XPS M1330 - Graphics card causing audio stutter?

Coming from an Inspiron 6000, I was excited to get my M1330. But now I have to deal with some problems: a whining noise (supposedly from the chipset), a tiny stuck pixel, a hot graphics card, and a noisy fan.

I bought the M1330 for portability, and it definitely exceeded expectations. But, as soon as I started listen to music, it seemed to be skipping. I did a reformat, and surprisingly with all stock drivers from the CD the problem was still there.

I then used a little program called DPC Latency Checker, which checks whether your computer is up to the task of handling live streams of audio/video/etc. With music playing, I noticed that I get a latency of well over 16k microseconds, usually in 30 second intervals. Anything over 2k microseconds is considered bad according to the program.

Second day with the XPS, I tied the lagginess of the Aero interface to the Nvidia 8400m's downclocking/upclocking power management, and this is what is causing the audio stutter. Even with an external sound card/DAC, I was still having stutter problems. The only way to fix it was to install an ASIO driver, configure Foobar2000, and I was good to go.

Whenever I use Winflip, you can tell that the 8400m goes from a low clock to a high clock because the animation is really choppy. When it goes to a higher clock, the animation for everything becomes smooth, and DPC reports a spike in latency when the clock change occurs.

It may look like a driver issue, but I don't know. All I know is that I can't enjoy my XPS the way it is. Since I wasn't really intending to play games anyways, I probably shouldn't have gotten the 8400m and went with the X3100 anyways. But I'm concerned that the X3100 may have some form of power management as well. If anyone with an X3100 can test with DPC to find out whether they experience the lag as well, that would be great!

 

ASIO driver fixed the problem??

 

The ASIO that I use will only work with media programs (Foobar, Winamp) after configuring them. I'm not sure if there's an ASIO driver that affects the entire system. I still get pops when something big (really big, like changing wireless card settings) is happening.

I did see something about the Vaio laptops using ASIO...

 

Tried locking the clocks to a fixed frequency? You could use Rivatuner for that.. That would stop the transition. And if your audio stutter is tied to that, it should also go away...

 

Agreed, it's your best course of action.

I have experienced occasional, very-short delays (hiccups?) when playing standard mp3s (& raw LPCM - .wav files too) with either Winamp or Windows own Media Player which really gets on my nerves, so I may just try to run the same tests you did to figure out if it's also graphics-related... .

p.s. what OS are you using... XP? And what player did you use prior to installing foobar2k?

 

OMG, you're dead on, it's the GPU clock shifts that are causing the audio hiccups...

I had RivaTuner's monitor running while playing a WAV file and I moved a few "Windowed" apps around until the GPU & memory speeds were back to 100% and then I waited: sure enough, immediately after the audio hiccup, RivaTuner showed the GPU drop down to the next level...!

Now that I thnik of it, it's amazing there are so few complaints on the topic so far... for a while there, I thought the problem was isolated and had something to do with my personal configuration... .

Now the only question's how to get rid of it w/o forcing the GPU to run @100% the entire time and w/o having to use esoteric apps just to play audio tracks... :-(

But thanks a mil, ShinyFalcon for going through the motions and finding the culprit: have a well-earned rep on me

 

Yes, having Rivatuner fix the clocks as low as "low power 3d" clocks was enough to prevent the hiccups from happening, while maintaining Aero smoothness. I have to disable "force constant performance mode" if I wanted to play games though. The only game I tried however was Oblivion. GPU temp reached 105C O_O, but the game ran relatively smooth at 85_x480.

traveller, I used WMP first and that's when I first noticed the pops. I then tried Foobar and got the same results. Then I installed Asio4All, and while it fixed the problem, it can still pop, something unrelated to graphics. I have not downgraded to XP, but I was meaning to. I didn't want to go through the hassle. My Inspiron 6000 was perfect for my needs, but was slightly heavy.

I am set to return my current M1330 and will receive an M1330 with the X3100. But, I am also interested in the new $500 mini Inspirons I see in the front news... Oh man, so much headache from thinking about notebooks! I have until next Wednesday (estimated leave-factory date) to cancel the order. I do worry that the M1330 may be overkill for my purposes (MapleStory, anime watching, college work, internet), but I love the screen and the overall sleekness of the M1330.

 

Yep,thats one of the reasons I purchased an ASUS U3 instead of M1330,can switch the GPU from Nvidia to X3100 for audio tasks,and then to the Nvidia GPU for 3D apps.

 

You piqued my interest of the U3... How's the heat, fan loudness, and overall quality compared to the M1330? The 8400M G is the only thing that I'm worried about, but this may be a great alternative to the rather expensive Sony SZ models.

I can't seem to find any spare batteries for the U3 online. Any info?

 

The build quality is truly exquisite,the Black Laquer Lid and chrome trim make for a very classy look. Magnesium alloy chassis,you need to see one in person to really appreciate how nice they are.
Noise is a non issue for me,however everyones opinion seems to differ on this point.I looked at the Sony SZ too,the ASUS just won me over,I like the M1330 but honestly from a quality standpoint the Asus and Sony smoke it.
The M1330 is still a better choice for performance/price ratio.
Below is a link for U3 batteries


http://www.excaliberpc.com/Asus_Notebook_Accessories_6-Cell/90-NQF1B2000T/partinfo-id-582906.html

 

That ASIO thing worked for me, and I don't mind using foobar2k.. pops once in a blue moon now.. solved my problem ~ I just listen to music nothing special. If im watching a movie I dont touch the pc so no sound issues there.

Meh!

 

I seem to be having the same problem as you. Can you post the steps you went through using rivatuner or any other tool to fix this audio hiccup issue?

 

I'll try to remember what I did, so someone will have to correct me if I'm missing a step. I can't run Rivatuner.

Edit: snip

Meh, go ahead and post some pics of the Rivatuner registry, and I can guide you from there!

 

Its weird i'm having the same problem now. the thing is, i bought this m1330 about 9 months ago and not having this problem. but i think AFTER installing SP3 i have stuttering sound when playing mp3. Any connection at all with this graph card problem? and btw Im using NV 8400 GS too!

EDIT:
no, ive tried the solution but still the sound stutters..