ASIO overload issue i just cant get my head around

hello my friends

hoping to crack something that has me baffled once and for all

first a bit of build info

running Cubase 10 pro ver10.0.40 build 284

PC - Windows 10 fully updated 64bit
Intel i9-9900k 3.6ghz
64gb Ram

HD - 2 x 2TB SSD
1 with all my projects and samples and audio
1 with windows and all my installs

Soundcard - Lynx Aurora(n) 32 connected via thunderbolt

I currently have a project of medium size, mostly audio with a variety of VST’s as inserts, nothing my previous computer couldnt handle.
I have my buffer set to 512 and im sitting about about 35% cpu load with the real time peaks jumping around at 50%

at buffer 256 its handling, but a slightly more complex project would throw it over the edge, of which i have many

at 128, whihc i believe my system should be more than capable of my cpu it sitting at 55% and it is unworkable

i have ASIO guard turned OFF becasue im not entirely sure what it does, I just setup my digitone to be used in cubase and got a warning that ASIO guard should be turned OFF for it to function properly.

With ASIO guard turned ON this project can get to a buffer of 32 sitting at around 48% cpu, which seems appropriate? but just earlier today i was getting crackling at buffer 256 with ASIO guard turned ON

all in all, im just confused, i dont really know exactly what im dealing with and im sure there is a way to optimise my system so that it is stable and reliable, right now it feels like pot luck. This system is a definate upgrade for me, and im getting issues ive never had before

is there any good resources to understand better how all of this stuff works, or anyone have any ideas of what im maybe missing in the bigger picture.

hope you are all well!

check your task manager and make sure your cpu is not running at a variable clock speed. if it is refreshing 3.5-3.2-4.2-3.8 etc, you need to go into the bios and lock the cpu clock speed at its highest rated boost clock speed. do not overclock beyond that.

you do this by turning the cpu cores to manual mode and setting them all at the same number.

I’m not sure which cpu you have but if you do it right the task manager should read one solid clock speed that doesnt move.

second thing is to go into your gpu control panel and make sure cubase is set to high performance mode. this will also ensure that the GPU clock speed isnt all over the place.

let me know if this helps.

Have you got adequate power and cooling for your i9? They can throttle badly if not. Worth checking temps too as when under load it’s possible for CPU to reduce, which would immediately cause an overload. You only need one thread to bottleneck for overload to occur.