Audiodg.exe takes 40-50% CPU when playing games

Hello everyone!

I recently started having problems when playing games such as Counter-Strike
and GTA: San Andreas. All of a sudden, the fps rate (frames per second) drops
drastically, the mouse lags and the sound stutters. I found out that this is
due to a high level of CPU usage, about 90-100% of it. This event (drastic
CPU usage) seems to happen randomly within every 4-5 minutes.

I decided to play Counter-Strike with the taskmanager up. Everytime the game
started acting strange I looked at the taskmanager to find out that
audiodg.exe was taking up to 40-50% CPU.

I did some research on this executable and I found out that audiodg.exe is
the main Vista audio engine. Disabling it is not an option because that
results in having no sound at all. I searched the web for solutions and I
came up with the following:

- Check if the Hz aren't set too high, 44000 Hz to 48000 Hz is normal.
- Disable audio enhancements by right-clicking on the speaker icon > audio
devices > Speakers properties and disabling enhanchements by checking a box
in the enhancements tab.
- Install the latest drivers (in my case from Realtek).

None of the above solutions worked for me. I found out that audiodg acts up
like this because I have a HD audio card, in my case from Realtek.
I have tried so much, searched many topics and support forums all over the
web and I still haven't found a solution though I have seen several people
with the exact same problem.

Some extra information:
My OS is Windows Vista Home Premium
My sound driver is the ALC888
My sound cart provider is Realtek
My current sound settings are set to 24 Bits, 48000 Hz (Studio quality)

This is all just very frustrating to me, I can't play any game for 10
minutes without having a huge FPS drop or the game freezing on me up for 20
seconds.
Can somebody please help me out, I'm desperate! :(
Thanks!

Well, I finally found a solution to my problem. :D

Here's how to do it:

- Open up msconfig.exe > Manage startup programs.
- Disable ALL Realtek entries
- Close msconfig.exe

- Right-click on the speaker icon > Audio devices > Speakers (properties)
- Go to the enhancements tab
- Check the box to disable all audio enhancements
- Close the menu

- Right-click on the speaker icon > Recording devices
- Disable all your microphones (yeah..., the actual problem seems to come
from voice inputs rendering..)
- Close the menu

- Restart your computer

Now I can finally play games again, wooh!
Thx to myself. ;D