Can someone please offer any suggestions as to why disk access (or launching a new program) would cause stuttering and/or choppiness to occur during MP3 playback under 98se?
I have tried the following and am getting really frustrated confused;:
- 1. Installed latest WinAmp version and latest Windows Media Player
Both have this stuttering problem. WinAmp freezes my system occasionally.
- 2. Bought PNY 256 MB PC133 from Staples for $43 with PM, $10 off and $20 rebate
Thanks to the Hot Deals PNY Thread
Now, I have a total of 384 megabytes and still stuttering. I used the System Monitor to track Unused Physical Memory and Swapfile in use, but this didn't give me any new information.
- 3. Increased Sound playback performance to FULL under Control Panel -> Multimedia -> Audio -> Advanced Properties
Still, the same problem.
- 4. Changed the System properties -> Performance -> File Sytem -> Hard Drive : Settings - "Typical role of this computer" from "Desktop Server" to "Network Server"
Still, the same problem.
- 5. Changed the System properties -> Performance -> File Sytem -> Hard Drive : Settings - "Read ahead optimization" to FULL
Still, the same problem.
- 6. Ran "msconfig" to see if any Startup processes were causing this to occur
I removed some miscellaneous processes and still, the same problem.
- 7. BIOS Settings
Not too sure if any would help out, so I didn't mess around too much here.
- 8. Disk defragmenting
I haven't done this yet as it will take quite a few hours to complete.
Here's a list of my hardware
P2/400
384 MB
Seagate ST 34573LW (4.3 GB) on SCSI - Adaptec 2940UW PCI
Western Digital (30 GB) on IDE <-- problem happened before I added this on
Diamond Sonic S100 sound card <-- crappy card?
Best Data TNT2 video card
Just for reference here a WinTune snapshot of my system:
CPU (1) Intel Pentium II with MMX@401 MHz
Video Board NVidia TNT2 M64
Video Mode 1024x768@32bits/pixel
RAM 384 MB
OS Windows 98 4.10.2222 A
Area Tested Value
CPU Integer 1162.741 MIPS
CPU Floating Point 460.3087 MFLOPS
Video(2D) 53.43543 MPixels/s
Direct3D 39.36422 MPixels/s <-- is this low or what?
OpenGL 32.3884 MPixels/s <-- is this low or what?
Memory 683.5572 MB/s
Cached Disk 77.65924 MB/s
Uncached Disk 3.986543 MB/s
Any help would be appreciated!