Edit: see here for what resolved my issues.
See also link below.
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It really is a monster of a computer!
I would love to run it using the dGPU only since I’m pretty much always using it plugged in anyways but the Nvidia drivers don’t seem to get along with Ableton too well, when I use it in dGPU mode and open Ableton the entire Ableton GUI artifacts…I’ve never seen anything like it, it looks like it’s becoming crystalized. That’s the only way I can describe it. So to avoid that I use it in hybrid mode when I’m using Ableton and dGpu mode when I’m gaming.
Nvidia has two sets of drivers for the RTX 4080m, One for gaming and one for everything else it seems. I haven’t tried the everything else driver to see if it solves the Ableton GUI issue since I don’t want to take away from the performance as a gaming machine and hybrid mode seems to be a fine enough work around.
I do love this machine, as far as performance for gaming I have thrown everything at it and it has worked flawlessly. Some games like Doom eternal even run at the full 240FPS with ray tracing and all the settings on ultra which is a sight to behold. That being said I’m getting pretty sick of fucking around and troubleshooting with audio stuff. I got so used to the pretty much plug and play aspect of Macs over the years but with a Macbook pro even in the price range of the legion pro 7i it wouldn’t be able to do nearly as much other than audio. I’m hoping I can get this sorted and have a good balance in performance and stability in both, I’ve only had it for about a month and a half and I’ve spent more time gaming on it than anything else so I’m really just now doing more than just the preliminary setting up for music production.
Oha, but you didn’t write which windows version you are using. I’m not sure if older versions of Windows can take full advantage of the new Intel hybrid technology (Alder Lake or newer).
For example, in connection with Windows 11 and newer Intel CPU’s, I read about incomprehensible real-time audio problems.
Windows 11 utilizes the new hybrid technology (P.Cores+E.Cores), which can lead to the audio thread being parked on the E-cores, which is of course fatal for real-time audio applications. Perhaps several of these and other negative characteristics add up in your setup, which has a massive negative impact on performance. The same goes for Ableton Live.
This is for Cubase, but maybe it will help, you can have a look.
Performance issues on Intel® Core™ 12th gen (or newer) hybrid-architecture CPUs – Steinberg Support
What audio interface are you using?
And one more question, what has changed in your setup since the post, maybe a problem has crept in.
This.
12 out of 10 times is the ASIO driver Sample Rate not matching or trying to auto-resample (48K <-> 44.1K) to match Ableton sample rate.
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I’m a general computer noob (bought a pc last year) and the Reaper community on you tube helped me by turning off the virtual cores - every even one (2, 4 ,6 etc, so no hyper threading).
Have you tried this
Seems you found the big hurdle (ASIO) so hopefully that’s all that is needed.
Another thing I have noticed on my Windows rig: do not run Discord when using your DAW. Windows audio is too primitive. While your DAW runs ASIO the rest of the machine runs WASAPI.
The solution is not to spend weeks learning/testing different audio tools. Just don’t be on Discord when doing music things. Much simpler solution.
Immediate cracks and pops (using my mic on my interface as input and the interface as output).
This happens pretty much with a 98% chance if you start streaming a game/an app/your desktop.
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…i really know nothing about computers because apart from early amiga days i always used macs…but from all i’ve heard over too many years of pc users complaining about wacky audio performance, it was always asio/audio driver issues and too much background tasking due to not dedicated windows optimizations…
i honestly still can’t believe there are still issues with microsoft and proper audio functionality…
and where ever this really worx smooth, it’s always real slimmed out and optimized configs for doing audio ONLY…at least 128ms of latency at 48k is a must have…anything else is nothing but a pita…
but hey…any 3 year old 2nd hand mac around 800 bux will make a great studio only plug and play setup…just sayin’…sorrryyyy…
if u crosscheck all tech ingridients and really set up dedicated pc desktop of ur well informed choice, u’ll always be able to work properly, whatever ur tasks might be…but if we’re talking laptops, any pc tech is always a bumpy road to never know for sure…
I have run my music production rigs on PCs for over 20 years with no unsolvable issues. They are not “slimmed out.” I use them for everything.
This case - what I wrote in the above comment - is an Nvidia issue. It is NOT an issue with Windows or Lenovo.
I don’t want to start a Mac v PC debate. I have used both, and they are both great. I like PCs because I feel like I have more control over my system and I get more bang for my buck. I do love Apple hardware though. Both Macs and PCs are capable of delivering excellent systems.
