DCP latency caused by ACPI.sys on Octane VI i9 9900KS and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Windows 11 dedicated to real-time professional audio

[alfsan]

Hi there, for years now I have owned the Octane VI laptop specified in the subject of this thread of mine.
I have to say after years of use that I am not at all satisfied with the overall performance especially in the two key aspects for use in
professional audio both in the production studio and in live performance on stage for which I mainly purchased it.
The key aspects of a machine used for these purposes are.
1. Ability to sustain low latencies using professional sound cards with high CPU utilization load
2. Quietness

I'll start with point 2.
This is by far the noisiest laptop I have ever owned. I have tried various solutions but the GPU and CPU fans make unbearable noise especially if I work on stages with low volumes and acoustic instruments. Can I perhaps attempt to change the thermal paste? Is there a possibility of replacing the fans with compatible, quieter fans?

Point 1. on the other hand seems like an insurmountable bottleneck.
Despite using an RME Babyface PRO FS (i.e. the best the pro audio market has to offer in the field of sound cards for both hardware and driver quality), following the excellent suggestions in this excellent guide ( https://gigperformer.com/docs/ultim...to Optimize your Windows PC for the Stage.pdf )
and then doing tests with LatencyMon ( https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon ) in its free version ( https://www.resplendence.com/download/LatencyMon.exe ) I get results that indicate my system as not suitable for real-time performance. And in fact using different software (Ableton, Bitwig, Max, PD, Supercollider and others) I not infrequently have several glitches working at the latency of 64 or 128 samples at 44.1 kHz sample rate, settings that allow me not to hear latency during performance either playing virtual instruments with different MIDI controllers or processing external audio signals.
LatencyMon gives as the main culprit ACPI.sys which is a driver related to power saving.
Despite the fact that I have disabled all drivers that I do not use, and put the PC in best performance disabling all power saving however this driver spoils the party and makes professional grade performance impossible. Which may force me in a short time to change machine and look for some PC that can sustain the performance levels required professionally in audio.
Can anyone point me to any solutions?
Currently, my BIOS reads as follows.

Intel Core i9-9900KS CPU @ 4.00GHz

ME FW Version : 11.8.65.3590


MB Series : P7xxTM1
BIOS Version : 1.07.25TPCS3
KBC/EC Firmware Revision : 1.07.16

VGA Card : NV GeForce RTX 2060
VBIOS Revision : 90.06.2D.00.C2
VBIOS Build Date : 12/04/18

Is there a newer version of BIOS? How to install it? (On the CLEVO site the information is fragmentary and not very specific and I would not want to do any damage by trying to install the wrong BIOS).
Probably updating the BIOS can improve something?

Many thanks in advance and all the best to everybody

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi there, for years now I have owned the Octane VI laptop specified in the subject of this thread of mine.
I have to say after years of use that I am not at all satisfied with the overall performance especially in the two key aspects for use in
professional audio both in the production studio and in live performance on stage for which I mainly purchased it.
The key aspects of a machine used for these purposes are.
1. Ability to sustain low latencies using professional sound cards with high CPU utilization load
2. Quietness

I'll start with point 2.
This is by far the noisiest laptop I have ever owned. I have tried various solutions but the GPU and CPU fans make unbearable noise especially if I work on stages with low volumes and acoustic instruments. Can I perhaps attempt to change the thermal paste? Is there a possibility of replacing the fans with compatible, quieter fans?

Point 1. on the other hand seems like an insurmountable bottleneck.
Despite using an RME Babyface PRO FS (i.e. the best the pro audio market has to offer in the field of sound cards for both hardware and driver quality), following the excellent suggestions in this excellent guide ( https://gigperformer.com/docs/ultim...to Optimize your Windows PC for the Stage.pdf )
and then doing tests with LatencyMon ( https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon ) in its free version ( https://www.resplendence.com/download/LatencyMon.exe ) I get results that indicate my system as not suitable for real-time performance. And in fact using different software (Ableton, Bitwig, Max, PD, Supercollider and others) I not infrequently have several glitches working at the latency of 64 or 128 samples at 44.1 kHz sample rate, settings that allow me not to hear latency during performance either playing virtual instruments with different MIDI controllers or processing external audio signals.
LatencyMon gives as the main culprit ACPI.sys which is a driver related to power saving.
Despite the fact that I have disabled all drivers that I do not use, and put the PC in best performance disabling all power saving however this driver spoils the party and makes professional grade performance impossible. Which may force me in a short time to change machine and look for some PC that can sustain the performance levels required professionally in audio.
Can anyone point me to any solutions?
Currently, my BIOS reads as follows.

Intel Core i9-9900KS CPU @ 4.00GHz

ME FW Version : 11.8.65.3590


MB Series : P7xxTM1
BIOS Version : 1.07.25TPCS3
KBC/EC Firmware Revision : 1.07.16

VGA Card : NV GeForce RTX 2060
VBIOS Revision : 90.06.2D.00.C2
VBIOS Build Date : 12/04/18

Is there a newer version of BIOS? How to install it? (On the CLEVO site the information is fragmentary and not very specific and I would not want to do any damage by trying to install the wrong BIOS).
Probably updating the BIOS can improve something?

Many thanks in advance and all the best to everybody

Hiya, is this a PCSpecialist system? Could you post your full specs from the order page?

The Octane would not be recommended for audio work at all, it's entirely the wrong device and has several components that aren't designed and will cause complications including noise and heat.

