Helpful ReplyNVIDIA Graphics card question?

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Serious_Noize!
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2016/03/01 17:59:43 (permalink)

NVIDIA Graphics card question?

     I am betting the answer is going to be "Shouldn't be a problem", but I thought I would ask anyway for those in the know where technical problems go. 
 
So I got a new PC a couple months ago, it's a Dell XPS 8700 i7 4th Generation PC with 8 GB's ram, I upgraded it to 16GB's ram. 
 
Anyway, It come with a Nvidia Video card, Geforce GT 720. The PC itself comes with what sounds like some pretty good Intel Graphics built in without the Nvidia card, or all I really need. 
 
First off, I use a Toneport KB37 to record with 1 instrument at a time, I had a problem with static and pops and clicks and realized that my problem "I thought" was using an extra long USB cable "One that did not come with my KB37, and in fact it was like 10 feet longer" so I figured there was a voltage drop because the KB37 is powered via the USB port, I thought that fixed the problem, seemed to at the time, but now every now and then I am still having the problem of a frying sound with my audio. So I disabled the Nvidia Sound drivers, and the onboard sound drivers and anything but my KB37 sound drivers. 
 
What I am wondering is, since I don't play games on my PC, I am starting to wonder if this NVidia Video card that come with my system is taxing my system more than it is helping it for audio recording? 
 
I have this problem recording "1 TRACK ALONE" and nothing else. It's not all the time, just some of the time. I thought it might be an electric problem EMF's or something like that so I got a power strip bar that is supposed to be industrial and block it, but that didn't seem to help. 
 
Hardware for PC's is not my area, Software I can do, but I have been wondering if this might possibly be the case?
 
I hope I explained what's going on correctly, just thought I would ask. I really hate to start removing things from my PC just to find out if something might be the possible source of my problems. 
 
Reason I am asking is, I am wondering if anyone else has thought of Video cards taxing the system when they aren't really needed and such things. I hope I explained this right.. 
 
Thanks for any replies. 
post edited by Serious_Noize! - 2016/03/01 18:21:59
#1
Sycraft
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/01 18:40:56 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby Serious_Noize! 2016/03/02 08:47:28
That's a pretty worthless card actually. When they get that low end, they get in the realm of being weaker than the integrated graphics.
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Serious_Noize!
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/01 18:46:11 (permalink)
Sycraft
That's a pretty worthless card actually. When they get that low end, they get in the realm of being weaker than the integrated graphics.




My Question was, and sorry I should have stated it better, my fault. Could that Graphics card be a possible cause of my random frying the egg or pops and click sounds when recording? 
#3
mettelus
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/01 18:58:44 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby Serious_Noize! 2016/03/02 08:48:19
Nvidia also has this habit of loading drivers/fluff for things you do not need or use. The only two components you will need (even gaming) is the "Graphics Driver" and "PhysX System Software"
 
You can uninstall the other components via uninstalls or (easier method) to re-install them using a "Custom Installation," checking only the two items mentioned above, and clicking the "Preform a clean installation" at the bottom of that screen.
 
The above aside, you probably have other drivers/services causing the pops/clicks. You may want to run "Resplendence Latency Monitor" (download on the left edge of that screen) to check things specifically.
 
Some common ones hitting the system (apart from buffers) are all daisy-linked in this thread. I really need to consolidate all those posts to my own page when I remember to do it (on the schedule to 2020 right now )

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kitekrazy1
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/01 23:05:49 (permalink)
Replace the Toneport.

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#5
ston
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/02 04:30:44 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby Serious_Noize! 2016/03/02 08:48:25
It's highly unlikely that the gfx card will be causing any problems, but it really isn't very good so remove it, uninstall its drivers and the Nvidia software, and see if that makes any difference (it almost certainly won't).
 
Did the Dell come with a whole bunch of bundled software (guff)?  If so, I would systematically start removing all that, and I would hazzard a guess that you've got a trial period of the McAfee A/V installed, so definitely blow that away, or ensure that there's no AV software running and see how the machine behaves then.
 
I don't know anything about the Toneport in particular, but I do know that I don't particularly trust Line6's products.  Do you know anybody who has a different audio interface that you can try?  What else do you have connected to your computer, e.g. do you use a lot of USB peripherals?  Also, what are the buffer sizes configured as for the Toneport, and are you using the ASIO driver with it?
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Serious_Noize!
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/02 08:47:53 (permalink)
ston
It's highly unlikely that the gfx card will be causing any problems, but it really isn't very good so remove it, uninstall its drivers and the Nvidia software, and see if that makes any difference (it almost certainly won't).
 
