So I have been having issues with audio crackling and tearing when playing some steam games. The ones that have it worst is War Thunder and Palworld. War Thunder’s issue seems really spotty where it will happen one game boot up and then not at all on the next. Palworld starts having the issue consistently even after restarts and adjusting the magic launch setting.
PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=90 %command%
For War Thunder restarting the game or the system a time or two tends to fix the issue with the above set in the launch properties. With Palworld I have even tried taking it up to a ridiculous delay of 250ms. The crackling just occurred as if nothing changed. I did try adjusting pipewire, wireplumber, and ASLA configs however it eventually broke the audio enough to the point I just reinstalled the whole system.
According to ProtonDB both games tend to run out of the box with minimal issues and the sound issues I’m having seem to be easily solved with the pulse_latency command for most people. So now I’m wonder if I missed a configuration or if its a hardware issue for me since I’m currently using the current generation of the MSI Raider gaming laptop.
System:
Kernel: 6.14.4-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=c496e4e3-825c-4f38-af58-4a013ab6f203 rw rootflags=subvol=@
vt.default_red=30,243,166,249,137,245,148,186,88,243,166,249,137,245,148,166
vt.default_grn=30,139,227,226,180,194,226,194,91,139,227,226,180,194,226,173
vt.default_blu=46,168,161,175,250,231,213,222,112,168,161,175,250,231,213,200
quiet loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.13.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Micro-Star product: Raider GE78HX 13VG v: REV:1.0
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: Micro-Star model: MS-17S2 v: REV:1.0 serial: <superuser required>
part-nu: 17S2.1 uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC.
v: E17S2IMS.108 date: 03/27/2023
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 79.0 Wh (98.4%) condition: 80.3/95.0 Wh (84.5%)
volts: 16.5 min: 15.2 model: MSI BIF0_9 type: Li-ion serial: N/A
status: not charging
CPU:
Info: model: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700HX bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
arch: Raptor Lake gen: core 13 level: v3 note: check built: 2022+
process: Intel 7 (10nm) family: 6 model-id: 0xBF (191) stepping: 2
microcode: 0x38
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 10 cores: 16 threads: 24 mt: 8 tpc: 2
st: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 1.4 MiB desc: d-8x32 KiB, 8x48 KiB; i-8x32
KiB, 8x64 KiB L2: 14 MiB desc: 8x1.2 MiB, 2x2 MiB L3: 30 MiB
desc: 1x30 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/4800:5000:3700 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800
5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 13: 800 14: 800
15: 800 16: 800 17: 800 18: 800 19: 800 20: 800 21: 800 22: 800 23: 800
24: 800 bogomips: 110592
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA AD106M [GeForce RTX 4070 Max-Q / Mobile]
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: nvidia v: 570.144
alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-570.xx+
status: current (as of 2025-04) arch: Lovelace code: AD1xx
process: TSMC n4 (5nm) built: 2022+ ports: active: none off: DP-3,eDP-1
empty: DP-1,DP-2,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2820
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Bison FHD Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-3:3 chip-ID: 5986:215c
class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch
d-rect: 4480x1600 display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: DP-3 pos: primary,left model: MSI G273 serial: <filter>
built: 2021 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 165 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 83 gamma: 1.2
size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 676mm (26.6") ratio: 16:9 modes:
max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: right model: AU Optronics 0x84a6 built: 2022 res:
mode: 2560x1600 hz: 240 scale: 130% (1.3) to: 1969x1231 dpi: 178 gamma: 1.2
size: 366x228mm (14.41x8.98") diag: 431mm (17") ratio: 16:10
modes: 2560x1600
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia nouveau drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
drv: nvidia device: 1 drv: nouveau device: 2 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 570.144
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop
GPU/PCIe/SSE2 memory: 7.81 GiB display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: 5 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU driver: nvidia v: 570.144 device-ID: 10de:2820
surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi
wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl alternate: snd_hda_intel, snd_soc_avs,
snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 0000:00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:7a50
class-ID: 0401
Device-2: NVIDIA AD106M High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:22bd
class-ID: 0403
Device-3: SteelSeries ApS Arctis Nova 7
driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-13:11 chip-ID: 1038:2202 class-ID: 0300
API: ALSA v: k6.14.4-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.2 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake-S PCH CNVi WiFi vendor: Rivet Networks
driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:7a70
class-ID: 0280
IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek Killer E3000 2.5GbE vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169
v: kernel port: 4000 bus-ID: 0000:3a:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:3000 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp58s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-3: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter driver: r8152 type: USB
rev: 3.2 speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 bus-ID: 2-9.4:6
chip-ID: 0bda:8153 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
IF: enp0s20f0u9u4 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel AX211 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-14:12 chip-ID: 8087:0033
class-ID: e001
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.3
lmp-v: 12 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c010c
RAID:
Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 0000:00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:467f rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 4.13 TiB used: 949.84 GiB (22.5%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:5 vendor: Micron model: 2400 MTFDKBA512QFM
size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: V3MA001 temp: 48.9 C
scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung
model: MZVL41T0HBLB-00BTW size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
fw-rev: HXC70W1Q temp: 46.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: PSSD T7
size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB
rev: 3.2 spd: 10 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 tech: SSD
serial: <filter> scheme: MBR
ID-4: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: Portable
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: USB
rev: 3.0 spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 tech: N/A serial: <filter>
fw-rev: 9300 scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 476.64 GiB size: 476.64 GiB (100.00%)
used: 54.34 GiB (11.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:7
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 612 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:6
ID-3: /home raw-size: 476.64 GiB size: 476.64 GiB (100.00%)
used: 54.34 GiB (11.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:7
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 476.64 GiB size: 476.64 GiB (100.00%)
used: 54.34 GiB (11.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:7
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 476.64 GiB size: 476.64 GiB (100.00%)
used: 54.34 GiB (11.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:7
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.38 GiB used: 2.68 GiB (17.4%)
priority: 100 comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842
max-streams: 24 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 52.8 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 16 GiB note: est. available: 15.38 GiB used: 6.73 GiB (43.8%)
Processes: 523 Power: uptime: 1h 46m states: freeze,mem,disk
suspend: s2idle avail: deep wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown,
reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 6.09 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1452 libs: 438 tools: octopi,paru Compilers:
clang: 19.1.7 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: fish v: 4.0.2
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.38
Garuda (2.7.2-1):
System install date: 2025-04-25
Last full system update: 2025-04-30
Is partially upgraded: No
Relevant software: snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-dkms
Windows dual boot: Probably (Run as root to verify)
Failed units: