5 year old PC started micro-freezing twice per second

[worstchristmasever]

An older PC I have has just started acting up. I moved it from my office to another room, I connected it to a different monitor (it's a TV) and a different USB keyboard, and that’s about all I did. Before this, I had no issues in 5 years.

Now, it jitters about twice per second. It’s pretty regular and it can be tracked on the performance stats graph in steam in-home streaming as a huge spike twice per second. Audio and video freeze for that split second.

It’s really obvious to see if I open the nvidia “3d settings with preview” that shows the rotating nvidia logo. Its rotation is obviously not smooth. Is there anything like this I could test outside of windows? I’m fairly certain its not a software issue but I want to be sure. It’s possible that a driver is giving me the same issue in windows 10 as it did in windows 7.

This issue is driving me nuts… so I’m hoping someone might have some insight.

Hardware:
Intel E8400, Intel DQ45CB, 4GB pc2-6400 ram, evga 9800GTX+, 1tb WD Black, 500w OCZ PSU

What I have tried:
- Googling the problem (no luck)
- Updating video drivers
- In-place upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10
- Full reset of Windows 10
- Reset BIOS to optimal defaults (for the first time in 5 years…)
- Error check boot drive
- Reseating Memory and Video Card
- Checking CPU/Disk use in Task Manager (5%-25% CPU from "System")
- Checking hardware temperatures in BIOS (all are fine, maybe a little high on the ICH at 59ºC at idle)
- Leaving it running for long periods “just in case” the issue goes away after a while
- Unplugging the monitor during video stream ("hardware removed" sound plays)
- Trying other resolutions

Thank you for any suggestions

 

[MongGrel]

If your trying to hook up that PC to something like a 4k TV, I doubt it is going to push it.

The PC would not be acting up, just not up to the task I would think.

 

[worstchristmasever]

If your trying to hook up that PC to something like a 4k TV, I doubt it is going to push it.

The PC would not be acting up, just not up to the task I would think.

Thanks for the idea. It's a 720p TV. I also had an even older, weaker PC hooked up to this TV before, without issues like this.

 

[MongGrel]

I couldn't say offhand myself then I suppose, have a similar rebuilt HTPC in the master bedroom on a 720P.

Interference to the PSU ? You did move it to another location, maybe the power is not as clean on that line in the new location.

I've ran into power problems from one outlet to another and interference in the past.

 

[Ketchup]

Different video cable? Do you have another cable to try?

 

[worstchristmasever]

I couldn't say offhand myself then I suppose, have a similar rebuilt HTPC in the master bedroom on a 720P.

Interference to the PSU ? You did move it to another location, maybe the power is not as clean on that line in the new location.

I'm going to try putting it back in its old location/old monitor - it's a hassle but worth it if I find the problem.

Different video cable? Do you have another cable to try?

I don't think that's the issue. This cable worked fine on another PC that was hooked up to this TV. Also, the audio comes directly from the soundcard, not via HDMI. So you'd think it would be isolated to video if it were the cable or the TV.

 

[Iron Woode]

does this happen all the time or only when streaming?

maybe when it was moved something inside came loose?

 

[worstchristmasever]

does this happen all the time or only when streaming?

maybe when it was moved something inside came loose?

All the time. Even just idling in Windows. It's just super noticeable when viewing video. Sitting on the desktop you can't really tell unless there's something moving to make it obvious.

I checked... everything's nice and tight. I am always really careful when moving PCs around so I don't think anything came loose from the move.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Check power and hard disk

 

[Iron Woode]

All the time. Even just idling in Windows. It's just super noticeable when viewing video. Sitting on the desktop you can't really tell unless there's something moving to make it obvious.

I checked... everything's nice and tight. I am always really careful when moving PCs around so I don't think anything came loose from the move.

did you install anything during this period? perhaps an app is having issues?

did you check task manager to see if something odd is going there?

perhaps a virus? is your AV causing this issue?

how about system restore? you could try going back a week and see if the problem goes away.

 

[worstchristmasever]

I moved the pc back to its old setup. The video was smooth but the audio was still skipping.

I reinstalled the audio driver manually. The problem went away.

So I put the pc back to its new location and the video was stuttering again. I tried a dvi to vga to the tv, and the video is smooth.

So not sure if its something like an hdcp issue, or just the cord, but the problem is solved for now.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Ketchup]

Glad we could help.

 

[worstchristmasever]

Update: I tried a DVI to HDMI adapter plus an HDMI cable and it was smooth. I think it was the cord...