Reduce the CPU Usage of These Programs?

[Mineohmight]

I have a problem where I have prominent crackling and popping when running pretty much any program. I have had this problem in the past as well, when I used to run Windows 10. I recently installed Windows 7 hoping it would fix the problem, yet it merely reduced it. I have now run diagnostics using Windows to prove it is simply the programs causing all the issues. The diagnostics show that the main programs using the CPU are Google Chrome, Utorrent, and MediaMonkey (music playing software). Note these are the only programs that are running. So is the solution to reduce CPU usage or to just get a new CPU? It is not the fault of my headphones as I have not had these issues on other desktops/laptops. I have my Power Settings set to best performance, and for some odd reason I have two "High Definition Audio Devices" in Device Manager under the Sound, video and game controller tab. I'm not sure why this is but have a biased mindset that it is the problem, though I don't know how to go about fixing this. I've had this problem for about 3 weeks now, and even after a complete re-installation of Windows 7. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

SPECS:

Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5 4570 @ 3.20GHz 38 °C
RAM
24.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. Z87-HD3 (SOCKET 0) 28 °C
Graphics
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti (Gigabyte) 30 °C
Storage
223GB SanDisk SDSSDA240G ATA Device (SSD) 34 °C

 

[rgd1101]

it doesn't said it Realtek HD audio device? right click on them and see what manufacturer they are

 

[jsmithepa]

Reason why a PC is a poor choice for an audio device. You max out stuff, and the audio system doesn't have more priority than anything else to function properly.

Test this: the processes which are using high CPU, temporarily lower their execution priority (via Task Manager) and see if that's the problem. I forget whether there is s permanent way to do this.

 

[Mineohmight]

Reason why a PC is a poor choice for an audio device. You max out stuff, and the audio system doesn't have more priority than anything else to function properly.

Test this: the processes which are using high CPU, temporarily lower their execution priority (via Task Manager) and see if that's the problem. I forget whether there is s permanent way to do this.

Well, every program I run has issues. So it isn't like Google Chrome is spiking like crazy and Utorrent is not and also VLC media player is not and every other program isnt, they all do the same thing. I don't think it is actually the CPU usage now to be honest. I think they are all probably just running perfectly fine and the issue lies somewhere else.

 

[Mineohmight]

it doesn't said it Realtek HD audio device? right click on them and see what manufacturer they are

Looking at all of the devices and drivers I have listed under "Sound, video, and game controllers", I see the following four items:
1. High Definition Audio Device
2. High Definition Audio Device (this one is a duplicate of the first one or vice versa)
3. NVIDIA High Definition Audio
4. NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible (WDM)

As of the manufacturers, the first two are Microsoft, and the second two are NVIDIA, as expected.

 

[Mineohmight]

FIXED:
Managed to fix the problem by switching power settings to POWER SAVING MODE, not Performance Mode