Bad audio, high DPC latency from dxgkrnl.sys

Hi Cherrelyn,

Thanks for all your help. Someone at Intel is taking a look at the problem.

Can we keep this issue open until a solution is found? That way I can post it here for future people with the same issue to find.

Am I able to leave you a review? You have been a great help so far.

Thanks,

Pepijn

Hello again Cherrelyn,

I have just finished testing on Windows 10. The same exact issue happens there too.

I let windows install all updates except the arc drivers and installed the motherboard drivers. Installed steam, Arma 3 and LatencyMon. No issues with DPC or audio yet. I then installed the Arc driver, and immediately it shows high DPC latency again.

I'm unable to open a report with Intel because when I try to create an account, the webpage doesn't load in any browsers I tried. I will keep trying and opened a thread on their Discord for now. ( https://discord.com/channels/554824368740630529/1388079066141429850 )

I have tried a few different older Arc drivers, all with the same outcome, but I do not remember which ones I actually tried. If you have any suggestions on which ones to try I will.

Below is another LatencyMon log from clean Windows 10 install WITH arc driver installed:

Thanks again,

Pepijn

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for  0:02:38  (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name:                                        DESKTOP-IUKBC6Q
OS version:                                           Windows 10, 10.0, version 2009, build: 19045 (x64)
Hardware:                                             A620M GAMING X, Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
BIOS:                                                 FB5
CPU:                                                  AuthenticAMD AMD Ryzen 5 7600 6-Core Processor
Logical processors:                                   12
Processor groups:                                     1
Processor group size:                                 12
RAM:                                                  31861 MB total

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed (WMI):                             3801 MHz
Reported CPU speed (registry):                        3793 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   13457,60
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   186,957866

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       13455,60
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       183,901555

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs):              87,250725
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time:       HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%):          0,003846
Driver with highest ISR total time:                   HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%)                          0,004298

ISR count (execution time <250 µs):                   28314
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs):               0
ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs):              0
ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs):              0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs):              12685,968890
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time:       dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%):          0,150722
Driver with highest DPC total execution time:         dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%)                          0,162635

DPC count (execution time <250 µs):                   195356
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs):              1245
DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs):              199
DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs):              173
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 51

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count:                 arma3_x64.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults                       1501
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process:          722
Number of processes hit:                              25

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       33,317363
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs):                14,867387
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,016389
CPU 0 ISR count:                                      7424
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs):                12685,968890
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s):                   3,000268
CPU 0 DPC count:                                      161912
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,671935
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs):                87,250725
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,057141
CPU 1 ISR count:                                      11329
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs):                38,240443
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,026701
CPU 1 DPC count:                                      7125
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,483018
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs):                14,406538
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,004341
CPU 2 ISR count:                                      1721
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs):                37,078302
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,007141
CPU 2 DPC count:                                      2717
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,434336
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs):                3,526496
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000147
CPU 3 ISR count:                                      247
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs):                21,289217
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,001515
CPU 3 DPC count:                                      660
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,518140
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs):                2,644872
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000521
CPU 4 ISR count:                                      846
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs):                148,954390
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,013170
CPU 4 DPC count:                                      5485
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,956533
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs):                1,993673
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000232
CPU 5 ISR count:                                      360
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs):                29,173741
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,020741
CPU 5 DPC count:                                      11781
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,535228
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs):                1,913525
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000147
CPU 6 ISR count:                                      228
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs):                33,221197
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,004875
CPU 6 DPC count:                                      1806
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,273793
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs):                1,703137
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000010
CPU 7 ISR count:                                      14
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs):                11,911943
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,000137
CPU 7 DPC count:                                      80
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 8 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,530695
CPU 8 ISR highest execution time (µs):                4,107567
CPU 8 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,001092
CPU 8 ISR count:                                      2275
CPU 8 DPC highest execution time (µs):                19,866596
CPU 8 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,003112
CPU 8 DPC count:                                      1180
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 9 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,277924
CPU 9 ISR highest execution time (µs):                1,402584
CPU 9 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000514
CPU 9 ISR count:                                      1211
CPU 9 DPC highest execution time (µs):                14,216188
CPU 9 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,000541
CPU 9 DPC count:                                      231
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 10 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,307468
CPU 10 ISR highest execution time (µs):                2,815186
CPU 10 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000755
CPU 10 ISR count:                                      1515
CPU 10 DPC highest execution time (µs):                33,882415
CPU 10 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,011011
CPU 10 DPC count:                                      2838
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 11 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0,439872
CPU 11 ISR highest execution time (µs):                1,472713
CPU 11 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,000498
CPU 11 ISR count:                                      1144
CPU 11 DPC highest execution time (µs):                303,34880
CPU 11 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,005628
CPU 11 DPC count:                                      1209
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hi again,

