Installation of New SSD caused DPC Latency Spikes: Solved

Hi All, recently I upgraded my SSD from a Crucial 64GB M4 to a Samsung 250GB 840 Evo, but I noticed DPC Latency Spikes in the red zone after the installation. After some diagnosing I worked out it was related to the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver. I simply needed to upgrade to the latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver from the Intel website - I upgraded to the latest AHCI version for NUC boards (version 12.9.0.1001) even though that version didn't seem applicable to my notebook, but in the small print of the readme it divulged that it could be installed on any 6 series chipset. With the previously installed Crucial M4 SSD I had to use an older version of Rapid Storage Technology to avoid DPC Latency Spikes, with that SSD the newer versions actually caused DPC Latency Spikes. The main point seems to be, is that it's important to choose the right version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology to match your model of SSD to avoid DPC Latency Spikes, just wanted to put this information out there to help people diagnose their DPC Latency issues, especially if it's only started occurring after upgrading your SSD.

(I didn't want to remove Intel Rapid Storage Technology & rely on the Microsoft drivers, because although that solved the issue too, it also reduced random 4K read performance; best performance with Rapid Storage Technology installed)

 

good to know, thank you.

 

You're welcome, it will interesting to hear if anyone else has noticed the same, (or if you managed to solve your DPC latency issues after reading my post then post up here too).

 

my Audio guys at work almost always found their DPC issues related to Nvidia drivers on portable workstations and a few desktop units. I know over at one of the AV forums I frequent the top 3 seem to be Nv video drivers, Storage drivers and wireless and BT cards.

 

I tried diagnosing it using LatencyMon, but it didn't even tell me which driver was causing the issue (which it normally would - just showed a latency without any indication of cause), so I had to use my own noggin to source the issue, and based on my previous experience with M4 SSD I realised I should focus on Intel Rapid Storage Technology first.

 

I just encountered the same issue with a new Samsung SSD 850 Pro 256GB on a Lenovo Z580 with Windows 8.1, and with hours of googling and trying everything I could think of, I was finally able to resolve it only because of this post.

The problem showed up as a wildly fluctuating CPU usage meter in Ableton Live 9.1.1, and continuous drop-outs in the audio. Normally Ableton's CPU meter stays relatively constant (within a couple percent) but after transferring my system to the new SSD, the meter would jump around constantly in a 2x range (between x and 2x, where x would be the "normal" load for the situation).

LatencyMon didn't show an obvious cause, but after reading this post, uninstalling Intel Rapid Storage Technology did solve the problem. I haven't yet installed the updated RST.

Thanks for posting this thread. I'm replying here with all my specific details in hopes that someone else in a similar position might also find it. Some additional relevant keywords: VST ASIO Behringer audio interface driver ASIO4All USB3 migrate

BTW, better hope and pray that you never need to contact Samsung for technical support - because there doesn't seem to be anyone home. Their site would not let me send any email request for support (the 850 Pro line is not in the product list); 40 minutes waiting for a chat adviser produced nothing; A request on their Facebook page yielded what looked like an automated reply listing their phone number and an email address. I couldn't bear trying their phone support and waiting on hold forever.

 

Cool, good that it helped solve your sound issue.