal]

Ups, he did actually manage to solve his problem.

OK - I'm gonna push the button and buy the items listed above and cross my fingers.