Processor power configuration causing audio to crackle on windows 10

Question

I'm using a Lenovo Legion Y530 with Windows 10 1809 (Intel i5-8300H) and I have noticed for a long time that my sound has a lot of crackling/popping. After weeks investigating it (I'll provide more details at the end of the post for those interested) I found out that one setting in power plan configurations is responsible for this. If i set "Processor performance boost policy" on power plan options to 0%, there is no crackling. If I set it to 100%, there is a popping on average every 3 seconds, which makes it unbearable to work while listening to music. This is not a hardware problem, it is exclusively linked to this setting. I have tried to update/downgrade every driver possible, but the problem persists.

I really would like to be able to use my computer at full speed while listen to music, but this is making it impossible to do so, specially with headphones.

Does anyone have any idea on how to solve it?

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For those who might be interested, this is the debug i did to get to the root of this problem:

First I tried using a headphone to check if the problem was with the speakers. The crackling also happened while using phones.

Then I booted on ubuntu using a flash drive and noticed that there were no problems there, so it probably was something related to software.

Then I realized that when switching between power plans (Energy saving - Maximum Performance) the problem could be solved (on energy saving). I also noted that it didn't matter if it was connected to the battery or the AC, so it was not a problem with the charger.

I exported all hidden configurations from both plans using the method described here. Then I imported it into an excel to check what were the different configurations between both plans. I unhid the hidden settings using the method described here. I changed one by one and played a 100hz video to easily spot the crackles. Nothing changed until i modified the "Processor performance boost policy". I also noticed that by changing the "Processor energy performance preference policy" also caused the audio to crackle, but in a much smaller scale (around an average of a crackle every 15 seconds, compare to the 3 seconds average of the performance boost policy).

Being so, it seems undeniable that the processor energy configuration is the one responsible for the crackling.

Answer 1

Method 1: “Changing Minimum Processor State” Processor state may be the reason for the audio output error in Windows 10. “Integrated power saving protocol” facility is available in Windows 10 which minimizes the usage of your processor to increase your battery life. But it affects your audio quality badly. If you set the minimum processor state to 100% then it will fix the audio error issue in Windows 10.

For this, you have to follow the following steps-

Press Windows button along with S which brings your start menu’s search bar. In that search bar type “Power and Sleep” in that box and select the first box. In “power and sleep setting”menu select “Advanced power settings” option which is present at the right side of the screen. You will able to see different power plans available for your computer. Choose any one and then click on “change plan settings.” and after that, you have to click on “Change advanced power settings” which you may find at the bottom of the tab. After that, a small Window will visible to you which consists of different advanced options which you can change. You navigate your cursor on “Processor power management” and click on it. From the subheadings select “Minimum processor state”. In the next step change the value from 5% to 100% in both cases and save the changes.