CPU Overclock and stuttering

[driedupfish]

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.

IDK, could be a psychological thing.

 

[Jaydip]

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]

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]

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]

Might just be GPU related. As the GPU struggles more. Assuming your CPU doesnt throttle.

 

[inf64]

Looks like CPU is throttling to low clocks due to unstable OC.

 

[ViRGE]

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]

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]

This kind of stuttering is CPU-based and was not supposed to happen by any way(with this cpu) even with your overclock.

 

[Ketchup]

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]

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.

 

[Ketchup]

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]

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.

 

[ViRGE]

IDK, could be a psychological thing.

I won't call you crazy, but it's entirely possible. If in doubt, run some benchmarks with FRAPS and see what pans out.

 

[Abwx]

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.