Logitech G35 power surges

[l0ngev1ty]

Hello, my logitech g35 headset caused a power surge in a usb port on my machine. I fixed it by unplugging the power supply for ten seconds to let the power drain out. However, i've noticed that sometimes the headset will cause a pause in lag(1-2 secs) when it's plugged in via the usb. It's not the pc because when i unplug it, there's no irregular lagging. Could this be a power supply issue or has the logitech g35 been known to have this usb problem?

My power supply is an Antec Earthwatts 650W Green 80+Bronze

 

[Pinhedd]

Hello, my logitech g35 headset caused a power surge in a usb port on my machine. I fixed it by unplugging the power supply for ten seconds to let the power drain out. However, i've noticed that sometimes the headset will cause a pause in lag(1-2 secs) when it's plugged in via the usb. It's not the pc because when i unplug it, there's no irregular lagging. Could this be a power supply issue or has the logitech g35 been known to have this usb problem?

My power supply is an Antec Earthwatts 650W Green 80+Bronze

All USB headsets have problems like this. USB device drivers run in usermode (not to be confused with USB controller drivers which run in the kernel) which means that they're at the mercy of the scheduler to get CPU time. This is why USB is a horrible standard for transmitting real time data, which is exactly what audio is.

Normally this isn't that big of an issue but even a millisecond wide jitter can cause artifacts in an audio bitstream.

What I suggest you do is this:

1. Ensure that you have the latest motherboard firmware installed.

2. Ensure that you have the latest chipset driver software installed. All modern chipsets have native USB support which means that the USB 2.0 drivers come from the AMD chipset driver package or the Intel Chipset driver package.

3. If your headset is plugged into a USB 3.0 port you should move it to a USB 2.0 port and see if the problem persists. USB 3.0 is an immature and inconsistent standard. Intel added native support for USB 3.0 with the Intel 7 series chipsets (excluding X79) which means that all 6 series chipsets (and X79 chipsets) get USB 3.0 support from a third party add-in chip which is connected via southbridge PCIe lanes.

4. Be a man and get a headset with 3.5mm analog jacks. This is the only way to ensure that there's a clean and reliable path for the audio stack. If you really like sound, get a Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro sound card to go with it.

 

[photonboy]

I also doubt it's the Power Supply.

What do you mean by "caused a power surge"?

This "lag" you speak of, is that ONLY right after you plug in the headset or do you continue having issues?

Please clarify what you mean by "lagging".

**I also recommend getting a regular 3.5mm style. I'm not sure I'd say "be a man" like above though. I've heard there are good USB headphones but I haven't really investigated this too much.

The above advice in DRIVERS is also good. If in doubt, reinstall the following drivers from the motherboard site.

a) main motherboard chipset driver
b) USB drivers
c) sound drivers

and as mentioned above, check to see if your BIOS is up to date.

 

[l0ngev1ty]

That really clears things up, thanks for the info guys. Yeah, i think i'm gonna give up usb sound and get a 3.5mm headset. Any recommendations? Astro looks good but are they the best value?

 

[l0ngev1ty]

Best answer selected by l0ngev1ty.

 

[l0ngev1ty]

I also doubt it's the Power Supply.

What do you mean by "caused a power surge"?

This "lag" you speak of, is that ONLY right after you plug in the headset or do you continue having issues?

Please clarify what you mean by "lagging".

**I also recommend getting a regular 3.5mm style. I'm not sure I'd say "be a man" like above though. I've heard there are good USB headphones but I haven't really investigated this too much.

The above advice in DRIVERS is also good. If in doubt, reinstall the following drivers from the motherboard site.

a) main motherboard chipset driver
b) USB drivers
c) sound drivers

and as mentioned above, check to see if your BIOS is up to date.

a,b, and c check

 

[l0ngev1ty]

Oh yeah and the lag would happen randomly during gameplay but not necessarily right when i plugged it in. It would freeze the system for about 1 or 2 seconds during this lag, a total bummer considering there's 16gb of ram with an i7 :\

 

[Pinhedd]

That really clears things up, thanks for the info guys. Yeah, i think i'm gonna give up usb sound and get a 3.5mm headset. Any recommendations? Astro looks good but are they the best value?

These are the ones that I use

http://www.amazon.ca/Sharkoon-Xtatic-Digital-Gaming-Headset/dp/B003H4QIC0

They are full analog headphones but also include a DolbyDigital decoder which can be used with a 360/PS3 or a sound card that has DolbyDigital Live support.

It also includes the 3.5mm connector and is available in a slightly cheaper package with just the 3.5mm jacks

 

[l0ngev1ty]

A notification in the taskbar popped up saying a usb port had experienced a power surge and that one of the devices used more power than it was designed for. I identified the usb slot as the one the headset occupied. It gave me the option of resetting it once it was unplugged, but it just kept popping up no matter how many times i tried to reset the port. So i just unplugged the psu from the wall to let the electricity drain out and luckily that solved it. The headset still worked but it had that funky lag, and the lag existed before the power surge.

 

[l0ngev1ty]

These are the ones that I use

http://www.amazon.ca/Sharkoon-Xtatic-Digital-Gaming-Headset/dp/B003H4QIC0

They are full analog headphones but also include a DolbyDigital decoder which can be used with a 360/PS3 or a sound card that has DolbyDigital Live support.

It also includes the 3.5mm connector and is available in a slightly cheaper package with just the 3.5mm jacks

Thanks pinhedd, i'll take a look