CPU Overclock and stuttering

driedupfish

Member
Aug 3, 2013
35
0
0
Ever since I OC my i5-3570k to 4.2 Ghz, which is in no way overboard, I've observed some very minor stuttering / microstuttering when playing some games (Crysis 2).

I am pretty sure my GPU OC is stable as I haven't encounter this problem before.

Bear in mind that I've done stability testing with no BSOD or anything, and 4.2 Ghz should be doable on this CPU. How likely do you think the stuttering is the result of an unstable CPU OC?

My spec:

i5-3570k
HD 7950
8 GB RAM
Win. 8

EDIT:
Temps are low for both my GPU and CPU.

GPU: Never hit above 60c when playing Crysis 2.

CPU: Even cooler.

I even monitor the frametime using Afterburner. The frame latency seems pretty stable, with average frametime of around 20ish millisecond. Base on this, gameplay should be smooth as butter, but it just felt like there is stutter here and there.

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IDK, could be a psychological thing.
 
Last edited:

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
3,691
21
81
Ever since I OC my i5-3570k to 4.2 Ghz, which is in no way overboard, I've observed some very minor stuttering / microstuttering when playing some games (Crysis 2).

I am pretty sure my GPU OC is stable as I haven't encounter this problem before.

Bear in mind that I've done stability testing with no BSOD or anything, and 4.2 Ghz should be doable on this CPU. How likely do you think the stuttering is the result of an unstable CPU OC?

My spec:

i5-3570k
HD 7950
8 GB RAM
Win. 8

Is your ram oced to?
 

jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,394
1
81
If you believe it (stuttering) only started when you overclocked, then it is easy to verify.

1.) While still overclocked, play Crysis 2 again. Still stuttering? (Yes/No)
-- NO: Then it must have been something else during your previous play session.
-- YES: Go to 2.)

2.) Remove overclock, go back to stock. Play Crysis 2 again. Still stuttering? (Yes/No)
-- NO: Then it is your overclock, since it is the only thing that has changed.
-- YES: It's not your overclock, it only happened that you noticed it after the OC. Something else you've installed / did / configured is affecting the smoothness of Crysis 2.

Repeat 1 and 2 until you are satisfied the results are consistent enough for you to either be convinced it is the OC (i.e., stuttering always disappears at stock, and always appears at 4.2GHz), or that it is definitely not the OC (i.e., stuttering happens regardless of OC status, or the stuttering's appearance/disappearance is not consistent enough).

Tell us how it goes when you are done with your experiments.
 

bgt

Senior member
Oct 6, 2007
573
3
81
Ever since I OC my i5-3570k to 4.2 Ghz, which is in no way overboard, I've observed some very minor stuttering / microstuttering when playing some games (Crysis 2).
I noticed the same when OCing my 3770K to 4.4Ghz playing TR. In benching it showed improvement but playing it stuttered more.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
145
106
Might just be GPU related. As the GPU struggles more. Assuming your CPU doesnt throttle.
 

inf64

Diamond Member
Mar 11, 2011
3,884
4,691
136
Looks like CPU is throttling to low clocks due to unstable OC.
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Looks like CPU is throttling to low clocks due to unstable OC.
An unstable OC would be manifesting itself as invalid results and ultimately crashing and other system stability issues. Throttling is sometimes indicative of cooling issues, but I've never seen it manifest itself as an indicator of whether an overclock is stable.
 

inf64

Diamond Member
Mar 11, 2011
3,884
4,691
136
Might have worded it badly. His OC is hitting high temps and hence the throttling to low clocks resulting in stuttering. You can say that OC is unstable if it cannot be sustained (CPU is not running at desired clock for whatever the reason is).
 

el etro

Golden Member
Jul 21, 2013
1,584
14
81
This kind of stuttering is CPU-based and was not supposed to happen by any way(with this cpu) even with your overclock.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
If your CPU is throttling, it would explain this and would not crash the system. Knowing your temps would be key here.

Not knowing temps, I wouldn't be too quick to rule out video card drivers. Do you have the latest? You said your video card is overclocked as well, so it sounds like some temp monitoring and speed adjusting is in order here.
 

driedupfish

Member
Aug 3, 2013
35
0
0
Temps are low for both my GPU and CPU.

GPU: Never hit above 60c when playing Crysis 2.

CPU: Even cooler.

I even monitor the frametime using Afterburner. The frame latency seems pretty stable, with average frametime of around 20ish millisecond. Base on this, gameplay should be smooth as butter, but it just felt like there is stutter here and there.

IDK, could be a psychological thing.
 
Last edited:

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
Temps are low for both my GPU and CPU.

GPU: Never hit above 60c when playing Crysis 2.

CPU: Even cooler.

Those video card temps don't look right to me. Someone with more experience in that game could say for sure though. Anandtech and Legit Reviews both show that card getting into the mid 70s during testing, and Legit didn't even have the card in a case.
 

driedupfish

Member
Aug 3, 2013
35
0
0
Those video card temps don't look right to me. Someone with more experience in that game could say for sure though. Anandtech and Legit Reviews both show that card getting into the mid 70s during testing, and Legit didn't even have the card in a case.

I have a gigabyte windforce 7950, those cards have 3 fans. And I also added 2 megaflow 200mm case fans.
 

Abwx

Lifer
Apr 2, 2011
11,851
4,825
136
As frequencies are increased errors in the cache can increase
in a bigger ratio than said overclocking.

In principle such errors are corrected by an algorithm and are always
transparent for the user unless data corruption is too high and the CPU
is performing data intensive tasks , in wich case the correction can need
more cycles and will be visible by the user in an application such as game
where the user is permanently witnessing the result of the data flows ,
contrary to a rendering where it couldnt be observed , by the definition.