[Andrew S]

Hello

Over this past summer I built myself my very first gaming system, and I absolutely love it. However I have just recently run into a few problems that I hope I could have some help with.

First off, I have JUST installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 x64 on this system. This is ALL the programs and drivers installed at the moment. I can't imagine I have any malfunctioning software or malware.


1. rundll32.exe using cpu 'invisibly'.

If my computer idles with absolutely nothing running the cpu still seems to work rather hard. It hovers around 15-20%, which is a lot given that it is an i-7 2600k. Process explorer, task manager, and my cpu gadget all verify that this is happening, but when I go into procexp and sort by cpu, I estimate only about 2-4% cpu use is listed. System idle is at 96-98%. However, I have pinpointed that this is rundll32's fault, because if I suspend it then the cpu calms down to a nice 1%. While rundll32 is sucking at my performance svchost also seems to be busy doing something, but it stops once I suspend rundll32.

2. Audio device keeps resetting.

I have a Rocketfish Creative sound card (the cheap 5.1 one) and have my Logitech x540 system connected to it in 5.1. However, whenever I restart the computer the default audio device switches to my monitor (Samsung BX2331), even though my monitor doesn't even have speakers. Even it did it wouldn't matter, though, because it is connected by DVI, not HDMI. In addition to that all my settings for the card reset, such as the quality setting, the 5.1 setting, and the CMSS 3D setting. This happens even if I disable the monitor in the playback devices window. I don't remember this being a problem a few months ago...

That is all. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

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For your first problem, I suspect that is just Windows running indexing - which it does when the computer is otherwise idle. And that's fine. Once it is done, it should settle down.

Most motherboards have very good to excellent on-board sound. Do you really need an add-in card?

[Digerati]

For your first problem, I suspect that is just Windows running indexing - which it does when the computer is otherwise idle. And that's fine. Once it is done, it should settle down.

Most motherboards have very good to excellent on-board sound. Do you really need an add-in card?

[Andrew S]

Thanks for the reply,

I totally disabled search indexing (I use Everything instead. Much better.) but it didn't seem to affect the performance very much, EXCEPT: Now the usage is more sporadic instead of uniform. This is how it started acting after disabling indexing:

The high points are about 20% usage.


As for the sound: Yeah I sorta really do =/. Some of my favorite games (Bioshock) do not play well with my onboard sound. And to be honest, it really isn't that great. I noticed a definite rise in quality with my new card and I am a bit of an audiophile.

But even if I did use the onboard sound it would probably still reset to my non-existent monitor speakers. I'll try it out and report, though.

[Digerati]

I totally disabled search indexing (I use Everything instead. Much better.) but it didn't seem to affect the performance very much

There's no reason it would affect performance. Indexing runs in the background when the computer (and you) are otherwise idle.

Did you disable the on-board sound in your BIOS Setup Menu?

and I am a bit of an audiophile.

I am with you on that. My first love, in terms of consumer electronics is audio reproduction - I still have my first set of quality speakers, a pair of AR-3a's.

[Andrew S]

There's no reason it would affect performance. Indexing runs in the background when the computer (and you) are otherwise idle.

I guess I was a little unclear. The cpu usage happens whether the computer is idle or not, and disabling indexing does not lower the idle cpu work-time.

Did you disable the on-board sound in your BIOS Setup Menu?

Yes I did and it seems to have done the trick! I boot up and my speakers are as they were when I shut down. Thanks!

I still have my first set of quality speakers, a pair of AR-3a's.

Oh wow, that is some real classic stuff right there! Unfortunately, being a poor college student I don't have the cash to support a true addiction so all i have is the set of Logitech x540s I mentioned earlier. Not great, but true college material!

[Digerati]

Yes I did and it seems to have done the trick! I boot up and my speakers are as they were when I shut down. Thanks!

Good.

being a poor college student

Been there, done that. As for the 540s, they are some of the best computer speakers out there, IMO. But that said, I would not call any computer speaker system "audiophile quality" - not when the entire system, including the amplifiers, cost a fraction of just one speaker (without amps) in a halfway decent home audio system. But still, when budget and space limit your options, you go with what you can, and I think you did well.

[Andrew S]

Been there, done that. As for the 540s, they are some of the best computer speakers out there, IMO. But that said, I would not call any computer speaker system "audiophile quality" - not when the entire system, including the amplifiers, cost a fraction of just one speaker (without amps) in a halfway decent home audio system. But still, when budget and space limit your options, you go with what you can, and I think you did well.

I definitely am happy with them, especially since I got them used off of a good friend for a great price. But you know what I am REALLY happy with? My Grado sr325. I got those for quite a steal too.

Back on topic: My cpu problem seems to have magically fixed itself! My guess is that the two problems may have been related, but when I disabled the onboard sound I also adjusted a few other things to help bootup faster, so it could have been any of those.

So thank you very much for your help!

[Digerati]

Glad you got it sorted out and thanks for the followup.

As for the headphones, yes, those are really nice. I personally don't really like headphones - I guess I am the paranoid type as I am always thinking I hear something in another room when I have them on!