Audio Drop Outs and CPU Load (possible bug)

I have a particular project template, where I have serious problems with audio drop outs due to high CPU load. While the project only uses about 20% of total CPU power, the first thread (out of 12) in the Performance module is often going into the red area and then sometimes stops the audio engine. With load balancing activated, the first thread goes down close to zero, but the drop outs happen nonetheless. For whatever reason, the problem is only with that particular project, while other projects don't cause drop outs, even when they have much higher total CPU load.

I can fix the problem by changing the power plan settings. By setting the minimum CPU limit to 100% instead of 5%, the first thread drops to about 60% (without load balancing) and the drop outs no longer happen (with or without balancing).

However, I wonder about three things:
1. Why are there drop outs for that particular project, but not for others with even higher CPU load?
2. Why doesn't load balancing help to avoid the drop outs? According to Performance module, no single thread is overly loaded, but nonetheless the audio engine stops. Could this be a bug that Sonar detects possible overload without considering if load balancing is active?
3. Why is Sonar not able to ensure that the CPU provides enough power, if it is there in principle, but reduced by power management?

Thanks for your help.

Using ThreadSchedulingModel 2 gives a better distribution between threads in Performance module when balancing is off (looks similar to balancing on then), but doesn't prevent the drop outs.

I tried to disable each single instrument plugin (and several effects), none of it made a change. There is one Kontakt instance with 2 instruments, in other projects I have several Kontakt instances with up to 4 instruments.

The odd thing is that I have drop outs due to CPU load, but all threads in Permformance module are below 50%.

I tried all those suggestions. But the problem is definitely CPU load, and this is not addressed. My main concern is that I get drop outs from CPU load, but neither CPU total nor single threads seem to be overloaded. Hence, I wonder if there is something wrong with load balancing.

Admittedly, optimizing Windows for high performance is much recommended when running a DAW. I mainly wondered why I never had any problems like this before, and why load balancing didn't help, when without load balancing, the problem was obviously caused by the first thread going into red (approaching 100% load).

I guess it's the combination of VST-plugins. If I disable enough plugins, the load is low enough to prevent drop outs. But no particular plugin seems to be the one that makes the difference.
 
I think I will have to live with changing the power settings when working with that particular project. (I don't want to have them permanently high.)

Also try turning off load balancing. It's not always needed; refer to the documentation about when using it indicated and when it's not.

bitflipper: Thanks for the link, this tool looks just like what I need for power management.
Anderton: Without load balancing, the first thread goes into red and then I have drop outs. With balancing, all threads stay rather low, but the drop outs happen nonetheless. So, at least it looks better with balancing ;)
35mm: On my last computer, I also had the problem of pops and clicks when CPU load became too high. If all threads go high, you probably have to reduce the number of effects. Or find plugins with high CPU load and replace them by similar with less power consumption.

The overall CPU load of the project is 20%, so it's far from a general overload. I have drop outs with and without load balancing. Without balancing, the first thread in the Performance module sometimes goes to red indicating an overload. With balancing, all threads stay nicely below 50%. Hence, my main concern is, why load ballancing doesn't help against the drop outs.
 
My audio buffer is at maximum of 10ms, it's not possible to increase it further in ASIO mode. In other modes, I have to increase it way beyond 50ms, which is impractical to work with.
 
As I mentioned, the problem is caused by the overall plugin load, so yes, turning off all FX reduces the load enough to prevent drop outs. Even turning off rather few plugins helps to keep the load below the critical point.
 
The main problem with the project seems to be that it requires CPU power in an irregular (meaning not enough constant) manner. So, power management reduces CPU frequency and can't catch up quick enough, when more power is needed. Hence, increasing minimum CPU frequency solves the problem.

ralf
I guess it's the combination of VST-plugins. If I disable enough plugins, the load is low enough to prevent drop outs. But no particular plugin seems to be the one that makes the difference....

Any linear-phase plugins? 
 
Also, disable 64-bit double precision if enabled.