Audio Crackling

First off, I am a computer dummy when it comes to this stuff. I have a dell studio xps and it NEVER had audio problems. However, I just had to get the hard drive replaced which I figured would be a nice fresh start with no files at all on the computer. Everything works fine except the audio (doesn't matter if it is itunes, youtube, etc) will crackle/lag at times. It is frequent enough to be very frustrating and happens more often while I'm browsing the internet. The only thing I've noticed in CPU usage is random spikes when the crackles happen but it typically will only spike up to about 12-15% from 1-5 which seems extremely low to have a lag effect on the audio. I've taken it to the geek squad where conveniently the audio fails to lag nearly as often and they fail to give me an answer on what it could be. I have been searching all over the internet for possible fixes.

Things I've tried-Uninstalling AV software, Uninstalling MalwareBytes, Disabling Enhancers.

I'm disappointed because I have never had this problem until after my last hard drive died. ANY help would be greatly appreciated as this has been getting more and more frustrating for me. Thanks!

 

The spikes are actually to 40-50% from 1-5% if that makes a difference. Seems bizarre to me but I don't know anything about these things.

 

I had the same problem for a month,re-download the drivers for it and check it then
p.s if its realtek then uninstall then reinstall.