still high cpu usage and high latency

netean · Dec 18, 2002, 09:52 AM

I am in deperate need of help.

i Used to own a isa SB 32 which until recently worked a treat. However I've recently upgrading to a SB live 5.1 (OEM) - SB0100 - model number

Had nothing but problem from day one and no matter what I've tried it's not helping.

Problem 1: Playing audio, mp3 or wav causes v high processor usage (about 40%) when same apps used to run at 2-3%

Sound in DVDs is out of sync - it was 5-6 seconds out with creative drivers, but still 1-2 seconds out with KX drivers.

I've spoken at great length with Creative tech support, who have suggested numerous things, none of which have worked:

Disable PCI sharing (done)
Lower PCI latency in BIOS (done)
Add spread spectrum in bios (done)
Upgrade drivers (done)
chance PCI slot of SB card (done)
REmove other hardware (done- no effect)
Change HD access from DMA to Pio (done)
ensure no PCI IRQ conflict (done)

Nothing I've done has made the slightest difference to processor usage or latency. I really hoped the KX drivers would fix the problem but they haven't.

If anyone could offer any suggestions (other than "get a new computer") I would really appreciate it
I've been tearing my hair out for about 2 weeks now trying to get it working.

Hardware:
AMD k62- 450
Asus mother board (Aladdin chipset)
400Mb Ram
Matrox g550 graphics card
Real Magic Hollywood Plus DVD card
Sony DDU220E dvd drive
Micropolis 4gB HD drive (old drive)
Western Digital 30Gb drive (main drive- with about 20Gb free)
Internal ATAPI zip 100
(no floppy drive installed)

Got a cd-audio cable running from DVD drive into sound card, then another cable running from DVD card into AUX input of sound card (internal connection)

PC running windows 2000 (SP3)
typically using about 128Mb of ram at startup

Max M. · Dec 18, 2002, 08:27 PM

btw. what apps do you use to play DVD (as well as other files - wave, mp3, divx etc.) ?

netean · Dec 19, 2002, 06:38 AM

for playing dvds I use either Real Magic DVD Station (latest drivers)
or
Eugene's DVD player (better player)
as they both make better use of the my hardware decoder.

On the mp3 side

I use either:
STP (systrayplay)
XMplay
or
QCD 3

STP and XMplay used to use the least resources with my old card (typically 2 and 4% respectively) but now use between 20 and 40% (sometimes more)

however, I have tried using Creative's Playcenter and winamp... it's doesn't seem to a problem with the player, as it occurs universally when playing pretty much any audio

note: CD-audio uses less resources than mp3s but typically uses about 15-20% CPU when playing

Max M. · Dec 19, 2002, 08:17 PM

well, who knows... i'd say it is w2k problem... someone else could say you have some killer app installed (antivir? cpuidle? usbmouse driver? ethernet monitor? internet explorer?

.. etc. etc... anything can cause this... not exactly pci audio card driver... btw. i had k6-2 450 some time ago and never expirienced such thingy under w98se whatever drivers i used (kx, aps, liveware)...

netean · Dec 20, 2002, 06:22 PM

just had a this reply from creative:

Quote:

Thank you for checking the updates. [motherboard driver updates which I installed but failed to make any change whatsoever]

The CPU usage you are geting seem to be in comparison with the AWE. [my old sound card] As the Live! has more features and more
sophisticated sound processor in it, it will aslo require more from the
CPU.
With DVD's, the software you are using, is for the Hollywood+ decoder
card, and it is not a Creative product, you would need to contact the
card manufacturer.

Call me cynical, but I thought the whole point of getting a better specced card was so that it could do more processor intensive stuff?

I've tried stopping everything I can (browser- don't run internet exploder- its' nasty), anti-virus, as many services as I can find
but still no luck - i'm pulling my hair out though as it basically makes my sound card unusable

LoyC · Dec 22, 2002, 01:06 AM

hey netean i think the problem lies in the installation of the new SB Live! 5.1 card, since the problem never happened before. Have you uninstalled the old SB 32 drivers properly? Uninstall the kX drivers, then search for "SB", "32" or anything closely related to that in regedit (from start->run)...

Also find any old drivers on your computer related to sound cards or Creative (since SB 32 is obselete but not spoilt)...

If you really have to, with your old sound blaster 32 drivers in hand, kick out the Live card and place back in the good o' trusty sb32 card and stick with it. Enjoy it all the way while it lasts =)

RIV@NVX · Dec 22, 2002, 06:13 AM

And maybe a complete system reinstallation can solve it.

netean · Dec 22, 2002, 06:18 AM

ah the SB32 drivers, sounds interesting -
partly as I didn't clean out the old drivers thoroughly when I upgraded (just uninstalled the drivers, which clearly isn't the same thing at all) -

and partly as it's one further thing I haven't tried - and at this point I'll try anything.

I'm determined to get this working - I know it can and should work with my lowly system - it won't defeat me!

Happynic1 · Dec 22, 2002, 08:46 AM

I'm betting on your OS, my friend has a k62 350 with win98 and it works fine for him, but his is a 4.1

doesn't w2k hog memory like hell?

by the way, you're maxing out your system.

RIV@NVX · Dec 22, 2002, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Happynic1
I'm betting on your OS, my friend has a k62 350 with win98 and it works fine for him, but his is a 4.1

doesn't w2k hog memory like hell?

by the way, you're maxing out your system.

W2K works bad with K6 processors, from what I heard.
Use 98SE/ME.

RJARRRPCGP · Jul 9, 2005, 01:29 AM

Yikes!!! DMA to PIO mode!!! If in PIO mode, then Windows will hog the processor!!! DMA is required for low processor usage.