High CPU Usage Spikes w/ Audio Distortion

katfayegirl

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Ever since I built my computer 2 years ago, it has suffered on and off from this same problem.

When watching youtube, listening to iTunes, or playing a game through Steam sometimes it will begin to lag. The lag seems to come in waves, and causes my mouse and whatever is on my screen to lag. What's odd is that it lags in time with loud audio distortions from my speakers, which sound like 'bzzt' noises. Whenever this happens I check the Windows Task Manager Performance, and the CPU usage spikes in time with the noises.

The error is very jarring and game breaking, and often persists indefinitely. For youtube videos, if this error occurs I usually either have to try and get through the lag, or just give up (usually the latter.) With games, if I set Steam to offline the error still occurs, but much less frequently and is more likely to stop.

The error seems linked with my internet - when the internet seems to be fast this won't happen at all, but when it's slow it happens almost constantly to the point I can't watch videos, play games online (Guild Wars 2 won't connect at all without this problem occurring).

I've checked the power supply (no problem), temperature (doesn't seem to be a problem), the fans are all plugged in, drivers are all installed, antivirus scans (Microsoft Security Essentials numerous times, and sometimes Malwarebytes - both on normal and Safe Mode to no result), defrag, uninstalled many programs, and monitored what programs open at start up.

In the Task Manager the program giving the most CPU usage is whatever program caught the error in the first place - Firefox, in the case of watching youtube or netflix; iTunes, if listening to music started the error; and Steam/game or Guild Wars 2 when a game caused it.

I've been looking around for a solution since I built this computer, any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

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My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Build
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 930 @ 2.80 GHz
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. X58A-UD3R (socket 1366)
Memory
6 GB DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon HD 7900
Hard Drives
932 GB Western Digital WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 ATA Device
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials
Browser
Firefox

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell Optiplex SX270, Lenovo Z470
OS
Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
CPU
Intel® Pentium® 4 @ 2.26 GHz, Intel Core i7-2670QM @ 2.20 GH
Motherboard
Dell, Lenovo
Memory
512MB Dual channel DDR SDRAM @ 400MHz 2.5-3-3-7, 8 GB DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
Intel 82865G, Nvidia GeForce 520M Graphics
Sound Card
SoundMax Integrated Audio, Integrated HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG W1952
Screen Resolution
1440x900, 1366 x 768
Hard Drives
40 GB 2.5" IDE 4200 RPM HDD, 500 GB 5400 RPM Sata 1.5 + 32 GB SSD
PSU
Dell 145 Watt, Lenovo 120 Watt Power Adapter
Case
Optiplex SX270 Small Form Factor, Laptop
Cooling
Dell Proprietary Air Cooling, Stock laptop cooling
Keyboard
Dell SK-8125 USB Keyboard
Mouse
Dell PS/2 2 button ball mouse with wheel scroll
Internet Speed
300 Mbit down / 20 Mbps up Time Warner Cable
Antivirus
MSE, Malwarebytes Scanner
Browser
Internet (Aizawa) Explorer 11
Other Info
Running Windows Server 2012 Datacenter on a virtual machine to run Metro Apps.
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