7900 GTO stuttering

[Skyguy]

I have a very unusual problem, and I'm open to any theories here.

I have an EVGA 7900 GTO, E6300 C2D, 2x1024 OCZ Platinum....system is OC'd to 3.0 ghz.


Running 3DMark05, 06, and Call of Duty 2 timedemo...I notice the framerates "stutter". But they stutter/jump consistently, approximately every 4-5 seconds. Weird thing is, all benchmark scores are not adversely affected at all. I tried the card in an AMD system I'm building, and no stutters. I tried another 7900 GTO card in my system, and it stutters. Temps are fine, etc, etc. So I've proven that it's not the gfx card itself causing the problem.

Now, I don't know if this is relevant or not, but during the benchmarks, I monitored my CPU usage and I see that it tends to "jump around" a fair bit. I'll closed many background processes.......should I try it in safe mode? So I'm wondering if this would be causing it, if some sort of throttling is causing it, if my virtual memory is a cause, etc, etc. Like I mentioned, the stuttering happens at consistent intervals......but only on my machine, not on the AMD rig.

So, does anyone have any ideas? I've tried new drivers, set the BIOS back to stock speeds, swapped cards, monitored temps, etc, etc. To be honest, I'm clear out of ideas.

Is there some sort of C2D optimizer that I need? Am I missing a setting in the Nvidia Control Panel? Do GTOs/GTXs not like Allendales? I'm stumped.


The one that can solve this problem gets a cookie LOL. Seriously, I need help. Please!

Much appreciated.

 

[lavaheadache]

I would probably guess its the hard drive caching as I had a problem very similar to that when a pos maxtor drive I had was failing

 

[videopho]

Try to disable all Vsync.

 

[Skyguy]

Yep, got Vsync disabled. And the HD is brand new, SATA Western Digital 16 meg cache, exact same as the one in the AMD rig......and the GTO doesn't stutter there

 

[Captante]

Do you by any chance have another video card you could try test in the Intel system?

Does it still happen if you run the system at default speeds?

 

[imported_Crusader]

Sounds to me like a undervolted CPU overclock.

Maybe since you were overclocking something is damaged? I dont know if thats even possible.

I'd def try the bios "optimized defaults" and "safe defaults" if both are available.

Also, try stock settings but give it a bit of extra cpu vcore.. just an idea.

After that, a format.
After that, try replacing one part one at at a time. Starting with PSU, then CPU, then memory, then motherboard.

 

[Skyguy]

I have a 7600GT I can try...I'll give that a go.

Also, I reset the BIOS (took out the battery) and ran back at stock 1.86 ghz with all stock vCore, etc.....same stuttering. But I can easily bump up the vCore and see what happens.

What really stumps me is that the stuttering happens at regular intervals (every 4 - 5 seconds) but it does not appear to affect benchmark performances......that's very weird. It's like the gpu is rendering fine but the cpu/hard drive/virtual mem/something can't keep up smoothly......it's too much of a coincidence that the stuttering happens like clockwork.....runs fine, then lag, runs fine then lag....every 4-5 seconds. That has me stumped.

Anyways, I'll try the 7600 tomorrow and report back. Thanks for the ideas so far, much appreciated.

 

[akshayt]

me still suffering from a similar problem, will go to someone to sort it out soon. At XS I received replies regarding heat issues.

 

[Skyguy]

Normally I'd agree too. But in this instance, I tried a brand spanking new GTO, right out of the box, also with a PCI slot fan blowing on it. Ran 3DMark right away and it stuttered. And temps were fine.

So I think I've definitely ruled out the vid card as the problem. There must be something in my system that's causing it. I'll try a 7600GT tonight and see. Then I'll swap PSU's and see about that. I have no substitute Intel CPU or mobo to test though.....just an AMD system, and it seems fine there. I'll spend more time tonight investigating. This one has me stumped though......I kinda hope it's something easy like the PSU..........

 

[liquid51]

I've had a similar issue with my x2 4800 rig. Doom 3 and wow give me a rythmic stutter, while eve and bf2 run smoothly. On my a64 3700+ rig, wow runs fine, but doom3 still stutters. Google earth stutters on the dual core rig also, but is perfect on the single core setup.
I've never been able to figure out what the issue is, and Ive dealt with it for so long that I just gave up on it. I tried xp and xp64, all ms hot fixes, all amd drivers, fiddled with proc affinity, etc. with no difference. The dual core rig absolutely flies (both fly actually), so I really can't be bothered anymore...

oh yeah, I swapped everything but the cpu: vid card, mobo, ram, hdd's, psu... no change.

 

[Skyguy]

"Rhythmic stutter" is actually a very good description of my situation.......sounds like we may have the same problem As I said, I'm stumped. I do have an easy workaround......by simply capping the framerate in CoD2 at 75 fps in DX9......the stutter is no longer noticeable (even though I know it still exists). The situation just pi$$es me off though.

My system exhibits no other issues......cpu, memory benchmarks are fine. And graphics benchmarks don't seem adversely affected either. The constant timing of it all is very suspicious......

 

[videopho]

Go to M/$ site, download & install the latest DX-9 version.
Defrag your hdd too.

 

[wanderer27]

Is "Enable Write Combining" active ?

You can find this by right-clicking on the Desktop background, select Properties, Settings, Advanced, and then it'll be on the Troubleshoot tab.


Edit:

Duh, I forget the most important part - turn off "Enable Write Combining" as this is generally what causes this problem (stuttering) for some reason.

 

[Skyguy]

Hard drive is brand new, so no defrag required........

Disabled Write Combining and restarted............still stutters. Just my luck..........

 

[akshayt]

Try exposing the system to a fan blower after opening the cabinet. Or go to somebody else's house who may know what to do(as I am going to somebody else house soon)

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Originally posted by: akshayt
Try exposing the system to a fan blower after opening the cabinet. Or go to somebody else's house who may know what to do(as I am going to somebody else house soon)

That is probably the best thing you have ever decided :laugh:

 

[liquid51]

I guess I could try and cap the framerate, but I'm locked at 60 with vsync (old crt ) as it is. I don't have much headroom. I have not, however, heard if the "enable write combining" fix. I guess I'll give that a go.

 

[Skyguy]

Vsync.....OUCH.

ya, capping it made it "disappear", though I know the problem still exists....it just "masks" it for now. Oh well, guess it's the price I pay for getting a great card at a cheap price.....pun intended

 

[akshayt]

show to some real tech know how guy, or post at XS.

 

[akshayt]

is your system stuttering free now, what did you do for that?