[Chiops]

Hi. My HP Victus laptop should be capable of processing real-time audio, but it's really struggling. Here be specs with benchmark ratings:

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 - 34.1%
SSD: WD Green SN350 2TB - 151.4%
RAM: Team Group Inc TEAMGROUP-SD4-3200 2x16GB - 92.8%
12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450H
1,064 User benchmarks, average bench 84%
U3E1, 1 CPU, 8 cores, 12 threads
Base clock 2 GHz, turbo 1.75 GHz (avg)
Performing way below expectations (4th percentile)

Nothing looks unusual in Task Manager as far as CPU usage goes.
BIOS is up to date, there's no throttling occurring, no chkdsk errors. HD usage is at about 60%.

When I run WhySoSlow, these 3 elements are flagged:
Application responsiveness: The highest application responsiveness on your system was measured at 12.101 ms. This value is considered critical, your system does not appear responsive. Your kernel responsiveness is also considered poor which is likely to be the cause of the problem.
Kernel latencies and real-time capabilities: The highest kernel responsiveness on your system was measured at 11.988 ms. This value is considered critical, your system is very likely to have difficult processing tasks in real-time. Note that this value says does not say anything about your overall system performance.
BIOS and chipset behavior: The highest measured SM BIOS interrupt or other stall was 4802 microseconds. This is considered very poor. Your system will have difficulty handling multimedia in real-time and will be subject to unexpected stutters and unresponsive behavior.

Latency Monitor report flags highest measured interrupt to process latency 5059.40, and highest reported DPC routine execution time 4998.750. I'm not sure what those mean, but they don't look great. Any advice on tracking down what's making things run so slow?

 

[MPR]

To ensure the best performance from a laptop, keep it plugged in and also change the power options to high performance. Rerun the scan after you've done this and see if there is any difference.

Other potential system tweaks that you might try are outlined here:

20 ways to optimize your Windows 10 PC for music production

Windows 10 has revolutionized the music-making process on the PC. Here's how to avoid the frozen screen of death and carry on making beats!

bandzoogle.com

 

[Chiops]

Thanks for your reply! I ran the tests under different power settings, and on battery and plugged in. The benchmark and latency tests were the same. I've done all of the basic tweaks listed in the article - I think this is something deeper in the weeds. None of those optimization tips would account for the CPU's dismal performance. I dunno what would, tbh. I guess a Windows re-install is on the cards, but if that doesn't fix the CPU performance, I'm totally out of ideas.

 

[MPR]

I'm totally out of ideas.

Download and run HWMonitor to ensure that CPU temps are not getting high enough to cause a clamp down. Also, check to see of there's a setting in the BIOS that allows the CPU to throttle down in order to prolong battery life and reduce fan noise. If your temps are too high, look for a YouTube video on how to disassemble and clean your laptop. Before re-installing Windows, run SFC /SCANNOW from an elevated command prompt and re-install your audio drivers to see if this helps. Finally, note that at least one review I read stated that your laptop model has some inherent issues with processing real-time audio.

"The Victus 16 has some problems with real-time processing of audio" -- notebookcheck.net

 

[Chiops]

Thanks for this info. I couldn't see anything in the BIOS settings about prolonging battery life and reducing fan noise - fan is set in BIOS to 'always on'.
SCANNOW result: "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations".

"The Victus 16 has some problems with real-time processing of audio" -- notebookcheck.net

I wish I'd seen this before I made the purchase. What is it specifically about this machine that makes it not great at real-time processing? It seems to me that the specs are at least decent? Regardless, according to UserBenchmark, the CPU is performing way below expectations.

The HWMonitor report seemed fine to me - does anything look notably wrong here?

