Speed up RAM for sound card

[Pablouh]

Hi folks!

I'm new to this forum and came here hoping to solve an issue with my sound card that crackles and cuts sound periodically.
So what I need is to possibly tighten timings and/or increase RAM frequenzy so that the sound card can get the data it needs fast enough. I'm not absolutely sure that this will solve the issue, but it's the next step I'd like to try.

Can anyone suggest a good and a relatively safe way to get better performance from my memory? Or possibly from other components as well, if need be.

At the moment I'm not interested in getting the best performance from my setup, but only to solve my crackling sound and sound drop issues with my Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer when using DDL encoding.

My specs:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Deneb 45nm Technology
8,00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24), Kingston HyperX
ASUSTeK Computer INC. M4A79XTD EVO (AM3)
ATI Radeon HD 5850 (ASUStek Computer Inc)
Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM)

 

[Automata]

I really doubt the system RAM is causing crackles in your sound card. What media are you playing and have you verified it works on other systems/devices? What program are you using to playback the audio? I would suggest Foobar because you can increase the buffer to the card, which fixed the crackling issue that I was having with my Auzentech Prelude (rebranded Creative X-Fi).

 

[Pablouh]

I installed the sound card a week ago, so I haven't had much time using it. Crackling and sound dropping (usually for about a second, sometimes for even a minute) occurs when playing Skyrim and encoding the sound with DDL. I've used my onboard audio for about a year before my X-Fi without issues and have been playing Skyrim since release.
There are no issues with sound when converting DTS to DD when watching blu-ray movies. Sometimes when returning to desktop after having issues with Skyrim the crackling sound occurs when playing windows sounds, or when I stress the machine when testing performance or stability.

I'm using Creatives latest drivers and software with the separately purchased DDL encoding pack.

I remember having read about Creatives issues with X-Fi crackling sound from 2006 where they mentioned about ram causing it when experiencing extremely long latency which the buffer couldnt handle. They also mentioned that they were not able to increase the buffers capacity for some reason.

Well I'll look into the Foobar software, but I kinda like my current software setup and would like to try increasing the memory performace nontheless.

 

[Pablouh]

So I think I've tried everything else there is to try to fix my issue with my sound card (apart from the Foobar software thideras suggested; it's a media player? So I can't use it to play game audio..?).
Now I'd like to try upping RAM performance.

So anyone - simple instructions on what is a good way to bump up my performance on RAM on my system?

I understand (at least I think so) the basics of this when doing it manually, but I'd like suggestions to my specs specifically. BTW, I tried the AMD's Overdrive software to auto-clock, but it didn't run for long until BSOD'n.
So I:
- loosen the timings (how much for each value would be good for my system?),
- raise frequenzy and run memtest to make sure I pass it,
- tighten timings until can't pass memtest,
- raise voltage until passing memtest.

Is that right?

My specs:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Deneb 45nm Technology
8,00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24, 1T), Kingston HyperX
ASUSTeK Computer INC. M4A79XTD EVO (AM3)
ATI Radeon HD 5850 (ASUStek Computer Inc)
Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM)

P.S. A little update on my issues.

Most typically sound dropping occurs when loading another area in Skyrim or when streamloading drops fps occasionally. After that crackling usually starts and doesn't go away. Sometimes, also after sound dropping, some of the sounds that should be playing from the 3 front speakers play only from rear speakers.

After quitting to desktop crackling often continues when playing Youtube videos, for instance.

I have checked that any other drivers are not causing DPC latencies over 600 µs.

Please, feel free to link this to other forums as well - maybe there is something else to try still.

 

[Automata]

I misunderstood the problem, sorry. I thought that was just related to music. What you are describing is not related to system RAM, as that doesn't really make sense unless it was unstable. It sounds more like either faulty drivers, a faulty card or a faulty connection/slot on the motherboard.

I would start by reseating the card, making sure there is nothing in the slot (dust, etc) or trying another slot. Failing that, reinstall the drivers from scratch. I'd try the newest first and older ones after that. Failing that, I'd try it another computer to see if the issue follows. If it does, I'd RMA the card or return it.

 

[txus.palacios]

Cracking and that usually means that you have a too high sample rate and bit depth selected or that your drivers are rebelling against you.

If you're using X-Fi, give the PAX drivers a try. They work like a charm, at least with my Bravura.

 

[Pablouh]

I misunderstood the problem, sorry. I thought that was just related to music. What you are describing is not related to system RAM, as that doesn't really make sense unless it was unstable. It sounds more like either faulty drivers, a faulty card or a faulty connection/slot on the motherboard.

