JC Audiophile optimization on win7, 2012, and R2.

[jesuscheung]

----TWEAK 16----
example: ram rated at 9-9-9-24-2

given timng a-b-b-d,

choosing a correct timing d,

1. if your machine is multi-purpose, browse, gaming, downloading, then i recommend
d=b*2-X
where
X=4 if b=13, b=12
X=3 if b is 12 to 9
X=2 or 1 if b=8
X=1 if b is 4 to 7
e.g. 12-12-12 should use 12*2-3=21. answer = 12-12-12-21


2. if you machine is music only, you can try something complicated (requires math skills)
say you like 2200Mhz, you also like 12-12-12
2200, 12+12+12+33-2 is mathetically amazing because:

12+12+12+33+2=71 memory cycles
2200/71 = 30.98. not only 71cycles fit tightly within 2200Mhz, d=33=12*3-3 meaning X is 3 as required.

if you manage to find a timing divide to an exact number, then it is usually no good. too intense SQ. for example 31 is no good. 30.98 is good.

good luck data mining the best SQ.

[jesuscheung]

updated bios tweak 11
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2456&start=50
UPDATED:
extreme -> t.probe
extreme(full phase control) -> medium.
*cure the dryness, adds a layer of richness.
*previous settings seem more revealing. but treble easy to go wrong. as my OS gets more well-tuned, the problem gets more obvious.

[jesuscheung]

----TWEAK 17----
only for well-tuned OS + music only

go to bios, disable
Adjacent Cache Line Prefetch

if you start to browse, have many processes running, then SQ shall start to drop. for example, moving your mouse is bad (not that bad).

expect to lose some air for higher density vibration.

i only do it in the weekend.

basically, intel's hardware prefetch has negative effect on audio processing according to my ears. major cause of bright treble in my case.

i look into it, it appears hardware prefetch is often recommended to be disabled in server environment. saw articles on msdn, oracle, vmware etc. hardware prefetch is known to have bad prediction ability/ or accuracy, especially on random activities. maybe that's why.

listening is best measurement.

ALSO NOTE THAT: it needs a good d from timing a-b-c-d-2 for this work at its best.

[jesuscheung]

----TWEAK 18----
usable drivers
*new is not always better

Realtek LAN 8.18.621.2013 (old driver. careful, 50% of realtek LAN driver causes bad SQ)
intel SATA 12.8.6.1000 (latest driver is usually better. 12.8.4x wasn't good. you might prefer 12.8.2 over 12.8.6x)
intel HD graphic 15.33.6.64.3345 (just updated today. seems better than 15.33.6.3325)

for users of intel HD graphic,
-it installs "intell integrated clock controller" service. you may or may not disable it. it affects sound differently. disable it -> free+little harsh/earaches. keep it enabled -> not as free- a little intense. neither is great. your choice.
-disable intel content protection service
-disable intel hotkey

if you don't use USB 3.0. disable it in BIOS
for USB ports you don't use, disable them.
for unused PCIe slots, disable them.
unplug CD drive from your machine. it is useless.

i have third party USB ports and SATAs, namely asmedia. intel ones are better (non share IRQ. check your motherboard manual). i disable the asmedia ones.

less drivers competing for IRQ resources, better for SQ.

[internethandle]

----TWEAK 18----

Realtek LAN 8.18.621.2013 (old driver. careful, 50% of realtek LAN driver causes bad SQ)

In my case (Win 7) the newest driver caused an uptick of 5us DPC Latency - rollingback to the older driver (7.26.902.2010) resolved the issue.

[internethandle]

Here's a tweak, taken from the following thread, but modified as I found some of the entries he recommended deleting would either cause all Playback Devices in Windows to stop working (no audio) or would cause me to lose internet connection. For instance, MMCSS, which is what WASAPI relies upon to work in MQn or any other player, appears to be "hosted" in the "netsvcs" key of Svchost. Here's the thread in question:

http://www.graphixanstuff.com/Forum/ind ... opic=15225

This tweak reduces the footprint of the svchost.exe's that run in the background of Windows, thereby reducing I/O and/or CPU usage and memory usage, benefiting SQ. Please note that I have only tested this on Win 7 (Ultimate 64-bit) and have not done so with Win 8/8.1, but I imagine it may work there too. I advise you to, as you delete entries and keys in the registry under Svchost, to restart after each deletion to see if you lose either audio or internet on your particular machine.

