My Integrated Realtek Audio HD was Toast. Will Buying an External USB Sound Card Fix This Problem?

HEISENBLUEMETH

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Hello guys.

I'm running Toshiba P75 laptop with i5-2430M 2.4 GHz and Intel HD 3000, and i have an extremely aggravating issue with its integrated sound card (Realtek Audio HD).

It seems all the game i played would stutter severely when they first time load its sound. For example, when i played Minecraft, the very first step i took will render the game freeze 1-2 second because of the footstep sound. Same goes with breaking objects/hearing animals chirping. This make the game very unplayable. However, after the lag is passed, it wont lag again to some extent. This not only happen in Minecraft. Even in 2D games like Baldur's Gate it will lag the game severely at some cinematics until the point that the cinematic is really not enjoyable.

When i disabled the Realtek Audio from device manager, the lag went away, completely.

The stutter is severe enough to make me conduct a 9 month of painstaking research to fix this problem. Believe me, i already tried almost all the fix that the internet has to offer, but none has fix this issue. All the advice on registry (network throttling), drivers, windows repair, setting sound quality as lowest as possible, etc, doesn't seem to fix this problem. I'd also tried re-installed my Windows 4 times to see the issue persist.

I understand that integrated sound card don't have its own processing power, so it will use the computer's CPU to process the sound. That is why, i believe that the only fix for this is to get a dedicated sound card (This is also the very popular suggestion that people on the internet gives regarding this problem). It seems my weak 2430M CPU cant handle the sound processing very well, or maybe because my sound card is a toast. Either way, i don't see any way the problem can occur by its software. It must be the hardware that is faulty.

So, i thought i might as well ask some expert fellas here.before i give up and spend my part-time job salary to buy a new laptop. To sum this up, there is 3 question that i want to ask:

1. Is an external sound card have its own processor?
2. Will buying external sound card fix my laptop problem?
3. If yes, what is some simple and affordable USB sound card that you guys suggest for me? (in a college student budget)

Thanks. I really looking forward your your answers. For those who are willing to help me with this, hope i can give u more than a gratitude for helping a desperate student trying to end his suffering of 9 months.
 
Solution
Ah well that is unfortunate.

Well then you can try with a USB but the results are sketchy and you don't really know what will happen. You can get a cheap one for about $3 which will work for sound, and it might remove the problem cause the sound card shouldn't ever use that much performance. However, it may not work.

You can go for an expensive one but there is no guarantee it has a DSP inside.
Hello, well you are right when you say that you use the CPU to actually do the hardest work of your audio, while the "sound card" in most cases is just a DAC pretty much which takes the digital signal from the CPU that is sound information and creates an analog electrical wave-length which can be used to power speakers and send out the audio.

However, most of the time, almost always, sound cards don't have the elements to process the data themselves and the USB ones are pretty much going to be DACs also and not really anything else. Some might have it but they are going to be expensive and few and far between.

Sorry just now saw you said you tried reinstalling Windows. Are you sure you already have the most up to date driver? Also forgot to mention that typically sound only uses a very small amount of performance, like less than 5% usually so your CPU should be fine to do it.
 

HEISENBLUEMETH

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Feb 22, 2014
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Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, at first i also thought the problem is in the software. But as i mentioned above, i have tried re-installed driver and windows. However, still no luck.

So, buying an external sound card won't fix it? Very well then..
 
Well yea but what driver version are you using? It could be that if a more up-to-date driver is available that could fix the problem, or the newest driver if that is what you have could be buggy and using an older driver might fix the problem.

There are some external sound cards that will, but I don't want to tell you to buy a $70 piece before considering all the alternatives that could save you money first.
 

HEISENBLUEMETH

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Feb 22, 2014
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Currently i'm using the newest one (21 June 2014). Maybe i will try the older version first, but the problem is i can't find it in its download page. The oldest one is also 2014, which i have tried also.

I guess i'm better off spending $70 than $400 for a new laptop. But well, i'll try to find the older drivers first.
 

HEISENBLUEMETH

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Feb 22, 2014
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Still no luck. I tested on 2011, 2012, and 2013 drivers and its all the same.
 
Ah well that is unfortunate.

Well then you can try with a USB but the results are sketchy and you don't really know what will happen. You can get a cheap one for about $3 which will work for sound, and it might remove the problem cause the sound card shouldn't ever use that much performance. However, it may not work.

You can go for an expensive one but there is no guarantee it has a DSP inside.
 
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HEISENBLUEMETH

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Feb 22, 2014
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Allright. Thanks! Will go shopping soon