I would start by reseating the card, making sure there is nothing in the slot (dust, etc) or trying another slot. Failing that, reinstall the drivers from scratch. I'd try the newest first and older ones after that. Failing that, I'd try it another computer to see if the issue follows. If it does, I'd RMA the card or return it.

Thanks, haven't tried those yet (edit: <- that's embarrasment smiley face..?)

Any guesses on why the sound drops occur when using RAM heavily (i.e. loading game areas). One thing I forgot to mention about my specs is my PSU - it's only 550W. I have stress tested it though, but that was just before getting the sound card.

The reason why I turned to suspect RAM is Creative's own people; their post where they went and turned to other components. Sorry, but I can't find the link for now, am in a bit of a hurry.

Anyway I'll try your suggestions and will post on results, thanks a lot!

 

[EarthDog]

Load ram heavily with something else and try it.

Im also betting its a driver/card issue.

 

[Fureh]

What power supply is in this bugger? That was not mentioned, and pops and such, to me sounds like a dirty DC coming into the machine.

 

[Pablouh]

What power supply is in this bugger? That was not mentioned, and pops and such, to me sounds like a dirty DC coming into the machine.

It's a 550W, I forget what manufacturer and model. Can't check now either, but I'll post it tomorrow. I've had suspitions about it as well.

 

[Pablouh]

What power supply is in this bugger? That was not mentioned, and pops and such, to me sounds like a dirty DC coming into the machine.

PSU is a Corsair VX550W. What do you think?

 

[BugFreak]

Back in the days of the NF7 (yes that old) crackling sound happened when we turned the FSB up high and the south bridge got too hot. It was fixed by adding a small heatsink to the SB. That won't help you now but it might be a heat issue on the sound card similar to it. You might try adding a fan blowing over the sound card or try a small heatsink on the chip to see if it goes away.

 

[Fureh]

dont see anyone claiming anything bad about that bugger. so i think your good there, could be the motherboard being noisy, had a gpu in a older gigabyte nforce 570 that would motorboat on me when i loaded the card down.

 

[Pablouh]

Hello again!

So I've been trying your suggestions, but unfortunately they have not helped :/

I re-read the post from Creative which I mentioned earlier, and everything in there seems to apply to me, even though the post is from 2006. Basically it says that system memory needs to give the data to the sound card very fast or the sound will drop. They say that 2/3 of a millisecond of latency will be enough for the sound to drop.
Source: http://xfi.blogspot.com/2006/05/crackling-and-popping-x-fi.html

When playing Skyrim my DPC latency often goes that high (once it went as high as 1.3 ms). Weird thing is that the sound drops don't seem to happen at the same time as the spikes in latency, and that the crackling occuring afterwards continues until I restart DDL encoding.
So I dont really know what to think about the latency in my system.

Do you all still think that faster RAM wouldn't help me or that the risks in OC:ing RAM aren't worth it?

What I've tried and noticed since last post:
- Checked for dust in PCI slots,
- reinstalled drivers, tried PAX drivers,
- switched PCI slots
- had BIOS assign IRQ and OS assign IRQ, both gave the card a non-shared virtual IRQ (before installing drivers IRQ is always a non-shared physical, 10),
- GTAIV, Dead Island, Dead Space, Witcher 2, Fallout 3 or Fallout NV did not have sound drops or crackling with DDL, so far the only game to have the problem is Skyrim - which is also heavily modded quite possibly giving the most strain on the system,
- sound drops and crackling do not occur in Skyrim when not using DDL encoding,
- removed every onboard device that I wasn't using.

 

[BugFreak]

Did you try extra cooling on it?

 

[Pablouh]

No, I dont have anything proper to cool it.
But I guess I could use a normal room fan (about 25cm) to blow in its general direction.
I wish I would have another machine to try the card in.

 

[Pablouh]

Hello again!

Well after months of trying to find a solution to this issue, I finally gave in and bought a new sound card; the Asus Xonar D1. Have been testing it for about a week now and absolutely no problems what so ever.

Maybe the issue was in the card, maybe in the drivers (tried every driver I could find) or maybe just incompatability with my system. I don't care, I'm very happy to finally be able to play with awesome sound. And I will be far more careful with Creative's products from now on.

As far as I'm concerned this issue is solved, thanks everyone for your help!

 

[Automata]

No problem, glad to hear you got working sound!

 

[Theocnoob]

Did you try extra cooling on it?

Soundcards do not need any cooling.