CPUID HWMonitor Report
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

HWMonitor version 1.4.7.0

Monitoring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model 8A50 (0x000000DE - 0x00002660)

LPCIO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware monitor Battery
Voltage 0 10.77 Volts [0x2A0F] (Current Voltage)
Capacity 0 52552 mWh [0xCD48] (Designed Capacity)
Capacity 1 51385 mWh [0xC8B9] (Full Charge Capacity)
Capacity 2 8778 mWh [0x224A] (Current Capacity)
Level 0 3 pc [0x61] (Wear Level)
Level 1 17 pc [0x11] (Charge Level)

Hardware monitor D3D

Hardware monitor Display API
Voltage 0 0.25 Volts [0xF5] (GPU)
Clock Speed 0 300.00 MHz [0x12C] (Graphics)
Clock Speed 1 n.a. (Memory)
Clock Speed 2 n.a. (Processor)

Hardware monitor NVIDIA NVAPI
Temperature 0 35 degC (94 degF) [0x22] (GPU)
Temperature 2 44 degC (110 degF) [0x2B] (Hot Spot)
Clock Speed 0 300.00 MHz [0x12C] (Graphics)
Clock Speed 1 375.00 MHz [0x177] (Memory)
Clock Speed 2 n.a. (Processor)

Hardware monitor D3D


Processors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Groups 1
CPU Group 0 12 threads, mask=0xFFF

Number of sockets 1
Number of threads 12

APICs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Socket 0
-- Core 0 (ID 0)
-- Thread 0 0
-- Thread 1 1
-- Core 1 (ID 4)
-- Thread 2 8
-- Thread 3 9
-- Core 2 (ID 8)
-- Thread 4 16
-- Thread 5 17
-- Core 3 (ID 12)
-- Thread 6 24
-- Thread 7 25
-- Core 4 (ID 40)
-- Thread 8 40
-- Core 5 (ID 42)
-- Thread 9 42
-- Core 6 (ID 44)
-- Thread 10 44
-- Core 7 (ID 46)
-- Thread 11 46

Timers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

ACPI timer 3.580 MHz
Perf timer 10.000 MHz
Sys timer 1.000 KHz


Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Socket 1 ID = 0
Number of cores 8 (max 8)
Number of threads 12 (max 12)
Hybrid yes, 2 coresets
Core Set 0 P-Cores, 4 cores, 8 threads
Core Set 1 E-Cores, 4 cores, 4 threads
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel Core i5 12450H
Codename Alder Lake
Specification 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-12450H
Package (platform ID) Socket 1744 FCBGA (0x7)
CPUID 6.A.3
Extended CPUID 6.9A
Core Stepping L0
Technology 10 nm
TDP Limit 45.0 Watts
Tjmax 100.0 °C
Core Speed 698.3 MHz
Multiplier x Bus Speed 7.0 x 99.8 MHz
Base frequency (cores) 99.8 MHz
Base frequency (mem.) 99.8 MHz
Stock frequency 2500 MHz
Max frequency 4400 MHz
Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, EM64T, VT-x, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA
Microcode Revision 0x423
L1 Data cache 4 x 48 KB (12-way, 64-byte line) + 4 x 32 KB (8-way, 64-byte line)
L1 Instruction cache 4 x 32 KB (8-way, 64-byte line) + 4 x 64 KB (8-way, 64-byte line)
L2 cache 4 x 1.25 MB (10-way, 64-byte line) + 2 MB (16-way, 64-byte line)
L3 cache 12 MB (8-way, 64-byte line)
Max CPUID level 00000020h
Max CPUID ext. level 80000008h
FID/VID Control yes


Turbo Mode supported, enabled
Max non-turbo ratio 25x
Max turbo ratio 44x
Max efficiency ratio 4x
Min operating ratio 4x
Speedshift Autonomous
O/C bins none
Ratio 1 P-Core 44x
Ratio 2 P-Cores 44x
Ratio 3 P-Cores 41x
Ratio 4 P-Cores 41x
Ratio 5 P-Cores 41x
Ratio 6 P-Cores 41x
Ratio 7 P-Cores 41x
Ratio 8 P-Cores 41x
Ratio 1 E-Core 33x
Ratio 2 E-Cores 33x
Ratio 3 E-Cores 33x
Ratio 4 E-Cores 33x
Ratio 4 E-Cores 33x
Ratio 4 E-Cores 33x
Ratio 4 E-Cores 33x
Ratio 4 E-Cores 33x
IA Voltage Mode PCU adaptive
IA Voltage Offset 0 mV
GT Voltage Mode PCU adaptive
GT Voltage Offset 0 mV
LLC/Ring Voltage Mode PCU adaptive
LLC/Ring Voltage Offset 0 mV
Agent Voltage Mode PCU adaptive
Agent Voltage Offset 0 mV
TDP Level 45.0 W @ 20x
TDP Level 35.0 W @ 11x
TDP Level 65.0 W @ 25x

