TF2 Help, Getting Frustrated

I'm at my wits' end trying to get this to work properly.
Every time I play TF2, without fail, audiodg.exe starts consuming 40-60% of my CPU during gameplay, causing my FPS to slow from 50s-60s to 10s or even single digits.

I've tried EVERYTHING I can think of:
- switch audio output from simulated 5.1 to 2 speakers in both audio driver & game
- disabled all audio effects in audio driver
- updated audio driver to non-OEM version (thus disabling my subwoofer)
- lowered audio quality to Low
- used -snd_legacy_surround launch option as suggested by Steam Support
- change graphics options to lower rez & options

None of the above worked. The only thing that did help was -nosound, and even then it was hit-and-miss.

I fear that my config's not up to snuff, which honestly shouldn't be the case (sig rig). Used to run in 720x480 with all options high, 4x AA & AF, but tried out 1366x768 with all medium, Trilinear & 0x when my system came back from the depot.

What the heck do I do?

 

hmm reinstall game?? if that doesnt work, then restore your pc, and reinstall game.

 

Thanks for reminding me - I did neglect to mention that I already have restored my PC to the factory default and did a clean install of Steam & TF2 from there with no luck.
Even before I put all my crap on the PC, audiodg.exe is giving me nightmares.

AFAIK, TF2 is the only thing that causes this - I might try Audiosurf at some point to see what that does.

 

i would google your error or problem and then read every article thats what i did, and on page 8 i think i found a solution to one of my problems.

 

Believe me, I have been - it seems that no one has a similar issue, or a solution that's worked.

 

Have you disabled your soundcard in device manager?

 

Doing that would turn off my sound, though, right?
And where's the fun in that?

Seriously, though, I'm hesitant to modify my sound settings any more in case I lose the use of my Tuba bass booster (Aspire 6920 feature) like I did before.
I've already brought my system back to the factory default TWICE in the past 24 hours, and I do not feel the urge to do it again.

 

Well I have a fallback plan for you, go with the above and disable the sound card, then get some cheap 20$ plantroics dsp500's they are great headphones that will sound really good for this game with there own built in sound card, use those instead for sound if you find no other resort.

 

OK, put Audiosurf back on my system, and it ran smoothly.
0-5% CPU for audiodg.exe.

I think I may have figured out one reason for the slowdown - my system was set for Virtual 5.1 output, and TF2 was set for 5.1 sound too.
That must be a lot of processing for it to handle, and possibly too much for two 1.83 GHz cores.

I'm going to put it back on my system and run it in 2-channel sound. HOPEFULLY this works.

EDIT: Same freakin' problem - smooth for a while, then an inexplicable jump in CPU room. This time, I added a few options: dsp_slowcpu 1 and dsp_enhance_stereo 0. Gonna try a few other cvars like snd_legacy_surround, dxlevel 81, and ultimately mat_queue_mode 2.

EDIT 2: snd_legacy_surround helped, but the big boost turned out to be turning off my microphone. Ahem. Go figure. In any case, audiodg.exe is now only taking up 20-25% of my CPU at worst, and 10-17% at best. It still does that spike that causes a slowdown, but now I'm beginning to suspect other issues at play. Like a GPU downclock or worse, a driver issue. Needless to say, I'm not admittin defeat yet.

EDIT 3: Added mat_queue_mode 2...surprisingly stable so far. Turned off PowerMizer while on AC. Tried dicking around with other DirectX levels, but so far no luck. At least when the slowdown happens, I still get 15-30 fps. Semi-playable. Anyone know if the 174.51 drivers had issues with TF2?

 

Not sure if those drivers have had issues with TF2. Could try some different ones if you like. Remember Source games are not made to run on multiple cores. But mat_queue_mode 2 forces it to. Alot of people get crashes using that command.

 

hey just found this while while surfing, I have the same computer type and am experiencing the same issues, I was wondering if this problem was resolved? (and yes i have gone through all the updating, reinstalling and defragging stuff)

 

Exact same problem with "audiodg.exe" running up your processor usage?

Try this:
Go into task manager(Ctrl+Alt+Delete )
Right-click the process that is affecting performance
Select "Set Affinity..."
Untick "core 0" so that it only runs on the second core.

It's a long shot but it might help at least a little.

 

right click on the speaker icon at the bottom right.
select Playback Devices
highlight the icon with the green check mark
click Properties
click the Advanced tap
uncheck Enable audio enhancements

Just googled it this was the first thing i found, I guess i have it unchecked on my computer and my sound is fine.

 

This seems to be a pretty common problem for people with the 6920/8920 laptops.

It seems to me like the power settings don't stay set the way they are when the game launches, and at some point the CPU down clocks itself causing a lag fest.

What is weird is that the laptop didn't seem to do this when it was new, and now that it is about 9 months old it's acting up.

Do you guys have troubles in other games as well as this one? or only TF2?

 

Holy old topic bump! Munkaz, always check the last post's date before adding your own.

I eventually traced the problem here back to my CPU being downclocked by my BIOS due to a perceived thermal issue. Because it was going from 1.83 (or 2.4 when I upgraded) to 0.83 GHz, it was severely impacting my gameplay (and also explains why audiodg.exe started using so much CPU).
TF2 only triggered it first because it stressed the CPU so much - eventually Audiosurf, 3DMark, and even media encoding set it off.
Updating the BIOS solved the problem all but permanently, but undervolting is the safer option (it won't brick your system). And if you haven't cleaned your vents in 9 months, now's a good time to do so.

 

Sorry, I'm a newb to the forum, I guess.

That sounds like the exact same issue as I've been having TehSuigi. So it was completely a thermal issue?

Where did you find a BIOS for that laptop that lets you alter the voltages? The only BIOS updates I've been able to find have been from Acer's euro site.

Thanks in advance.

 

The thread was already bumped a week ago so it wasn't really that old
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824