Stuttering

D

dubyateeeff

Newcomer
My computer started to stutter a while ago. Sometimes, when I am surfing youtube, it just starts to stutter for a second, and then everything turns back to normal. This is also true for other videos on the web, mp3s and videos on my pc... Haven't played a game so I don't know if the problems would manifest itself there.

My PC specs are E8200. Geforce 9600GT. 4 Gb Ram. A bunch of HDD (5 right now). Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3.

I ran memtest86, some stuff to scan the harddrives before OS-boot... everything seems fine except some minor problems with the HDD that was fixed.

I reinstalled XP but the problems came back quite quickly. I am considering Windows 7 RC. Just to see if it would help.

Anytips? I may just go out and buy a new rigg, but I wouldn't want to waste my money. :S

I am thinking it may be something with the NIC. I should try that next, and Win7.
 
if it's happening to offline content, replacing the nic probably won't help unless it's somehow causing the other components in your system to malfunction...

SOunds like it might be overheating a bit... what are your temps?

Edit: Fuck, forgot nearly half a sentence... fixed.
 
I.S.T. said:
if it's happening to offline content, replacing the nic probably won't help unless it's somehow causing the other components in your system to malfunction...

SOunds like it might be overheating a bit... what are your temps?
Click to expand...

I recall installing a secondary NIC instead of the one on the motherboard, can't recall why right at the moment. I will change back and remove the extra NIC.
EDIT: Done!

My temps are ok right now. CPU is 32 or 45. HDD 52-64. GPU 58 (it is passivly cooled).

I will try to increase the speed of the fans and see if it helps.
EDIT: Done!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm with Davros on this one sounds like you may not have DMA enabled and/or your drive may not be in UDMA mode. Had something similar happen with my DVD writer. Anytime it was accessed while in PIO mode it would cause massive stuttering/slowdowns on the computer until it was done.

Can't remember what I did to fix it, because it wouldn't save the setting. At the time I had to manually put it into UDMA mode everytime I rebooted the computer. Was a royal PITA.

If your HD is in PIO mode it would exhibit similar problems to what you are experiencing, worth checking out and easy to do.

Regards,
SB
 
Check what processes are using CPU time in task manager (view columns -> cpu time, sort by time). Sounds like a rogue process.

Edit: that or a codec issue.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Davros said:
indexing service ?
are your drives in dma mode ?
Click to expand...

I believe so, checking the device manager the primary and secondary IDE channel seems to run in Ultra DMA mode 5.

Indexing service... hm... I usually disable none essential tasks. I just checked it and it isn't enabled.

I could check the BIOS-settings. But I can't recall doing any changes there.
 
Can you check the SMART status of the drives with System Mechanic (the trial will do)?
 
hd tune will also let you check smart status 628k
http://www.hdtune.com/hdtune_255.exe


ps: It wouldnt be an over enthusiastic anti virus program
my transfer rate is normally about 90mb/sec when the av was running a scan it went down to 5mb/sec

pps: is it just when streaming videos ? (tried a different browser)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'd lean towards a hard drive issue. Sometimes they get a little flaky and the entire system freezes while waiting for the drive to respond. There might not be any actual errors but if a CRC fails it starts retrying to fetch the data and that could cause some stuttering.

In my case it's more of a heat issue as the drive gets to hot, starts making really horrid noises and freezes periodically for 5-10s at a time. Putting a fan on it and keeping it cooler fixes the problem. If that's the case it almost has to be the drive with windows or the system files on it to be causing the problem if everything except the mouse freezes momentarily. I've got 8 drives in my case and if you've got a similar number they could be a little toasty.

As Davros mentioned anti-virus programs do some funny things. I've seen several issues where Norton would bring a system to a crawl if that's what you're using.
 
Already looked in the event log, nothing there.

I tried disconnecting some of the harddrives, to see if it removed the problems. It didn't. Of course I didn't try it on the main disk.

I ran seagates utility for scanning and such a while ago. No success. HD Tune shows some problems with sectors and spin retry count even though the status is marked as OK of the main disk. It benchmarks ok too.

Also, I removed power down mode a while ago.

No antivirus are installed since the reformating.

I set all the case fans to maximum. The GPU temps got down to 41. All others were below 40. But the problem remained.

I think I covered all sudgestions.

I am unsure of where to go from here. I am going to check if I have another GPU at home that I can test with (unlikely). And I should probably try to remove the boot disk to see if my problems are solved. Any tips are welcome.

Edit: It is both online and offline content. In WMP, VLC and Firefox. Videos and music. But I think the computers stutters when I am not doing any of those things, except I don't notice it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
dubyateeeff said:
Already looked in the event log, nothing there.

I tried disconnecting some of the harddrives, to see if it removed the problems. It didn't. Of course I didn't try it on the main disk.

I ran seagates utility for scanning and such a while ago. No success. HD Tune shows some problems with sectors and spin retry count even though the status is marked as OK of the main disk. It benchmarks ok too.

Also, I removed power down mode a while ago.

No antivirus are installed since the reformating.

I set all the case fans to maximum. The GPU temps got down to 41. All others were below 40. But the problem remained.

I think I covered all sudgestions.

I am unsure of where to go from here. I am going to check if I have another GPU at home that I can test with (unlikely). And I should probably try to remove the boot disk to see if my problems are solved. Any tips are welcome.

Edit: It is both online and offline content. In WMP, VLC and Firefox. Videos and music. But I think the computers stutters when I am not doing any of those things, except I don't notice it.
Click to expand...

Slow sectors = bad sectors. You'd need to low-level erase the disk to *possibly* correct those sectors. Of course being your O.S. disk you're not likely to want to do that so your best bet is just to go out and grab another disk, they're sure cheap enough.

Download a copy of Hiren's boot cd, use the ghost utility included on it (menu choice sequence 2, 2, 8) and image from your old disk to the new one. Run checkdisk after completion and you might just fix your problem. If not you'll have to nuke & pave.
 
maybe many open tabs with flash content?!
I have something similar when starting online flash-based "battle" on one online game... tho only when on a slower PC, on CoreDuo it never "stutters"
tried updating all your drivers?
 
I'm telling you your hard drive is bad. I'm a PC tech, I deal with this every day. Slow sectors are non-responsive and are an indicator your HD can no longer cope with the stress of everyday operation. Clone your drive to a new one before it degrades any further.
 
I've seen it happen to me once due to Asus driver behaving eratically - it was and "advanced" feature driver coming with the video card, stuttering was almost invisible to bare eye but caused all cd/dvd burning to fail. Found it accidentally.
So, make backup of your Windows and try updating & removing any program driver until the issue is fixed.
Or new instalation checking after every piece of software
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
New pc keeps on hard freezing, dont know why
2
Replies
33
Views
6K
Grall
G
N
How do you feel about next-gen gaming? *remodelled
2
Replies
32
Views
8K
AlNom
A
A
Holy Wall of Text: My impressions post Playstation 4 (PS4) unveil
2 3 4
Replies
70
Views
19K
(((interference)))
I
V
Present for mum, i5 750 or i7 860 ? Urgent.
2
Replies
22
Views
4K
V3
V
K
Networking troubles
Replies
8
Views
2K
Kurt
K
Back
Top