Rather than re-explain what the poster above indicated in terms of what to delete, I'll simply post screenshots of my Svchost registry entry. You should be able to delete every entry under the keys in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Svchost except for the ones I have listed in the screenshots and still maintain internet/audio capability while still reducing the Svchost footprint. To delete entries, right click on each string value, click "Modify", and simply delete the entries in the list except for the ones I have listed in the screenshot. Again, this is what works ON MY MACHINE, I still advise deleting and rebooting slowly to determine if your machine loses some capability mine does not:



Additionally, you may delete the all of the keys listed under Svchost except for the following in the screenshot:

[internethandle]

---TWEAK NUMBER 1---

Here is my first tweak. Only tested in this new 7 so far today.
1. [optional]Uninstall and delete you graphic driver (i have ATI) in device manager.
2. [optional]Now you should be using MS VGA driver.
3. Set resolution to lowest 800x600 and use color depth of 16bits.

I say go farther. Also, no need to delete your graphics driver, simply disable it. I do this both in the registry by stopping the card's services/drivers ("nv_agp," and "nvlddmkm" in my particular case [NVIDIA card]) and disabling the card in Device Manager. When in MS VGA mode, I then go to Control Panel -> Display -> Adjust Resolution -> Advanced Settings -> List All Modes -> and from the drop down list select "640 x 480, 256 colors, Default Refresh" - find this combination gets me the closest to having the monitor turned off/unplugged for SQ, better than 16-bit depth. Ugly as sin though.

Another GPU tweak: make your desktop background simply black, no graphics or anything else - this will reduce your PCIe bus' electrical activity/noise.

----TWEAK NUMBER 10----
1. open "Device Manager"
2. go to "System devices"
3. "View" -> "Show hidden devices"

4. disable the followings:

Composite Bus Enumerator
High Definition Audio Bus (this should be your HDMI audio)
High precision event timer
Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SMBus Host Controller
Intel(R) 82802 Firmware Hub Device
Intel(R) Management Engine Interface
Microsoft System Management BIOS Driver
Microsoft Virtual Drive Enumerator
Motherboard resources (all of them)
Numeric data processor
Programmable interrupt controller
Remote Desktop Device Redirector Bus
System board (all of them)
System timer
UMBus Root Bus Enumerator

Thanks for this, I did not have "Motherboard Resources" disabled yet. Here are ones I have disabled that I did not see on your list, although some of what you have listed here I do not have on my list at all and possibly vice versa due to different mobos, I suspect. Here's things I have disabled I do not see on your list:

File As Volume Driver
Any unused PCI Express Ports (in my case it is "Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 3B42")
Intel(R) 82801 PCI Bridge - 244E (again, may be due to my particular setup, where I am only using one PCIe port for my GPU and no other PCI or PCIe ports)
Plug and Play Software Device Enumerator
System Speaker
Terminal Server Keyboard Driver
Terminal Server Mouse Driver (both my mouse and keyboard are USB)

[jesuscheung]

hi internethandle, very very nice tweak. must try your Svchost tweak!

i see your LocalServiceNetworkRestricted has only
DHCP, AudioSrv

where mind has
DHCP eventlog AudioSrv LmHosts AppIDSvc vmictimesync wcmsvc

did you edit the key as well?? shall try deleting keys first. and after i will edit them like you.

[jesuscheung]

System Speaker
Terminal Server Keyboard Driver
Terminal Server Mouse Driver (both my mouse and keyboard are USB)

yes, on my win7, i also disable the above. thx for adding to the list.

in win7, don't forget you can "Show hidden devices" -> Non-Plug and play Drivers -> disable Beep, RDPCDD... also disable more things if you know what are doing.
(for win8 users, you need to do this through registry)

you can also disable these if you like:
Generic PnP Monitor
HID-compliant * device

[jesuscheung]

hey internethandle,
at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Svchost
LocalService

i see you have deleted FontCache. you need to keep this one. otherwise SQ will decrease. you should keep FontCache service running.