TECHNICAL REFERENCES

Electrical

Ground Loops, EMI, EMF, EMC

• EMI analysis of DVI link connectors, Abhishek Patnaik, 2015
  • Also associated with Dr. YaoJiang Zhang at Missouri University of Science and Technology and Chen Wang and Chuck Jackson at NVIDIA, Inc.
  • https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8407&context=masters_theses
• Understanding, Finding & Eliminating Ground Loops, CEDIA Class EST016. Instructor. Bill Whitlock. President & Chief
  • https://web.mit.edu/~jhawk/tmp/p/EST016_Ground_Loops_handout.pdf
• Addressing Electromagnetic Interference With Phidgets, Phidgets Inc. 2017.
  • https://www.phidgets.com/docs/Addressing_Electromagnetic_Interference_with_Phidgets
• Noise Suppressing Basic Course, Murata Americas
  • https://www.murata.com/en-us/products/emc/emifil/knowhow/basic
• Practical Shielding, EMC/EMI, Noise Reduction, Earthing and Circuit Board Layout, Engineering Institute of Technology
  • https://www.eit.edu.au/resources/practical-shielding-emc-emi-noise-reduction-earthing-and-circuit-board-layout/
• Susceptibility of PC to electromagnetic interference, IEEE, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Piotrowski, 2009
  • https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5349776
• EMI Design Guidelines for USB Components, Intel
  • http://www.ti.com/sc/docs/apps/msp/intrface/usb/emitest.pdf
• USB Voltage Drop and Droop Measurement, Intel
  • http://intel-vintage-developer.eu5.org/DESIGN/USB/PAPERS/VDROOP.PDF
• Trends in EM susceptibility of IT equipment, IEEE, IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, R. Hoad, N.J. Carter, D. Herke, S.P. Watkins, 2004
  • https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1325793
• Keys to Control Noise, Interference and EMI in PC Boards - Hartley, Altium
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYUYOXmo9UU

BIOS

Optimizations

• FUJITSU Server PRIMERGY - BIOS optimizations for Xeon Scalable processors based systems. BIOS settings for performance, low-latency and energy efficiency
  • https://sp.ts.fujitsu.com/dmsp/Publications/public/wp-skylake-RXTX-bios-settings-primergy-ww-en.pdf
• Keyboard Prompts During Boot Process (POST) for Intel® Desktop Boards, Intel 2018
  • https://www.intel.ca/content/www/ca/en/support/articles/000005672/boards-and-kits/desktop-boards.html
  • Note the shortcut for Intel® Management Engine BIOS Extension (Intel® MEBX)

Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (APIC)

• 82093AA I/O ADVANCED PROGRAMMABLE INTERRUPT CONTROLLER (IO APIC), Intel
  • https://pdos.csail.mit.edu/6.828/2016/readings/ia32/ioapic.pdf

C-States, P-States, PC-States

• C-states, C-states and even more C-states (Part 1)
  • https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2008/03/27/update-c-states-c-states-and-even-more-c-states/
• There's got to be a catch (Part 2)
  • https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2008/04/29/theres-got-to-be-a-catch
• Energy-Efficient Platforms – Considerations for Application Software and Services, Intel Whitepaper, Intel 2011
  • https://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/white-paper/energy-efficient-platforms-2011-white-paper.pdf
• The Importance of UEFI Settings and Hardware C-States, Lenovo, LenovoPress 2017
  • https://lenovopress.com/lp0632-uefi-settings-and-hardware-c-states
• Understanding P-State Control on Intel Xeon Scalable Processors to Maximize Energy Efficiency, Lenovo, LenovoPress 2019
  • https://lenovopress.com/lp0870-understanding-pstate-control-to-maximize-energy-efficiency

Microsoft Windows

Audio Processing

• Use MXA to Verify that Audio is Offloaded During Full Screen Video Playback, Windows Hardware Dev, Microsoft 2021
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/test/wpt/optimizing-windows-devices-for-multimedia-experiences-exercise-3
• Low Latency Audio, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 2022
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/audio/low-latency-audio