Thank you so much for the detailed follow-up you’ve done an outstanding job gathering evidence and methodically narrowing down the root cause. You're absolutely right: this strongly reinforces that the Intel Arc GPU driver is the bottleneck, especially since LatencyMon showed clean results before reinstalling the driver.

What We Know So Far:

-No GPU drivers = clean audio

-After installing Arc driver = high DPC latency and audio issues return

-Your testing method (isolating GPU, using generic drivers, comparing LatencyMon reports) is rock-solid and confirms this isn’t RAM, BIOS, or power-related anymore.

Next Best Steps

1. Proceed with Windows 10 Test

You’re on the right track many Arc users report dramatically better latency performance on Windows 10. Install it on a spare drive or partition just to compare. This could confirm it’s a Windows 11 + Arc driver combination issue.

2.2. Intel Bug Report Submission

-Now is the ideal time to report everything directly to Intel:

-Use this link: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support...

-Include:

Screenshots of LatencyMon before and after Arc driver

Hardware specs

Link to Arma 3 as reproducible test case

Mention this is reproducible on a fresh install of Windows 11

3. Optional: Try a Slightly Older Arc Driver

Sometimes older builds (like v31.x or early v30.x series) don’t include newer regressions. Let me know your exact driver version and I can help identify safer legacy builds to test.

You’ve really done textbook-level diagnostics here Intel should take this seriously with the logs and clean reproduction you've done.

With you till it’s fixed,

Warmly,

Cherrelyn

Hello Cherrelyn,

Thank you for your response.

Before I get to your suggestions, I also tried a few other things brought to my attention from others.

-I ran MemTest86, which reported 0 errors.

-My bios version (FB5a) was no longer available from my motherboard's support page, which I found strange since I only got it a few days ago. I flashed my motherboard with the latest version that was available(FB5), hoping it was some kind of bios problem. It did not fix my problem however.

I have so far tried your first two suggestions. I will start with a windows 10 install and a report to intel after I post this.

1. Using the generic Microsoft driver did not fix the problem.
2. I uninstalled the ARC drivers using DDU in safe mode. Before installing the new driver I thought I'd check if the problem was there without the ARC driver. I booted up Arma 3, and beside the obviously terrible frame rate and graphics, the sound was great, at least for the short time I tried. Checking with LatencyMon confirmed the latency was much lower without the driver installed. I will paste the log of that at the end.
   I then reinstalled the ARC drivers without the support assistant, which is what i think you meant? (I downloaded this one I believe to be the correct one: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/785597/intel-arc-iris-xe-graphics-windows.html)

I did a custom install but could not see an option for Arc Control:

I installed it with these option, restarted my PC, and checked with Arma and LatencyMon. The problem had immediately returned.

