Issue with simultaneous frame freeze and sound loop, Win 8.1

[rndmavis]

When playing certain games: CSGO, LoL, Terraria, Secrets of Grindea and others I can't remember.
Games it doesn't happen in: Smite, Arma 3, Hero Siege, Gauntlet
What exactly happens: When certain sound events are triggered in each game. A sound being played loops and a single frame hangs for less than 2 seconds. Unsure of a pattern other than what is described. This can occur multiple times within 1 minute.

Things I've tried with no changes to the problem: Swapped out video card to my old 680, upgraded to 750 gold psu, RMA'd mobo, exchanged RAM, ran single channel and dual channel, performed a clean install of windows 8.1. Tried numerous nvidia drivers since January of this year, used on-board sound, disabled all sound devices through device manager, ran DPC (all green), changed power management settings to performance, toggled gsync and vsync, ran single display, disabled OC settings, insured temps are under recommended limits. Returned the 5-way optimization jumper settings to default. Not sure what else I've tried over the months. There has to be something I'm not aware of trying to fix this.

Please suggest any useful ideas you may have. This problem has been driving me crazy.

 

[rndmavis]

ASUS Z97-A | i5-4690k | MSI GTX 970 | 16gb Corsair Vengeance | Corsair CX 850M PSU | ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q | Razer Imperator | Gigabyte Aivia Osmium | Sennheiser PC 360

 

[DustinBrowder]

Update Mobo bios and it should be fixed. I'd install updated chipset drivers as well to be on the safe side.

 

[rndmavis]

Update Mobo bios and it should be fixed. I'd install updated chipset drivers as well to be on the safe side.

I had the most up to date BIOS last time I tried. There may be a new one out now. Haven't updated chipset drivers. Will try these within the next couple days and update. Won't be at this pc until then.

 

[rndmavis]

Updated BIOS and chipset to newest versions from ASUS. No change. I later tweaked my OC settings (issue happens at stock too), and it did not hang at all for 3 hours. I rebooted and it began hanging again. Still at a loss.

 

[Elixer]

Start by running OCCT for a few hours (monitor voltages), and then memtest86+ overnight.
Assuming those have no errors, the next step would be to use furmark and see how the system acts, again, monitor voltages.
If voltages are in check, as well as no artifacts, then it could be as simple as corrupted system files. So, run sfc /scannow and see if that reports any errors.

Also check event viewer for any errors you see there...

 

[sm625]

Secrets of Grindea

Is that a real game? Grindea? It sounds... like a grind fest.

 

[redzo]

It sounds like a dpc latency issue to me.
Check dpc latency using this: http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
Consult the bottom of this page about what dpc latency is.
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
Unfortunately, DPC Latency Checker, probably the most popular and easy to use dpc latency checker tool, still states that their result is unreliable in windows 8.

 

[rndmavis]

I had an anomaly with latencymon. My original fresh instal of win 8 was throwing up errors about CPU is not able to run real-time audio without error. I formatted and have ran it without errors. I ran memtest86 on the old set of RAM without errors. I replaced it with a different brand with no change. I will try memtest86 on the new sticks tonight tho.

An addition to the history of the problem: First install was causing hang ups, did another fresh install. This fixed the problem for maybe 1-2 weeks before the problem returned.

I then re-installed Smite and it's been fixed since. Re-installing other titles have not fixed it.

 

[rndmavis]

latencymon gave me

"Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS set. Check for BIOS updates."

I have now upgraded to windows 10.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:39:46 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: LUCAS-PC-2015
OS version: Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware: All Series, ASUS, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC., Z97-A
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Logical processors: 4
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 16326 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 350 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 1 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.



_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 7495.380302
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1.815430

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 7494.502588
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 0.723556


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 138.410
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.282735
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.350470

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 4441470
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 360.830
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 353.62 , NVIDIA Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.265809
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 353.62 , NVIDIA Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.506825

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 14470976
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 9
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: chrome.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 587
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 392
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 109312.9960
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.008253
Number of processes hit: 11


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 93.625748
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 138.410
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 33.410948
CPU 0 ISR count: 4403727
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 360.830
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 46.644019
CPU 0 DPC count: 13602922
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.218274
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 29.446857
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.031520
CPU 1 ISR count: 30908
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 168.774857
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.918598
CPU 1 DPC count: 607892
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.582505
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 9.365714
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.004581
CPU 2 ISR count: 4509
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 34.2180
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.407903
CPU 2 DPC count: 137860
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.623376
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 5.215143
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.002454
CPU 3 ISR count: 2326
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 57.240
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.401806
CPU 3 DPC count: 122311
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[redzo]

Did you install additional software for the Razer Imperator and Gigabyte Aivia Osmium? I would suggest to test system behavior after uninstalling the utilities that came with those.

 

[Eymar]

Maybe I/O or drive issue, check if hdd/ssd is not having issues. Use windows 10 resource monitor and monitor disk activity (largest response time should be in hundreds of ms range). Also can try increasing pci latency if BIOS currently set to 32 and bump it to 64.

 

[rndmavis]

MsMpEng.exe was consistently spiking from 600-625ms. Terraria.exe was as well.

Event viewer showing some errors:
Last 24 hours Event ID 7001 Service Control Manager=598 times
Last 1 hour Event ID 7031 Service Control Manager=8 times
Updated SSD firmware.

 

[daveybrat]

What brand/size is your hard drive?

 

[rndmavis]

Its a Kingston V300 240gb SSD

Ran memtest86+ overnight. No errors in 5 hours of runtime..

I also updated firmware on the SSD. No change.

 

[Eymar]

That is kind of high for an SSD, but SSD looks fine so maybe constant disk access. What's the disk usage graph look like(ie. is graph pegged at or close 100% for disk activity for long stretches)? I would change the SATA cable just to eliminate another variable.

 

[rndmavis]

Small sample of disk usage while freezing was happening when playing terraria.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=585BD35B37105142!359&authkey=!APWcb4frU6BIQyU&ithint=file,png

Still happening after a fresh install of windows 10. Only installed nvidia drivers, skype, winrar, spotify, steam, and chrome.

 

[Eymar]

Disk usage is normal. MsMPEng is MS virus scan I think. Try excluding the folders from realtime scanning that show up in that list or temporarily turn off realtime scanning just to test if issue is due to virus scan.

 

[rndmavis]

Disabled real time protection in windows defender. No change in the problem.

 

[rndmavis]

is it possible my ssd is bad?

 

[rndmavis]

I'm going to replace the SSD with a samsung 850 500gb and try RMAing the Kingston, unless there are further things someone can come up with. So frustrating that none of these steps have fixed it so far.

 

[rndmavis]

That is kind of high for an SSD, but SSD looks fine so maybe constant disk access. What's the disk usage graph look like(ie. is graph pegged at or close 100% for disk activity for long stretches)? I would change the SATA cable just to eliminate another variable.

It was the drive. Since I've replaced it with the EVO, everything has been running perfectly. Thanks!

 

[tweakboy]

Whats this evo ,,, Lancer car you mean ?