Interrupt Service Routines (ISR), Deferred Procedure Calls (DPC), Message-Signaled Interrupts (MSI)

• Microsoft Hardware - Kernel-Mode Driver Architecture - Introduction to Interrupt Service Routines, Microsoft Docs
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/kernel/introduction-to-interrupt-service-routines
• Microsoft Hardware - Kernel-Mode Driver Architecture - Introduction to Deferred Procedure Calls, Microsoft Docs
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/kernel/introduction-to-dpcs
• Microsoft Hardware - Kernel-Mode Driver Architecture - Organization of DPC Queues
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/kernel/organization-of-dpc-queues
• Microsoft Hardware - Kernel-Mode Driver Architecture - Introduction to Message-Signaled Interrupts, Microsoft Docs
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/kernel/introduction-to-message-signaled-interrupts
• Reducing Interrupt Latency Through the Use of Message Signaled Interrupts, Intel 2009, James Coleman Performance Architect Intel Corporation
  • https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/white-papers/msg-signaled-interrupts-paper.pdf
• Microsoft Hardware - Kernel-Mode Driver Architecture - Enabling Message-Signaled Interrupts in the Registry, Microsoft Docs
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/kernel/enabling-message-signaled-interrupts-in-the-registry

Networking

• Network Subsystem Performance Tuning, Microsoft Windows IT Pro Center 2019
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/technologies/network-subsystem/net-sub-performance-top
• Advanced Settings for Intel® Ethernet Adapters, Intel 2018
  • https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005593/network-and-i-o/ethernet-products.html
• Tuning Throughput Performance for Intel® Ethernet Adapters, Intel 2019
  • https://www.intel.ca/content/www/ca/en/support/articles/000005811/network-and-i-o/ethernet-products.html
• Network terminology and technology, tuning and performance, Konstantin Lepikhov, 2018, Geant eduPERT Knowledge Base
  • https://wiki.geant.org/display/public/EK/Network
• Metered Internet connections: FAQ, Microsoft Support, Microsoft
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/17452/windows-metered-internet-connections-faq
• Windows Transport converges on two Congestion Providers: Cubic and LEDBAT
  • https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Networking-Blog/Windows-Transport-converges-on-two-Congestion-Providers-Cubic/ba-p/339819
• Guidance for configuring IPv6 in Windows for advanced users, Microsoft Windows Support, Microsoft 2019
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929852/guidance-for-configuring-ipv6-in-windows-for-advanced-users
• Information about the TCP Chimney Offload, Receive Side Scaling, Microsoft Support, Microsoft 2014
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/951037/information-about-the-tcp-chimney-offload-receive-side-scaling-and-net
• Introduction to Receive Side Scaling, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/introduction-to-receive-side-scaling
• Non-RSS Receive Processing, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/non-rss-receive-processing
• RSS with Message Signaled Interrupts, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/rss-with-message-signaled-interrupts
• Placebo setting: QoS bandwidth reservation, Microsoft DevBlogs, Raymon Chen, Kernel Developer, Microsoft 2006
  • https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061123-14/?p=28923

Power Management

• Storage (Storport) Idle Power Management Configuration and Usage, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 2021
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/storage/ipm-configuration-and-usage
  • It says it is disabled by default but that is false, see your SATA/AHCI/NVME Controllers configuration in the registry.
• PortCls Registry Power Settings, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 2022
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/audio/portcls-registry-power-settings
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e96c-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\<YourDevices>\PowerSettings
    • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/system-defined-device-setup-classes-available-to-vendors
    • See technical reference Audio Processing - Low Latency Audio for more information about PortCls miniport driver.