This does lead me to believe that you are right that there is a problem with the intel driver? I will start on a report to intel and get windows 10 installed to see if the problem persists there. Following is the LatencyMon log ran BEFORE installing the Arc driver in case you find it useful:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be suitable for handling real-time audio and other tasks without dropouts.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:02:21 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: DESKTOP-SN6F7J9
OS version: Windows 11, 10.0, version 2009, build: 26100 (x64)
Hardware: A620M GAMING X, Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
BIOS: FB5
CPU: AuthenticAMD AMD Ryzen 5 7600 6-Core Processor
Logical processors: 12
Processor groups: 1
Processor group size: 12
RAM: 31861 MB total

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed (WMI): 3801 MHz
Reported CPU speed (registry): 3793 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 324,60
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 6,726224

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 285,70
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 0,980787

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 239,390983
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0,010489
Driver with highest ISR total time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0,012644

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 47747
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 468,182441
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0,009738
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0,035837

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 176532
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs): 3
DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: arma3_x64.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 2230
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 1442
Number of processes hit: 17

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1,880573
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 239,390983
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0,214809
CPU 0 ISR count: 47747
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 468,182441
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 0,419706
CPU 0 DPC count: 109485
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,574434
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 37,418930
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0,008952
CPU 1 DPC count: 2813
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,635614
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 45,453731
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0,010567
CPU 2 DPC count: 8149
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,939961
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 211,128922
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0,044630
CPU 3 DPC count: 13323
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,953383
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 198,876351
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0,020580
CPU 4 DPC count: 8221
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,949671
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 238,138677
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0,062777
CPU 5 DPC count: 21656
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,521921
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 181,243870
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0,005455
CPU 6 DPC count: 2600
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,608739
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 211,820195
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0,023906
CPU 7 DPC count: 7460
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 8 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,418411
CPU 8 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 8 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 8 ISR count: 0
CPU 8 DPC highest execution time (µs): 222,099130
CPU 8 DPC total execution time (s): 0,002319
CPU 8 DPC count: 562
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 9 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,405587
CPU 9 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 9 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 9 ISR count: 0
CPU 9 DPC highest execution time (µs): 183,147377
CPU 9 DPC total execution time (s): 0,006126
CPU 9 DPC count: 1471
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 10 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,265839
CPU 10 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 10 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 10 ISR count: 0
CPU 10 DPC highest execution time (µs): 201,861851
CPU 10 DPC total execution time (s): 0,001204
CPU 10 DPC count: 274
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 11 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,267556
CPU 11 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 11 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 11 ISR count: 0
CPU 11 DPC highest execution time (µs): 198,675982
CPU 11 DPC total execution time (s): 0,002622
CPU 11 DPC count: 521
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hi, I’m Cherrelyn, an Independent Advisor. I truly appreciate the time and detail you’ve put into your post you’ve done an incredible job troubleshooting this.

Given everything you’ve tried, the consistent DPC issues from dxgkrnl.sys (DirectX) and high ISR from Wdf01000.sys strongly suggest a deep compatibility or driver-level conflict, likely between your Intel Arc GPU, AMD chipset, and Windows 11. These issues often occur with newer hardware and less mature drivers.

Here’s what I suggest next, short and focused:

1.Test with Microsoft’s Generic Audio Driver

-Right-click Start > Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers

-Right-click your audio device > Update driver > Browse > Let me pick

-Choose “High Definition Audio Device” (Microsoft’s default), then test.

2.Reinstall Arc GPU Drivers without Control Center

-Use DDU again in Safe Mode

-Reinstall latest Arc driver only the driver (custom install, uncheck Arc Control)

3.Switch to Windows 10 Temporarily (Optional but Insightful)

-Many Intel Arc users report fewer issues on Windows 10; a quick install on another drive can help isolate OS-level compatibility.

4.Report to Intel

-File a report via Intel Arc Control or Intel Support

Your case is well-documented and valuable for driver fixes.

If nothing else helps, I’ll stay with you through advanced steps like driver verifier or latency tracing with WPA.

Keep me posted I'm here to help until it's solved.

Warm regards,

Cherrelyn