PC Sound Cuts out with certain programs

[Scone !]

I've been having super weird CPU issues, anyone here think they might be able to diagnose it from a little description?

It's an audio bug to do with when my CPU use spikes. Whenever the CPU use jumps up by maybe 20% at once it'll pause for a teeny tiny amount of time, normally this happens all the time but it's started cutting out audio too, so it's noticable, especially when it starts to do it a lot, and crackles constantly.

It doesn't happen in 95% of games, but I've confirmed it to happen in Mount and Blade reliably, whenever it crackles it also drops by 5fps down to 55fps. It also happens constantly whenever I have the Steam browser open, and if I move my mouse over the steam browser at all it's just constant crackling. The Steam browser is by far the worst for this issue

I know it's to do with the CPU because I opened the task manager and it perfectly matched with whenever CPU use jumped up.

I've tried a lot of things, it's persisted for weeks. It started when my PC was overheating and cut out. Now my PC isn't anymore it's lingered.

 

[nonsenze]

How long have you had your computer for? Have you had any overheating problems with your CPU in the past?

 

[Scone !]

Overheating was an ew problem brought about due to thermal paste drying up. Have since fixed that.

I have had this PC maybe 18 months.

 

[Gangleider]

How long have you had your computer for? Have you had any overheating problems with your CPU in the past?

this is the equivalent of saying "have u tried turning it on and off again?".................................

id say theres a 99% chance this is due to an audio "enhancement" program that ur running in the background which needs extra cpu time to process any audio that would normally go straight to ur speakers -- when ur cpu reaches 100% load it starts queueing up commands and thus audio is no longer a constant flow.

this all happens for maybe 20ms at a time usually but u do notice it

look for some garbage OEM shit that asus or whatever installed, anything to do with audio that isnt a driver

 

[Scone !]

Looking into it I feel like Gang's right. Unfortunately after gutting out every program I could, reinstalling every driver i had, not a thing. I also have realised that oddly my PC will not install new software. It fails to install basically any tools from my headset drivers that need a manual install, to a few cleaning programs. It just flat out will not install them.

I might blank the drives and reinstall Windows 7.

 

[Gangleider]

i can take a peek with teamviewer during the evenings if u like, otherwise that looks like ur only option w/o more details yeh

 

[Scone !]

Fixed, reinstalled Windows.

Not by choice, I accidentally ended up uninstalling some pretty fuckin' important drivers.

 

[Mid]

Happens with me very rarely because i have an audio interface. I have very few programs open that make a sound at any given time. Its just a case of finding the offending program then closing and reopening it