 

[alfsan]

Hi @SpyderTracks , thanks for the infos.
Which laptop would you suggest for audio real-time work?
This is my PCSpecialist system

Chassis and Display

Octane Series: Widescreen LED IPS 60 Hz 72% NTSC matte 4K 15.6" (3840x2160) (No G-Sync)

Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™ i9 processor i9-9900KS 8 cores (4.0 GHz) 16 MB cache

Memory (RAM)

DDR4 SODIMM Corsair 2666 MHz 32 GB (2 of 16 GB)

Graphics card

NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0 GB GDDR6 video RAM - DirectX® 12.1

1o Storage drives

SSD Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" 1 TB, SATA 6 Gb/s (up to 550 MB/sR | 520 MB/sW)

Memory card reader

Integrated 6-in-1 card reader (SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC/RSMMC)

AC adapter

1 AC adapter 330 W

Power cord

1 European 1.5-meter power cord (kettle type)

Battery

Octane Series 8-cell Li-Ion battery (82 WH)

Thermal paste

STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card

Intel 2-channel high definition audio + Jack/microphone/headphones

Wireless network card

GIGABIT LAN AND WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0

USB/Thunderbolt Options

3 USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 USB 2.0 PORT

Keyboard language

ITALIAN OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT KEYBOARD WITH NUMERIC KEYPAD

Operating system

NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Operating system language

Italy/Italy - Italian language

Windows recovery support

NO RESTORE REQUIRED

Office Software

FREE 30-day trial of Microsoft 365® (operating system required)

Antivirus

NO ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE

Browser

Microsoft® Edge

Keyboard and mouse

INTEGRATED 2-BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam

INTEGRATED WEBCAM 2.0 MP FULL HD

 

[SpyderTracks]

The Octane isn't a laptop, it's a DTR (desktop replacement). This means it has desktop CPU in it which take an awful lot more power than a laptop CPU and produces far more heat so needs a much more robust cooling system which means small fans at high rpm = nouse. Also means minimal battery life.

Also for audio, there's no requirement for GPU, just never be used and adds heat, power and noise issues that don't go well with audio applications.

For purely audio work, something like the Lafite Pro or Fusion Studio would be far better.

 

[alfsan]

At the time i bought Octane the usual audio pro strategy was to have discrete GPU to let the CPU free for plugins, daw etc. resources.
In all the audio pro store i see where audio pro laptops are sold all the top range models do have GPU.
Do you think that upgrading my BIOS would have some chances to improve things a little bit in the DPC latency area?
As for the noise could I try to clean the laptop from dust and maybe change the thermal paste and probably buy a good laptop cooler and decrease Octane's internal fans speed?
thanks

 

[SpyderTracks]

At the time i bought Octane the usual audio pro strategy was to have discrete GPU to let the CPU free for plugins, daw etc. resources.
In all the audio pro store i see where audio pro laptops are sold all the top range models do have GPU.
Do you think that upgrading my BIOS would have some chances to improve things a little bit in the DPC latency area?
As for the noise could I try to clean the laptop from dust and maybe change the thermal paste and probably buy a good laptop cooler and decrease Octane's internal fans speed?
thanks

No audio software benefits from hardware acceleration, so dGPU makes absolutely no benefit, it has no use in an audio setup. There are a couple of niche daws that did attempt it for beta testing, but offered no benefit.

Audio related calculations are sequential, but GPU calculations are parallel. So literally makes no benefit, physically won't be used. The latency would be exorbitant, and performance poor.

If dGPU is ever specced on an audio laptop it's because of the physical characteristics of the rest of the laptop, not because of the GPU. A lot of high spec laptops are gaming laptops which all have dGPU's built in, but they're useless for audio, on any audio laptop you'd disable the dGPU.

Do you think that upgrading my BIOS would have some chances to improve things a little bit in the DPC latency area?

BIOS has no relation to DPC, it's down to the physical electrical parameters of the motherboard on the build and the efficiency of the related drivers.

As for the noise could I try to clean the laptop from dust and maybe change the thermal paste and probably buy a good laptop cooler and decrease Octane's internal fans speed?

As said, it's the fact it's a desktop processor and dGPU pushing temps extremely high thereby needing a far more robust cooling solution.

If you want to keep it, then it needs servicing once a year to maintain temps, but it will never be quiet, it's not designed that way at all, it's about power above everything else including noise, battery and weight.

 

[alfsan]

So you would suggest me to just disable the GPU and see what happens?
Will the i9 9900KS do all the graphic calcs?

and.... https://www.gpu.audio/ ;-)
yeah it's just in an early stage but at least for mixing studio situation seems promising

 

[SpyderTracks]

So you would suggest me to just disable the GPU and see what happens?
Will the i9 9900KS do all the graphic calcs?

It should without a doubt be disabled, that's a given for any audio use, you would never use a dGPU.

DAWS don't have 3d graphics, so they don't require the power of a dGPU, no benefit. All the normal graphics of displaying the standard window is done through the iGPU. You don't need any power for that.

So you would never spec a gaming laptop for Audio work, you'd always spec one with an iGPU only as they're lower power requirements, lower temps, lower noise and higher battery life.

 

[Scott]

I would be cautious with disabling the dGPU of the Octane. I know that mine couldn't use the on-board graphics from the processor as the chipset didn't allow it.

If you can use either the onboard graphics or the dGPU in the Nvidia settings then you should be good to disable it

For the latency. Have you enabled maximum performance in all the options in the advanced power settings within windows? Specifically PCie & USB options?