Temperature 0 36 degC (96 degF) (Package)
Temperature 1 34 degC (93 degF) (P-Cores (Max))
Temperature 2 34 degC (93 degF) (E-Cores (Max))
Temperature 3 30 degC (86 degF) (P-Core #0)
Temperature 4 35 degC (95 degF) (P-Core #1)
Temperature 5 31 degC (87 degF) (P-Core #2)
Temperature 6 30 degC (86 degF) (P-Core #3)
Temperature 7 34 degC (93 degF) (E-Core #4)
Temperature 8 34 degC (93 degF) (E-Core #5)
Temperature 9 34 degC (93 degF) (E-Core #6)
Temperature 10 34 degC (93 degF) (E-Core #7)
Voltage 0 +0.00 Volts (IA Offset)
Voltage 1 +0.00 Volts (GT Offset)
Voltage 2 +0.00 Volts (LLC/Ring Offset)
Voltage 3 +0.00 Volts (System Agent Offset)
Voltage 4 0.85 Volts (VID (Max))
Voltage 5 0.71 Volts (VID #0)
Voltage 6 0.71 Volts (VID #1)
Voltage 7 0.70 Volts (VID #2)
Voltage 8 0.72 Volts (VID #3)
Voltage 9 0.69 Volts (VID #4)
Voltage 10 0.69 Volts (VID #5)
Voltage 11 0.69 Volts (VID #6)
Voltage 12 0.72 Volts (VID #7)
Power 00 5.25 W (Package)
Power 01 1.43 W (IA Cores)
Power 02 0.02 W (GT)
Power 03 n.a. (DRAM)
Clock Speed 0 698.29 MHz (P-Core #0)
Clock Speed 1 598.54 MHz (P-Core #1)
Clock Speed 2 798.05 MHz (P-Core #2)
Clock Speed 3 798.05 MHz (P-Core #3)
Clock Speed 4 1197.07 MHz (E-Core #4)
Clock Speed 5 1097.32 MHz (E-Core #5)
Clock Speed 6 1097.32 MHz (E-Core #6)
Clock Speed 7 2194.63 MHz (E-Core #7)
Core 0 max ratio 44.00 (effective 26.00)
Core 1 max ratio 44.00 (effective 26.00)
Core 2 max ratio 44.00 (effective 26.00)
Core 3 max ratio 44.00 (effective 26.00)
Core 4 max ratio 33.00 (effective 22.00)
Core 5 max ratio 33.00 (effective 22.00)
Core 6 max ratio 33.00 (effective 22.00)
Core 7 max ratio 33.00 (effective 22.00)

 

[MPR]

I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish sound-wise but there are USB sound cards available too. I've no idea if they would accomplish what you would need them to when interfaced with your specific computer though.

 

[Chiops]

I'm using an external USB audio interface that comes with its own ASIO drivers, so that should all be fine. The issue is the CPU's poor performance, regardless of audio. Everywhere I've asked about this, the only reason people can suggest is some sort of throttling/power issue, but no reports are backing up that theory. If everything else is up to date and functional, what's left after that?

 

[MPR]

I'm using an external USB audio interface that comes with its own ASIO drivers, so that should all be fine. The issue is the CPU's poor performance, regardless of audio. Everywhere I've asked about this, the only reason people can suggest is some sort of throttling/power issue, but no reports are backing up that theory. If everything else is up to date and functional, what's left after that?

Windows' power management settings should allow the CPU to operate at max speed as long as the computer is plugged in. However, your computer's BIOS may have settings that force it to always operate at max speed. Also, since you are using an external audio device, make sure that your USB drivers are up to date and check to see if the USB port you are using for your device is always on.

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