Ghosts in the machine... !

Drew_TNBD

Bridgehouse said:

Just noticed on your little screen shots - that fan shit really stinks of a process going haywire. What does task manager say is going down when that all kicks off?

Well looking at the performance meters in task manager, the ethernet chart is going nuts with activity spikes. The level of nutsness is the same for Powerline and directly into the router. 

I'm semi-satisfied that this is all due to dodgy ethernet, but I don't know what is causing it. Bad drivers or bad power perhaps.

Jalapeno said:

PSUs aren't too pricey, no idea how many watts you need, but in my box of bits I went with an 850w job to ensure I had plenty headroom.

The one I would want would be quite pricey! Around £90 for an 800watt modular jobby.

Jalapeno

Drew_TNBD said:

I'm semi-satisfied that this is all due to dodgy ethernet, but I don't know what is causing it. Bad drivers or bad power perhaps.

Might have a dodgy earth or earth loop somewhere ....

We used to have a really noisy dimmable ceiling light downstairs - if it was on, no recording possible.

Bridgehouse

Try an Ethernet card first. I'll have a look see if I've got a cheap one I can send you. If not, they are a few quid.

I'd also reset your router and run some diagnostics on it.

Seems to me like something is failing to cope with network activity - and I think you are right - onboard Ethernet is probly screwed. Or your router.

Drew_TNBD

I just ordered one from Amazon. Was looking for a specific chipset that is supposed to be very commonly supported with hackintoshes. The Realtek RTL8111E one. So I ended up paying more than I wanted, but Amazon Prime should have it delivered tonight, so I can have a play.

If that doesn't solve it, then new mobo time! If that doesn't solve it, then I'm gonna plunge my wallet dick into a nice shiny i7 mac mini from eBay and to hell with the Appleaids consequences!!

.. and then I'd just make this one a dedicated gaming rig and chalk it all up to being a cheapo twat.

Bridgehouse

Fair enuff that.

Interested to see if new NIC solves it 

Drew_TNBD

I shall let you know!!

Drew_TNBD

I'm starting to doubt my memory now though.

On the 2600K Sandybridge machine... I can't be 100% sure that I had audio-drop outs. I definitely had some weird CPU spiking going on inside of Studio One, but I can't be sure that I had the same problems.

Now the differences in NIC between the two motherboards (GA-P67A-UD3P-B3 has a Realtek RTL8111E and the GA-Z97-D3H has an Intel Gbe LAN)

So basically the new PCIE card I ordered is the same NIC as the motherboard I sold in 2015. So it'll be interesting to see whether this problem goes away - just going to focus on Windows initially.

It's entirely possible that the problems I had with the prior setup are completely different to the audio-dropout problem I have now. My memory is shite.

Bridgehouse

Must admit it's rare for exactly the same problems to transfer from one platform to another - if it's another device sometimes they would manifest themselves differently.

Drew_TNBD

Well i don't think this new card has helped judging by the dpc tests. But need to test in the daw.

Bridgehouse

*whispers* router... *whispers*

Heartfeltdawn

Anecdotally from my own experience and far too many hours at KVR and Gearslutz, network adapters are a common problem. When I built my AMD-based PC a few years ago (ASUS board, Realtek NIC), the network adapter was causing dropouts. One update solved that. I don't use wifi, the router is in my room so I've stayed hardwired. 

Again from experience and anecdotally, Gigabyte do seem to have a few more onboard issues when it comes to audio. The only board that's ever failed on me was a Gigabyte board ten years ago. Stuck with Asus then, my last three personal builds were Asus, and the seven PCs I've built over the last ten years for other people all had Asus boards (and they're all still running). Finally upgraded earlier this year, running an i7 4770 I got for peanuts on an Asus H81 M-Plus. Did all the usual tweaks and it's running really well. 

Drew_TNBD

Well, fairly sure the ethernet card has done nothing to alleviate this.

Drew_TNBD

I had a big burst of glitchy noise with this project right as soon as I started playing it... but after that it's been solid for almost an hour now.

Drew_TNBD

Asus H81M-A motherboard on the way. I have to know if it's a Gigabyte motherboard thing. I just wont be able to sleep otherwise!

Heartfeltdawn

So new mobo and reinstallation this weekend?

Drew_TNBD

Well tried to do it last night. Was missing an essential cable - the 4pin 12V power cable for the motherboard. So fuck it. It's all going back and I'm gonna pick up a used iMac or Mac Mini. But only after I try out an RME audio card just to rule out the two cards I've already tried.

Bridgehouse

Sounds like it!

Personally I would be wallet dipping for a Mac mini by now!