Thank you very much for this thread! It was very informative.
So I did download the LatencyMon app and it turns out that it's an ACPI.sys driver for NT that is responsible of those dropouts.
I have searched everywhere for a solution, but it seems to be a typical Dell laptops problem.
Have no idea what to do.
PS. Here are some latencymon information.
I would be very grateful if someone could interpret at least those measured interrupts to process latency. Are they ok for my system?
CONCLUSION
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Your system seems to be having difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. 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 0:05:04 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.
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SYSTEM INFORMATION
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Computer name: DESKTOP-1KOFOMG
OS version: Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 19041 (x64)
Hardware: Inspiron 7577, Dell Inc., 0XCNGT
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 16249 MB total
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CPU SPEED
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Reported CPU speed: 2808 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.
WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.
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MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
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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): 712,30
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 5,437649
Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 709,50
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 2,936214
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REPORTED ISRs
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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): 106,878917
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation
Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0,000149
Driver with highest ISR total time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation
Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0,00020
ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 273
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0
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REPORTED DPCs
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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): 1570,163818
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation
Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0,001050
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation
Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0,006223
DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 47350
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 10
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 4
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0
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REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
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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: svchost.exe
Total number of hard pagefaults 26
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 19
Number of processes hit: 5
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PER CPU DATA
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CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1,232986
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 106,878917
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0,004862
CPU 0 ISR count: 273
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1570,163818
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 0,098933
CPU 0 DPC count: 31481
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CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,166052
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): 89,664530
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0,001378
CPU 1 DPC count: 170
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CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,373005
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): 673,205484
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0,034594
CPU 2 DPC count: 12052
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CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,392013
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): 54,813034
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0,000703
CPU 3 DPC count: 153
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CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,363206
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): 90,446225
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0,006861
CPU 4 DPC count: 1819
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CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,394271
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): 92,753561
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0,000968
CPU 5 DPC count: 147
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CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,373099
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): 52,145299
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0,006816
CPU 6 DPC count: 1391
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CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,417485
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): 39,372151
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0,001124
CPU 7 DPC count: 151
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