Filesystem and Disk

• Configuring the Disk and File System for Performance, Microsoft Docs 2008
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-2000-server/cc938627(v=technet.10)

Drivers

• What Determines When a Driver Is Loaded, Microsoft Docs 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/ifs/what-determines-when-a-driver-is-loaded
• Tools for Verifying Drivers: Driver Verifier, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/devtest/driver-verifier

Services

• Guidance on disabling system services on Windows Server 2016 with Desktop Experience, Microsoft, Microsoft Docs
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/security/windows-services/security-guidelines-for-disabling-system-services-in-windows-server
• Per-user services in Windows 10 and Windows Server
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/application-management/per-user-services-in-windows
• Multimedia Class Scheduler Service (MMCSS) Vista Multimedia Playback and Network Throughput, Mark Russinovich's Technical Blog 2007
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20071012033145/http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2007/08/27/1833290.aspx
• Multimedia Class Scheduler Service, Windows Dev Center, Microsoft 2018
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/procthread/multimedia-class-scheduler-service
• Multimedia Class Scheduler Service (MMCSS), How to use the throttling mechanism to control network performance in Windows Vista, Microsoft Help and Support, Microsoft 2008
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20080724025429/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948066
• Changes to Service Host grouping in Windows 10, Microsoft, Microsoft Docs
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/application-management/svchost-service-refactoring
• Service Trigger Events, Microsoft, Microsoft Learn - Windows App Development
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/services/service-trigger-events

Latency

• Intel Optimizing Computer Applications for Latency: Part 1: Configuring the Hardware, Intel 2017, Evgueny Khartchenko
  • https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/optimizing-computer-applications-for-latency-part-1-configuring-the-hardware
• Intel Optimizing Computer Applications for Latency: Part 2: Tuning Applications, Intel 2017, Evgueny Khartchenko
  • https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/optimizing-computer-applications-for-latency-part-2-tuning-applications

Timers, Clocks and Time Keeping

• Microsecond Resolution Time Services for Windows, The Windows Time Stamp Project, Arno Lentfer, June 2012
  • http://www.windowstimestamp.com/description
• Game Timing and Multicore Processors, Microsoft Dev Center, May 2018
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/dxtecharts/game-timing-and-multicore-processors?redirectedfrom=MSDN
• timeGetTime versus GetTickCount, Random ASCII – tech blog of Bruce Dawson, Bruce Dawson, Former Employee of Valve, Microsoft XBox 360 and Google Chrome Performance Management Teams
  • https://randomascii.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/timegettime-versus-gettickcount/

USB

• Demystifying USB Selective Suspend, Microsoft USB Blog 2011, Vivek Gupta
  • https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-USB-Blog/Demystifying-USB-Selective-Suspend/ba-p/270736
• Common issues in USB 3.0 Devices, Microsoft USB Blog 2012, Vivek Gupta
  • https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-USB-Blog/Common-issues-in-USB-3-0-devices/ba-p/270760
• Answering the question "What's wrong with my device?" using USB trace messages, Microsoft USB Blog 2009, Philip Ries
  • https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-USB-Blog/Answering-the-question-quot-What-s-wrong-with-my-device-quot/ba-p/270697
• Capturing USB ETW traces with Microsoft Message Analyzer (MMA), Microsoft USB Blog, Andrea Keating & Eliyas Yakub
  • https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-USB-Blog/Capturing-USB-ETW-traces-with-Microsoft-Message-Analyzer-MMA/ba-p/270811
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/usbcon/capture-and-view-ing-usb-traces-with-microsoft-message-analyzer-
• USB Device Power States, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2020
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/usbcon/comparing-usb-device-states-to-wdm-device-states
• USB Selective Suspend, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2021
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/usbcon/usb-selective-suspend

Thermal Throttling

• Defective Heat Sinks Causing Garbage Gaming, Random ASCII – tech blog of Bruce Dawson, Bruce Dawson, Former Employee of Valve, Microsoft XBox 360 and Google Chrome Performance Management Teams
  • https://randomascii.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/defective-heat-sinks-causing-garbage-gaming/