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This is probably the last post ever necessary in Mac/PC for music blah blah blah
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Yea fuck all that Mac vs PC noise I have used and enjoy both they both have their ups and downs.
They’re both great and they both suck.
@jbone1313
Thanks for that, I had never heard of CPU pinning, that’s a lot of info to go through so I don’t suspect I’ll be able to get back with a response if it worked or not for maybe a week. I’ll dive in, read it all, do some research and then give it a try to see if it fixes it.
Right off the bat I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it because I have to switch from dGPU (which I use most of the time when gaming or whatever) Optimus mode when I am doing music production because Nvidia doesn’t seem to like Ableton’s GUI, when I open Ableton when I’m dGPU mode Ableton’s GUI goes all crystallized (that’s the best way I can explain it) it looks like the GUI is fracturing, it’s a bizarre issue but I can only assume it’s Nvidia’s drivers because it doesn’t happen when I’m using the motherboards video output. So if that solution only works for dGPU mode then it’s out (I haven’t read it yet so I don’t know for sure)
I have gotten it to a decent state where there’s an acceptable amount of latency with no cracking or popping but it’s still more latency then I would expect or would like given the specs of my laptop.
If that solution solves it I’d be very happy especially if it solves it in a way where it doesn’t affect the way the laptop runs for games, graphic design or anything else because in all other areas this thing has been incredible. I had today off and I spent literally 7 hours playing Red dead 2 with all the settings on ultra and maxed out and it ran beautifully. Obviously having it be stable and perform the best for audio purposes is much more important than gaming but I shouldn’t have to choose and I don’t think I have to.
Thanks again for the info, once I have some free time I’m going to give it a try. Much appreciated!
Agree.
Glad it’s working out for you.
Edit: see here for what resolved my issues.
Keep me posted.
I think my rig is good with the tweaks I have made already, but I am playing with a few more, because I am a nerd and it’s fun.
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whew, good thing my censored swear word was edited out of the title by mods, gotta protect all the grown ass adults on this board from seeing no no words 
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I miss the old days of the internet. Anyhow…
I found this amazing YouTube channel (link below) which talks about this CPU pinning stuff with clarity and brevity. Seems very legit. He also has a tweak that will reduce latency by 10-100x! I also saw that mentioned on KVR.
One important thing with our laptops is they have one USB root controller, which means we can’t force the USB devices to be on separate cores. We can only pin the root controller. But, I have a good idea for that. I am going to pin my GPU to its own core, the networking device to its own core, and then I will let the USB controller operate on the remaining cores. That way the networking and GPU devices won’t bother my USB audio interface, and all the devices on the USB controller can spread their interrupt load across their cores.
Definitely check that YouTube. It’s worth it.
If you spend another eight hours or so messing with this, you’ll probably be good forever. It’s worth it.
Can’t wait to test all this next week…
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I’m having the same exact issue with the same exact laptop so I’m pretty sure it’s an issue with this specific laptop. Have you found a solution? It’s pretty irritating that I spent all this money to have issues. Especially since I bought it mostly for music production 
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I am shocked to report I think found the magic setting to completely resolve the Nvidia latency spikes. It’s easy to set and requires no hacks or third party programs. On my machine, the only side effect is it increases the GPU power usage by 2-4 watts. No problem.
You simply need to run one command at startup to set the GPU’s memory clock to its maximum setting. On my machine, that is 8001Mhz.
You can configure the command to run as administrator on startup. Here is how.
Here is the exact Gearpspace post where I explain the command and some other commands to figure out your supported memory clock. There is some discussion and test results if you feel like reading.
I discovered this by trying the things in this Reddit comment in r/nvidia, where they are tracking the DPC latency issue and offering workarounds. It led me to some person who created a tool to do this, but I soon realized I could do it with a simple command without the tool.
Here is a list of all the other tweaks I did. I am not sure if this Nvidia tweak needs those, but I doubt it. I am still using them, because I think they are good.
If using a Lenovo Legion, then join the Legion Discord and check their knowledge base for lots of good tips. The invite is found in the Legion Reddit. Lenovo Legion Toolkit is particularly helpful.
As usual, use this information at your own risk.
It is not an issue with Windows or Lenovo. It is a widely known Nvidia issue, which is tracked here.