[Gohan3k]

The thing is, I have to wait for the spike to happen before I close the trace. It's random and not a consistent issue. It happens like every 10 minutes or so.

It's happened even with the western digital harddrive out.

I'll install SP2, remove every USB device and do another trace if you think that will help?

[MagicAndre1981]

ok run this:

xperf -on latency -stackwalk profile -MaxFile 256 -FileMode Circular

this limits the filesize to 256MB.

[Gohan3k]

Alright, updated to SP2, did a windows update, unplugged all USB devices and still getting the same issue. I even disabled my wireless adapter.

New DPC: http://img259.images...9/7034/dpc2.jpg

New Interupt: http://img406.images...2/interupt2.jpg

And I've private messaged you the new ETL file

Thank you so much for your insight on this issue. Rarely do I ever get free help from someone I am a stranger to

[MagicAndre1981]

WoW and the Windows Update engine cause 80% of your CPU usage.

some spikes are only caused by DPCs:

Total = 32336 for module ndis.sys
Elapsed Time, > 4096 usecs AND <= 8192 usecs, 1, or 0.00%

Total = 14752 for module ataport.SYS
Elapsed Time, > 1024 usecs AND <= 2048 usecs, 2, or 0.01%

Total = 1353 for module acpi.sys
Elapsed Time, > 1024 usecs AND <= 2048 usecs, 13, or 0.96%

So ACPI causes the spikes which causes your issues. Try a different power plan and update the BIOS of your laptop.

[Gohan3k]

Before the motherboard switch, WoW did not cause any issues.

I've already updated the BIOS (The Dell website had the same version I had already installed though, but I installed it anyway) and switched from "dell recommended" power to "maximum power" or whatever it's called. This was prior to that last trace.

Do you have any other suggestions? I'm going to try reformatting and reinstalling windows but if it's a BIOS problem I don't think that will help

[MagicAndre1981]

I think the issue you have is the Update service which scans in background for updates. WOW + the Update service cause most CPU usage. As a workaround stop WindowsUpdate service while playing WOW

[imp666]

Very great, many thanks for this.

I even succeeded to run xperf under WinXP (this is something I wanted to share with the community to give something back):
- first I extracted "xperf.exe" and "xperfctl.dll" from the "wpt_x86.msi" (you can use 7zip to do this)
- i copied this to a temporary folder
- i started a dos box and changed to that folder
- i ran the xperf logging like described and stopped it like described

I did NOT succeed viewing/debugging the etl-file in WinXP, but: I just copied the "*.etl" to a Win7 computer (where I have a normal wpt-Installation running) and doubleclicked the *.etl-file to find results...

It seems to work and I could identify a troublemaker on the WinXP machine (see attachmed file, etl was created with xperf in WinXP and diagnose ran in xperfview@Win7, thats why there's the aero window style).
 dpc_xp.jpg (82.16K)
Number of downloads: 10

So thank you for this thread and I hope someone could benefit from my WinXP-trials with this tool...

[MagicAndre1981]

yes, opening the ETL only works >= Vista. What was the cause? damaged cable or bad SCSI device?

[imp666]

Just had to reinstall intel inf update after a virus removal of a bad virus infection (btw. it wasn't my own machine!)

This post has been edited by imp666: 30 November 2011 - 02:15 AM

[BearandNeets]

Hi Magic Andre, Man you have put your soul into helping people on this thread. Massive Ups to you. There is a place in heaven reserved for people relieving computer rage.... I have the CPU spikes causing audio and video stuttering which is driving me up the wall! I would really appreciate your help to interpret the results of the xperf file. I have followed your initial instructions and have my report. Which is the result or column that indicates the driver at fault? On one occasion I ran it and got USBPORT at the top of the list. Then another time NDIS then another time TCPIP.sys (that was when I made it a very small duration centered on the actual spike.. I have updated my Realtek audio drivers off the website. Following the NDIS find I updated my WLAN drivers off the website also (Windows didn't seem to think they needed updating in device manager) my problem is still there. The longer I have it logged in the worse it gets although a restart will often cure it temporarily.

Would it be easier if I just PM you my scan to look at?

Many thanks for any help you can provide.

This post has been edited by BearandNeets: 02 December 2011 - 03:02 AM

[MagicAndre1981]

upload the compressed (as 7z, LZMA2 -ULTRA) ETL file to mediafire.com and send me the link via PM.

[AngryAngus]

My problem is my nividia drivers seem to be causing the problems. (Example, uninstall drivers, no more cpu usage from system interrupts) but I have no clue what to do, I have tried different drivers to no luck.
Can anyone help? It causes ripping and popping audio wise in anything cpu intensive like skyrim or deus ex...

Attached File(s)

•  Bloodycpu copy.jpg (308.78K)
  Number of downloads: 9

[MagicAndre1981]

which GPU do you have? Some users had issues when the GPU shares the IRQ with other components. So run "C:\Windows\System32\msinfo32.exe" and check under IRQs if the GPU shares an IRQ. If this happens and your board has 2 PCIe 16 slots insert the card in the other slot and test again.

If this doesn't help, compress and upload the trace to mediafire.com and post a link here.

[h3x00r]

When I use BitTorrent to download stuff I do have this an intrerruption problem causing high cpu usage (see the attachement)
The ntoskrnl.exe seems to have some high values.

In Process Explorer I do see a 5-6% CPU usage for Intrerrupts.
I do have a Intel i7 @ 2.0Ghz and 12gig of ram.

What happens? My mouse starts to slug.

Thank You!

Attached File(s)

•  issue1.png (129.02K)
  Number of downloads: 8

This post has been edited by h3x00r: 20 December 2011 - 09:11 AM

[MagicAndre1981]

can you make a trace, compress it as 7z (LZMA2, Ultra) and upload it?

[BigErn]

I found that with the ndis.sys problem, going into the driver properties in Device Manager and going to your network LAN card, then enabling IEEE802.11h in the advanced tab solved the problem. Might be worth trying in the first instance instead of going through the whole process

[MagicAndre1981]

nice to hear that you fixed it after using xperf

[dougr]

Is it normal to get a bunch of results in these tests? On my DPC CPU Usage Summary Table ataport.SYS is what came up with the most usage but I really don't know how to go about fixing that one. On the other table: Interrupt CPU Usage Summary Table, hal.dll came up as the highest actual duration. Do any of my results really need to be fixed?

Attached File(s)

•  Untitled.png (343.14K)
  Number of downloads: 7
•  Untitled1.png (90.23K)
  Number of downloads: 2

[MagicAndre1981]

Do you run a device (CD,DVD, HDD) in IDE/ATAPI mode?

[dougr]

No, all devices that are plugged in run in AHCI mode. From my bios it states that the bluray drive, samsung 830, and samsung HDD run in AHCI mode. When I go to device manager under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers it reads:
ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 1
ATA Channel 3
ATA Channel 4
ATA Channel 5
Intel ® 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller - 1C02

I'm not sure if the above has anything to do with the problem, but figured I'd list it anyway.