Choppy/Stuttering graphics and sound

[Eric24]

1. Overview of the problem
   Choppy/stuttering graphics and sound
   
   
2. Full description of the problem and symptoms
   My sound crackles if there is any load on the system at all.. for instance if I have windows media player up and scroll up or down viewing a web page the music crackles and stutters. When playing almost any game (worst is COD4) the graphics are choppy and anytime there is a voice sound from the game it crackles, but the background sound is fine. Also, sound from another person talking in game is fine. I could live with the sound but the graphics issue has made COD4 vitually unplayable.
   
   
   
3. Did it work normally at one time, or has the problem always existed?
   The computer worked normally for over a year after I built it before this problem arose.
   
   
   
4. Is the problem consistent and repeatable, or entirely random, or semi-random?
   Consistent problem.
   
   
   
5. I already tried these steps:
   I have updated all drivers, sound and graphics. I have set games to lowest possible setting and problem still persists. I have an LCD monitor and run at 1680 x 1050
   
   
   
6. My software:
   • 
     Windows Vista Ultimate x64
     Eset Smart Security 4
     
     
     
   • My hardware
     • 
       
       Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
       Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33 ghz CPU not OC'd
       EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512mb GPU
       8 gig OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 (1066)
       Cooler Master 500W PSU
       
       
     • Other information that might be relevant
       I have defragged, ran windows update many times.. switched to my old ram, removed and tried ram in different positions. I stress tested GPU without any errors. I've done everything I can think of to solve this problem and could really use some help. Thanks!
       Oh, also just using the onboard sound, updated the drivers to the newest realtek HD audio driver.

 

[Juddog]

Weird... from the sounds of your problem it reminds me of a sound card issue, but I don't see a sound card listed in your specs.

 

[Eric24]

That was my first thought also. I am running off the onboard sound, but after updating drivers there wasn't any change. I'm beginning to wonder if it is the motherboard going bad.. it is almost a year and a half old.

 

[mpilchfamily]

The mothebroard itself may be fine its just the onboard audio that is having problem. Go get yourself a nice cheap sound card and your good to go. Unless your itching to replace the motherboard. In which case you will need to perfrom a fresh install of the OS unless you get the exact same board.

 

[Eric24]

Well, I turned off the onboard sound via the BIOS and used a USB headset to check and see if the onboard sound was the culprit but there is no change. I started listening to a song in windows media player and opened a website and still when you scroll up or down with the mouse wheel the song crackles and stutters. I'm starting to wind down to the motherboard myself although I'm not sure what could cause this in the motherboard either. Thanks for your feedback this far and if anyone has any suggestions I'd be happy to try em.

 

[Eric24]

Anyone else have any suggestions??

 

[Intexity]

updating video and audio drivers may help. i see you have the latest audio driver so maybe uninstall and reinstall. not the most knowledgeable but would look at the PSU as a good suspect if other attempts fail.

 

[Eric24]

I have updated video and audio drivers.. I recently uninstalled the realtek and microsoft audio drivers via a cleaner and then let microsoft reinstall the audio drive and it seemed to help some. My problem is that the graphics problem doesn't happen with all games. For instance, I can play WoW and the only time you can notice the problem is when there is speech from npc's. But when playing cod4 or world at war the games are almost unplayable with the graphics stutter. I'm beyond puzzled at this point.. it seems to get worse depending on the load on the system. If I get on cod4 and go to a room that is empty it is almost non existent.. then when I hop into a room with 8 or 10 people it becomes unbearable. I know it isn't a network problem because it doesn't happen in other mmo's so I'm very confused haha. Thanks for the help, hope this new information will help someone see my problem.

 

[Pantlegz]

have you checked your cpu usage? I had a similar issue when I was trying to play a movie, listen to a song and play a game at the same time. Why was I doing this... I dunno. But it got really choppy I opened task manager and both cores were maxed out. Other than that you could try to remove the drivers reboot and reinstall them, rather than just updating. Also was anything changed before the problem occurred?