Did the Dell come with a whole bunch of bundled software (guff)?  If so, I would systematically start removing all that, and I would hazzard a guess that you've got a trial period of the McAfee A/V installed, so definitely blow that away, or ensure that there's no AV software running and see how the machine behaves then.
 
I don't know anything about the Toneport in particular, but I do know that I don't particularly trust Line6's products.  Do you know anybody who has a different audio interface that you can try?  What else do you have connected to your computer, e.g. do you use a lot of USB peripherals?  Also, what are the buffer sizes configured as for the Toneport, and are you using the ASIO driver with it?




Thanks for the information everyone. 
 
The Dell only had Cyberlink's Media suite and McAfee as extras, I don't use them so I removed them. It did come with Windows 10 and at this point I'm kinda stuck with it, I even did a fresh install using the latest Windows 10 .iso from Microsoft that left me with a Windows 10 only installation, no extras. 
 
I'm starting to wonder since I am using the 64Bit version of MC7, and I should have mentioned that to begin with. But I also use Pod Farm 1 to record pretty much everything with, it's a 32bit VST so I am wondering if that could be the root of my entire problem.  I just wonder how much I would be losing uninstalling MC7 64bit and installing the 32bit version to see if that solves the problem. I think I will do that later today. 
 
Thanks again.
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robbyk
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/02 11:02:07 (permalink)
I would stay with 64 bit and upgrade to podfarm 2. I've been using a simple TonePort for years with no issues and really like it. I have a number of add on packs. I also have a focusrite Scarlett 2i4 as a backup but mostly use the toneport for guitar these days.

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#8
Metaphasic
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/02 11:37:52 (permalink)
I agree with the above. The graphics card is pretty low end, but shouldn't be a problem overall. The extra drivers that load with it though may possibly be a problem, though I doubt even that unless you have limited RAM.

I use a low end M-Audio interface myself and have never had problems with it. But I do remember clicks and pops early on when my ASIO settings were wrong. Try looking into that as well as maybe a better interface.
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tlw
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/02 13:09:14 (permalink)
Craig Anderton posted on the Sonar forum a while ago that he'd found going into Windows device manager and disabling any HDMI audio drivers present fixed some problems for him.

Graphic card drivers usually include an HDMI audio driver so the card can send audio to the monitor if you're using one with speakers or using a TV as a monitor. The HDMI drivers are not used for any other purpose.

The USB specification for cable length says 15 feet/5metres is the maximum reliable length (unless joining cables with powered hubs).

One downside with removing the gpu card is that the Intel graphics use system RAM as their video memory so you'll effectively lose some RAM if you go down that route. Though it's probably not an issue unless your system already tends to be short of RAM.

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...wicked
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/08 10:42:32 (permalink)
The short answer is "yes, it could be." But you won't know until you swap something out and confirm or deny.
 
I swapped out what I thought was a capable video card once and I immediately got huge improvements in all areas. Including pops and clicks that disappeared. So your hunch is viable, but you'll have to confirm it.

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TheMaartian
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/08 11:41:48 (permalink)
I've been getting the occasional BSOD on Win10 with the KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE error. Bad driver, most likely. I've also been getting the occasional (graphics) driver failure notification, followed by a notification the Win10 had been able to correct the problem.
 
My video card is the original AMD Radeon HD 7500 that came with the early (2012) Dell XPS 8500 PCs. I've been updating the driver with each new beta release, but that hasn't helped so far.
 
This thread is motivating me to replace it. Amazon currently has a rebate for Gigabyte nVidia graphics cards ($10 for cheapies; $20 for more expensive ones).
 
They have the nVidia GTX Windforce 750 Ti with 4 GB of 5GDDR RAM for $153, with a $20 rebate through the end of March. The 2 GB version is $20 cheaper, but I'll take an extra 2 GB for $20 (covered by the rebate).
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013WAL3AU/
 
I've gotten 4 years out of the AMD adapter. Not bad. Time to move on.
 
Same thing happened with my previous PC. The video adapter lasted for several years and had to be replaced. I actually burned up the original playing Bejeweled Twist. Ha ha ha!
post edited by TheMaartian - 2016/03/08 12:03:43

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#12
Serious_Noize!
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Re: NVIDIA Graphics card question? 2016/03/16 10:39:17 (permalink)
Thanks to everyone for the information and advice. I found a solution to my problem today, not sure which one it was though or maybe all of the suggestions in this tutorial I found. I did everything in this video that's recommended EXCEPT I didn't turn off any of the services and left on my Windows Firewall and Defender because I occasionally go online with this PC. I'm thinking it was the core parking, not sure though, I'm no expert. 
 
This tutorial solved all of my audio recording problems. Just thought I would mention it for anyone who might find it helpful. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwLzg0GJhoA
 
 
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