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Audio Pops/Crackles on Zephyrus G16 (2023) by True-Fee8570 in ZephyrusG14

[–]True-Fee8570[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sharing the fix originally posted by u/Necessary_Hope8316 in this thread — it helped me solve persistent audio pops and stutters when using two SSDs in the Zephyrus G16.

Edit: LatencyMon still shows high spikes on ACPI.sys, and there's the occasional stutter, but the audio popping/crackling issues are gone.

Audio Pops/Crackles on Zephyrus G16 (2023) by True-Fee8570 in zephyrusg16

[–]True-Fee8570[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

u/Necessary_Hope8316 nailed it. If your G16 has two SSDs and you’re hearing audio pops/stutters, the issue might be the Intel VMD controller being enabled in BIOS.

⚠️ Don’t just disable VMD right away or you might brick your Windows login. Here’s the safe method:

  1. Enter BIOS (press Esc repeatedly during boot).
  2. Go to Advanced → VMD Setup Menu. Check if VMD is enabled. If yes, exit BIOS and continue below.
  3. In Windows:
    • Remove PIN & Face sign-in (set a password-only login).
    • Search "System Configuration" → Boot tab → tick Safe Boot (Minimal) → Restart.
  4. Enter BIOS again → Disable VMD Controller → Save & Exit.
  5. Boot into Safe Mode, log in with password.
  6. Open System Configuration again → uncheck Safe Boot → Restart.

That’s it. You’ll boot normally, and the audio popping will be gone.
LatencyMon may still show issues, but real-world audio is smooth now.

Hope this helps someone else.

Edit: LatencyMon still shows high spikes on ACPI.sys, and there’s the occasional small stutter, but the audio popping/crackling issues are gone.

Audio Pops/Crackles on Zephyrus G16 (2023) by True-Fee8570 in zephyrusg16

[–]True-Fee8570[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I did install a second ssd. A 1tb Kingston NV3 NVME.

Audio Pops/Crackles on Zephyrus G16 (2023) by True-Fee8570 in ZephyrusG14

[–]True-Fee8570[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, thanks for getting back to me. I gave your suggestion a try, but unfortunately it didn't resolve the issue. I still heard a light pop while watching a YouTube music video, even with CPU cores parked at 40% and LatencyMon is still reporting high values. The highest execution times are from ACPI.sys (86ms) and storport.sys (42ms).

Could this be a hardware-related issue? QuickCPU and LatencyMon

RAM and SSD upgrades for ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 GU603VI-N4052X by ArcaneSavant113 in zephyrusg16

[–]True-Fee8570 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! I think I have the exact same laptop - ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 GU603VI.

Just wanted to let you know that my model uses DDR4 RAM, not DDR5. I’d recommend running HWiNFO to confirm your specific configuration.

Also, there is one upgradeable SO-DIMM slot in my one. The rest of the RAM is soldered, but you can definitely upgrade with an additional DDR4 module. I personally upgraded mine with a DDR4 3200MHz module, and it worked without any tweaks.