NVIDIA

• How Often to Update Graphics Card Display Drivers, NVIDIA Knowledgebase, NVIDIA 2017
  • https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/34/
• Setting "Power management mode" from Adaptive to Maximum Performance, NVIDIA Knowledgebase, NVIDIA 2014
  • https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3130/
• How to calibrate your monitor, NVIDIA GeForce Guides, NVIDIA 2015
  • https://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/how-to-calibrate-your-monitor
• Graphics card basic troubleshooting for video corruption / crashing / system lock ups / freezes / BSOD, NVIDIA Knowledgebase, NVIDIA 2014
  • https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3565/
• Collecting GPU logs using GPU-Z, NVIDIA Knowledgebase, NVIDIA 2018
  • https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4749/
• How to Get Rid of Lag, NVIDIA GeForce Guides
  • https://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/how-to-get-rid-of-lag-guide
• How to generating an event trace log for GPUView to troubleshoot performance issues/low FPS/game stutter, NVIDIA Knowledgebase, NVIDIA 2019
  • https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3507/
• How to generate a DirectX Diagnostic Tool report (dxdiag), NVIDIA Knowledgebase, NVIDIA 2015
  • https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3721/
• Are You Running Out of Video Memory? Detecting Video-Memory Overcommitment using GPUView, NVIDIA Gameworks Blog, NVIDIA 2015
  • https://developer.nvidia.com/content/are-you-running-out-video-memory-detecting-video-memory-overcommitment-using-gpuview

Misc

• This KB article describes the case in which a monitor or TV reports 59.94Hz, (e.g. 119.880Hz, but not 120Hz) Windows Support, Microsoft
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/screen-refresh-rate-in-windows-does-not-apply-the-user-selected-settings-on-monitors-tvs-that-report-specific-tv-compatible-timings-0a7a6a38-6c6a-2aec-debc-5183a76b9e1d
• Windows Hardware Dev Center Archive, Microsoft
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/hardware/download/dn550976(v=vs.85)
• Adjust visual effects for best performance should really be called Adjust visual effects for crappiest appearance, Raymon Chen, Kernel Developer, Microsoft 2013
  • https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20130327-00/?p=4833
• Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17101 for Fast & Build 17604 for Skip Ahead, Microsoft Windows Insider Blog, Microsoft 2018
  • https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2018/02/14/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-17101-fast-build-17604-skip-ahead/
  • Primary reference to Ultimate power scheme, documentation seems limited. Present/unhidden on LTSC by default.
• Virus scanning recommendations for Enterprise computers that are running currently supported versions of Windows, Microsoft - Support - Windows Support, Microsoft 2020
  • https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/822158/virus-scanning-recommendations-for-enterprise-computers
• Soft Real-Time on Windows, Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 2023
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot/iot-enterprise/soft-real-time/soft-real-time

Troubleshooting

Windows Performance

• Windows Performance Analyzer step-by-step guide, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/test/wpt/wpa-step-by-step-guide
• Common In-Depth Analysis Issues, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/test/assessments/common-in-depth-analysis-issues
• Using GPUView for determining the performance of the graphics processing unit (GPU) and CPU, Microsoft Hardware Dev Center, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/using-gpuview
  • https://graphics.stanford.edu/~mdfisher/GPUView.html
• Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Docs, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/performance-tuning/
• Mark's Blog : The Case of the System Process CPU Spikes, Mark Russinovich's Technical Blog 2008
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20081217023055/http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/04/07/3031251.aspx
• Book: Windows Performance Analysis Field Guide, Clint Huffman
  • https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Performance-Analysis-Field-Guide-ebook/dp/B00MVTQWLY/
• Book: Windows Internals, Part 1: System architecture, processes, threads, memory management, and more (Developer Reference) 7th Edition, Authors: Pavel Yosifovich, Mark Russinovich, David Solomon, Alex Ionescu
  • https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Internals-Part-architecture-management/dp/0735684189/
• Delivering a great media experience, Microsoft Windows Hardware Developer, Microsoft 2017
  • https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/test/weg/delivering-a-great-media-experience