Audio problem when playing games or watching films

I am experiencing a strange issue just recently. When playing games or watching a film (with and without earphones) I get what sounds like a short buzzing noise that sort of freezes the sound for a sec then resumes as normal,,, it happens every 15-20 secs or so.

I ran a couple of programs to check my temps in case as its been awhile since I last gave it a proper clean out ,,but all the temps where not too bad (around the 60-64) so I dont think it is that.

What else could it be and is there anything I can do to locate and fix the issue?

Cheers

 

I think I had a similar issue recently. Check task manager, processes from all users and look for WmiPrvSE. Are there multiple instances of it? Does it have high CPU usage? Just to see if its the same issue but I think its actually an issue in Windows 7....assuming you're using Windows 7.

 

Just opened task manager and I dont have WmiPrvSE whatever that is,, also my CPU usage was only 5%. Not sure what is causing it but it only started the other day and we did have a windows update the other day. It is just annoying,, sounds like high pitch vibrating crash ,,as if your audio is about to stop ,, then a sec later goes back to normal

 

I have the exact same issue and I think it started about a week or so ago after a Win update.

I've cleaned out fans and even replaced the thermal paste on the processor because I first thought it was and heat problem.

However, I found another thread: http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/361186-audio-stutters-buzzing-caused-dpc-latency.html
and after I deactivated the 'Dell Diag Control Device' in Device Manager my sound now plays as expected and the computer seems lag-free.
For now. Hopefully it will stay this way!

 

Cheers mate,, I have no idea what Dell Diag Control Device does (apart from disrupt my audio) ,, but I followed your advice and disabled it and the issue went away straight away.

I'm gonna guess that the latest windows update has done something that caused it to stop working properly ,,, hope not something we need for something else lol,,

Cheers again

 

I'm glad you were able to fix it with only that. I was about to recommend you a system restore due to the fact that the updates caused the issue.

 

I'm confused now. It just started happening again. It might be due to the fact I was watching a football match over the net streamed which can have lag issues,, but it was exactly like before ,, and I JUST INSTALLED ANOTHER WINDOWS UPDATE this morning. I checked Dell Diag thing and it is still disabled, so if I keep getting this issue again in games and vids then im at a loss of what to do next.

 

I have tried system restore but I always get an issue with that too. Whenever I try to do one I always get a message saying it was unable to complete due to not gaining access to a file. Continues to recommend disabling all anti virus software (which i do) but that never works either?

 

I have recently been experiencing a very similar issue to yours, stevotrueblue, although sometimes sound isn't the only thing that's affected. If I'm playing a game or watching a video, the sound will hang like you described along with the game or video for a good second or so and then resume. After checking task manager, I noticed right away that disk usage is spiking up to 100% whenever this occurs. Not sure if we share the same problem or if I have something completely different (possibly a faulty drive), but I thought I'd share.

 

Yeh its doing it again. Just played a match in football manager and it did it constantly all the way through. I also had a BSOD earlier today,, not sure if thats linked to it but honestly dont know whats up with it. Going to have to give Dell a call I think and see if there any way of testing the sound card / video card or whatever else it could be,, probably the most expensive knowing my luck

 

Before I contact Dell I am going to take it apart and give it a good clean out just in case. I have also ran all the Diagnostic tests on the Dell support page but they all come back saying everything is working fine, which it obviously isn't. Are there any downloadable stress tests out there I can run and rules things out? I suspect the most likely culprits if it is a hardware issue would be the video card or sound card but I am open to other suggestions???

 

Hmm, cheaper option might be to get some sort of external usb sound card that you can then plug your headphones into? I don't think they are very expensive.

 

I'm convinced now its something to do with overheating. I got a message from some Dell support software installed on my laptop out of the blue that said there was an issue with my fans overheating and to install some "hotfix" whatever that was? I have no idea why when I tested for this a week ago I got normal temps with HWMonitor and GPU-Z.O.5.1 but when I redid it after this msg popped up my GPU temps where up at 86! So I'm on 4 days off work now so I am going to strip it all down and clean it out,,, I also got a 8gb RAM kit from crucial for 40 quid so I can upgrade that while im at it lol.

 

Strangely since installing the hotfix the issue has gone away again ???

 

Uninstall that Dell support software.. it's bloat and before the hotfix was causing all these fans problems and even killed 1-2 people's GPU's... Remove it before it does some permanent damage!

 

^ This! I removed all Dell software after the rather excellent Alien Autopsy software started asking me for my warranty details and got renamed to Dell support something or other. Pretty sure I took a performance hit from that Dell Software. Wish Alien Autopsy still worked because the BSOD analyser was really flippin' useful!

 

So this is a well known issue then? Its strange that my issue has gone since the hotfix but my temps are still high. So the Dell software might be the actual cause of it all? Come to think of it when I first noticed issues that was when I first noticed that Alien Autopsy had suddenly disapeared from my system. I just thought I had somehow un-istalled it or something.

Will delete all the Dell software and see what happens then.