Latency Issues with XPS 15 9560

Hey everyone. New guy to the forum.

I purchased a 9560 that I've had for about a week. I'm having some pretty serious, and annoying, latency issues. I can't even listen to MP3s without some type of stutter or lag. This has pretty concerned since I'll be using this laptop for audio recording.

I ran LatencyMon and it have me the typical "It could be WLAN or power management related". I've also run DPC Latency Checker and I'll get a spike every 5-10 seconds. These spikes are when the stutter happens. This happens both when plugged in and on battery (worse when on battery).

The only thing that fixes it is turning off "Intel Speedstep" in the bios. But, then it locks it at 2.8ghz and it never boosts.

I've already done a clean install of WIN10 and installed the recommended drivers that I found on Reddit.

Any ideas? This is really frustrating not even being able to play a MP3 without stutter on a $2000 laptop!

 

** Latency battle notes with 9550 should provide you with a good framework:

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2601603/1.html

** Also see the SpeedShift and ThrottleStop threads here at NoteBookReview:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-xps-speed-shift.796891/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/

** C-states, Turbo intro:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/mus...-eist-speedstep-turbo-boost-core-parking.html

** ASIO drivers are #1 factor for reducing audio latency per publisher of this staggering audio interface benchmarking survey:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/mus...erface-low-latency-performance-data-base.html

 

In those links, you will find some tricks to get your CPU running at max turbo, bypassing SpeedStep AND disabling the "troublesome" C1E states. Those are important steps.

But there are a few more tricks you will find posted for you...

 

Thanks for the info! I've already checked out a few of those threads before.

I'm looking for more of a "stock" solution. While I'm pretty comfortable with computers, I don't think I should have to jump thru hoops on a $2000 laptop just to listen to music without stuttering. I could kind of understand having issues with an external audio interface. But, the issues I'm having are with the built in audio.

I'm more hoping there is a simple driver or setting I'm missing as a last resort before returning this laptop.

Thanks again, though!

 

This is starting to sound very much like a repeat of the 9550 release...

Sent from my ASUS_A001 using Tapatalk

 

For general movies and music listening, I don't have any latency issues via the XPS' speakers or headphone out.

But I did kill the buggy "Maxx" program and reinstall the realtek audio driver. That is somewhat painful but there are posts on how to do it.

 

The 9550 release was an unmitigated disaster in 2015. Absolutely early beta garbage. See the posts here for an idea of a failed release. And Dell finally recalled the "partner" TB15.

The 9560 release has had a few minor hiccups in comparison. Not perfect, but most of the XPS issues have been resolved.

 

When you did that, does it still adjust the volume when you plug in the headphones? That's the only reason why I left the annoying MaxxAudioPro on.

 

Maxx is a disaster and the EQ curves are terrible.

Without Maxx, I can adjust headphone volume fine just like I do on any laptop (f2/f3 keys, the small speaker icon at the bottom right tray, etc.)

 

Ah ok. But it doesnt automatically lower the volume to the last known headphone volume? For instance, if I'm 100% with my speakers, as soon as I plug in the headphones, it goes down to whatever volume I had before.

 

I don't know. The audio in the 9550 & 9560 is a bit quirky.

So for hearing protection I 100% do not trust the laptop has automatically lowered headphone volume to the last known settings. FYI - I have had same issue with other brand laptops, including Mac...

 

Obviously the spikes are not only the cause that you need to identify, they might also be caused by unique hardware in your laptop. Maybe you have a newer CPU where Dell still needs to release a BIOS update to support it properly. Or a different WLAN module than most others. Etc.

So far you seem to be the only one reporting such an extreme effect on a 9560. Something like this does not stay unnoticed, so what is different on your machine?

 

Well, thats where I am stuck at. I dont know what is different on my machine. I did a clean install of Win10 but this issue was happening before the clean install and after.

Also, I'm not the only one with this issue. A couple people on reddit are experiencing the same.

 

Then I would simply return it. Don't trust in Dell - you most probably get screwed..

 

So, I just noticed something very odd. When I'm on my wireless network at work, latency is terrible. When I'm on wireless at home, I have no latency issues at all.

Could there be something on my work network causing issues?

 

Do a search here on network cards - a common problem point. Maybe issues with certain routers or maybe when bluetooth is enabled. There are lots of causes and a few pontential fixes posted including:

Try disabling bluetooth.

You might try deleting and reinstalling the drivers.

Several people have changed their network cards.

 

I think I may have found the problem but I'm not 100% sure. I think it may be the firewall. I'm using Windows 10 Firewall Control and I have it locked down pretty tight so my computer can't be seen or accessed on our Wifi. I think they network may be continually "pinging" my computer trying to get a reaction but its just slowing things down.

 

I had the same problem and was able to fix it. It turns out the official Dell driver for the Intel graphic card is buggy.
Check here how to fix it: https://blog.anichin.com/xps-15-9560precision-55520-fix-for-lagstuttering-on-kaby-lake/

 

Thanks for the info! I've tried this, along with just about every other fix people have found on the internet, and the issue always returns. The issue typically returns after putting the computer to sleep and then opening the latency graph again. Dell is sending me a new 9560 so I can see if the issue is with just the particular one I have.

 

I had the exact same issue and it was fixed after I did a clean install of Windows and made sure to use the standalone killer drivers. Latency issues like this are almost always software based. I'm going to guess the new unit will work, but it's not because it has better hardware.

 

Do you mean this also resolved the DPC latency issues?

 

How do you do a clean install of Windows on this kind of machine? If you factory reset the computer it will have the default Dell drivers again, no?

 

Its definitely the killer card.
I tried doing what you suggested and every driver I tried still gave me the latency.
I even tried to remove all the killer drivers. I was only after I removed the killer card and installed an intel wifi card did the latency get better.
However it could have been that Windows was simply reinstalling some bunk killer drivers.
The strange thing about all of this is that I tried drivers from the same 1535 for the Alienware R4 and the problem still existed.
This problem does not happen on the Alienware R4.

I am also going to try the intel GFX driver that was previously suggested.
The reason I am doing that is because even though getting rid of the killer solves the problem 99%, there still seems to be some occasional issues.

 

Make a boot able windows 10 USB with Microsoft's tool, delete all the partitions, make a big one, and install windows.

 

Thanks. Will it automatically activate Windows? No need for a serial?

 

Yeah the SLC is part of the bios.

 

My 9560 also has latency issue, which are gone by simply disable killer network driver. Are you sure Intel's card don't cause latency issue?

 

So, we are talking about standard hardware here, not custom built rigs. What solutions do we know of do decrease the impact of DPC etc?

This is a really long guide for anyone interested in digging down:
https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/glitchfree/

 

No, I am not as Wifi and BlueTooth devices are notorious for causing problems like these. Problem is, we need them, especially WiFi. At least I refuse to be tied down by a Ethernet cable in 2017 for anything but a server, a HTPC or similar.

 

Don't know if it matters at this point. But, I ended up returning the 9560 due to the DPC latency issue. After two laptops and a ton of trouble shooting, there was no fix for the latency issue while using the onboard audio. It was fine for me using an external audio device. But, when traveling, I not going to bring an external device just so I can do editing.

 

Thats such a shame, Dell has done it again...dropped the ball that is

 

Argh.