Which one of these is causing stuttering?

[ultflood]

Hi,

I'm getting a bit of stuttering and slowdown in some current- and previous-generation games, like The Witcher, Aion, WoW, LotRO and Rift Beta. I'm running a Compaq Presario SR1750NX, and have upgraded the processor to an Athlon 64 X2 4400+, the RAM to 2 GB, and the GPU to a Geforce 7950GT (and the PSU as well).

I think that should be enough to get some decent framerates on at least medium for most games, but I'm still getting some slowdown and frequent stuttering, especially in online games and games like the Witcher. Even low-requirement games like WoW and LotRO seem to work fine for a bit, stutter for a few seconds, and then return to normal again.

Any idea what's going on? Do I need to upgrade any of these? I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have.

Thanks!

DxDiag system/video follows:

------------------
System Information
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Time of this report: 2/5/2011, 10:13:36
Machine name: STARFINDER
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.100427-1636)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Compaq Presario 061
System Model: EL445AA-ABA SR1750NX NA650
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 529MB used, 3409MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 7950 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0295&SUBSYS_C6353842&REV_A1
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0012.6658 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 1/7/2011 19:27:00, 6397824 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 1/7/2011 19:27:00, 9888672 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-41D5-11CF-F041-39E600C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0295
SubSys ID: 0xC6353842
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
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Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

 

[fffblackmage]

You mean it didn't stutter before? Have you tried changing the settings to see if the stuttering goes away?

 

[DaveSimmons]

WoW / LoTRO stuttering could be your network connection so they aren't good tests.

What screen resolution are you running at? A 7950 GT was a good card back in 2006 but it's a little old now.

Have you checked Task Manager (ctrl-alt-del) to see the CPU % from other programs that are running? You might have something like bad virus software stealing too much CPU.

Some of the possible causes are:
- Other programs (check task manager)
- Not enough RAM (2 GB is a little low for modern games, 4 GB is recommended)
- Running at too high resolution and settings (16x10 is probably too high for the 7950)
- Autoplay trying to scan a CD/DVD with read errors
- Failing hard drive
- Heat (as you ask about in your video forum thread)

You might try playing something older like Quake 4, Doom 3, Oblivion without mods, Half-Life 2, that won't stress the card as much as The Witcher or Rift. Keep the resolution lower, 14x9 or below.

 

[mfenn]

Does your hard drive access light go crazy when you notice the stuttering? If so you don't have enough RAM and are thus swapping to disk.

Does the stuttering go away when you lower the details/resolution? If so, your GPU can't keep up with the newer games.

Is one or both of your cores pegged at 100% while you play the game? If so, your CPU is too slow or you have too many background processes running.

Honestly though, I would bet that it's a combination of all of these. Your PC was pretty nice in 2006, but that was 5 years ago.

 

[Slammy1]

Check EventViewer to see if you're throwing an error and update device drivers. Also check temps (esp GPU).

First thought from your description is a polling issue (like the NIC holding control when another device needs access). If there's nothing stressing the system and it behaves like that I'd try playing with latencies to see if you can get it to disappear.

 

[ultflood]

Yes, it didn't seem to stutter when I first got the pc, but as you've mentioned, that was a while ago.

I'm running at 1680x1050, so maybe that's too high of a resolution?

I don't notice the HD light going crazy when it starts stuttering, and haven't looked at if the cores are at 100%. I'll take a look and see if it's the processors or RAM.

As for the GPU, I posted a question in another thread about the temp, because I'm getting crazy high readings even before the fan goes on. I'm not exactly sure how to fix that issue, because I can't seem to get Speedfan to change the fan speeds.

Thanks all for your helpful suggestions, please let me know if you think of anything else.

 

[ultflood]

Update: neither cores seem to go over 70% load. The GPU temp is steady around 82C, but I'm still getting 6-10 fps in some cases, and it doesn't seem to be a latency issue either. I'm thinking it's maybe RAM?

Strangely, I'm getting a 2-3 fps bump on Ultra settings, better than anything lower!

 

[mnewsham]

2 gigs is a little low...

 

[mfenn]

82C is actually a perfectly normal temperature for a GPU. It sounds like the 7950GT is just too old to handle some of the more complex effects. Y

ou really need a whole new machine, but I would first try upgrading the GPU to something like a GTX 460. If that doesn't work, you should replace the CPU, mobo, and RAM. I looked up your machine, and it appears to use DDR1. I would not recommend spending any money on RAM alone because you would (a) pay a lot for it (b) wouldn't be able to carry it over to a new machine.

 

[fffblackmage]

Update: neither cores seem to go over 70% load. The GPU temp is steady around 82C, but I'm still getting 6-10 fps in some cases, and it doesn't seem to be a latency issue either. I'm thinking it's maybe RAM?

Strangely, I'm getting a 2-3 fps bump on Ultra settings, better than anything lower!

I don't think that's stuttering... that's just a really low framerate. I was thinking stuttering as in you're getting 30fps or better and there are just random inexplicable "stutters." I had that issue with random stutters every few seconds in Mass Effect while getting 40 fps-ish.

 

[ultflood]

Update: thanks all for your help and suggestions. I upgraded the GPU to a 9800GT and added 1 gig of RAM, and everything seems to be working a lot more smoothly. I think the 7950GT fan wasn't working properly, and was overheating.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[mfenn]

Update: thanks all for your help and suggestions. I upgraded the GPU to a 9800GT and added 1 gig of RAM, and everything seems to be working a lot more smoothly. I think the 7950GT fan wasn't working properly, and was overheating.

Thanks again for your help!

Sounds good! Glad to help.

 

[ultflood]

=)