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Why does my computer stutter so much?

aphex

aphex

Moderator<br>All Things Apple
Moderator
Short little freezes a few times a minute... Sometimes not for 20 minutes, othertimes 20 times a minute.... I haven't been able to pin it down to a specific program...

Its an Athlon 64 3200+
ASUS K8V SE Deluxe
1gb PC3200
250gb (split 20 for windows, rest to D🙂
Radeon 9700 (w/ dual 17" LCD's, 1 dvi / 1 vga)
NEC DVD-RW
Antec True 430 PS

If it helps, it seems to happen considerably more when im using anything through the internet. Whether it be Firefox, IE, downloading a file, FTPing, etc.... However, it also does it when i play a video in WMP10. The first 3-5 seconds of the video, the video plays and i can hear sound, but my computer/mouse/controls are frozen.

The desktop was plugged directly into the router until 3 days ago and now i'm wireless, however it stuttered just as much before i switched....

What could it be?

Anything i should post here to clue you guys in?
 
Took a screencap of my current processes in the task manager.... http://www.aphexii.com/pics/processes.jpg

Also, fergot to mention that i am using norton internet security (for firewall &amp; antivirus) and i also have microsoft's new spyware program, ad-aware, spybot, &amp; spyware blaster installed and all are run weekly (so i doubt its related to spyware, as far as i can tell)
 
One more thing (which it just did less than a minute ago)

Randomly when im using it, bam, it reboots.

Dosent happen all that often, maybe 1-2 a week, but it just did it..... Just browsing the web, bam, lcd's go blank, and it reboots.
 
You might have a power problem, thats what it sounds like, it sounds like your running on the edge of your power grid and when somthing happens that requires that extra bit of power the power supply overloads and shuts off, mybe try getting a bigger power supply. i heard the new 450's are great!!
 
Originally posted by: Schmitty
You might have a power problem, thats what it sounds like, it sounds like your running on the edge of your power grid and when somthing happens that requires that extra bit of power the power supply overloads and shuts off, mybe try getting a bigger power supply. i heard the new 450's are great!!
Click to expand...

Would an extra 20 watts of power make that big a difference?

Any programs i can use to monitor my rails to see if there is a power problem, or too little power?
 
i am sure tehre are programs out there to do it. I will have to ask my buddy I know he has one to monator his power cause he was having the same problem. he was running fine, but every time he started up battlefield 1942 his coumputer whould shut down or freeze. he put a new Graphics card in and it was taking up to much power. he had to get a bigger powersupply. yea anything that gives you more power would be good. That what its sounds like the problem is. its not your physical or virtural memory cause your only using 8% of your RAM so its not that. The only other thing it might be is overheating which if you have your computer in a closed space or under a desk with poor ventalation or in a room with no AC that could cause shutdown and freezes, I had that problem about a year ago. I had my tower in the pocket of a desk with no back ventalation and it was getting hot back there with no wind circulation. I just took the back pannal off the desk and boom no more freezes!!
 
Originally posted by: Schmitty
i am sure tehre are programs out there to do it. I will have to ask my buddy I know he has one to monator his power cause he was having the same problem. he was running fine, but every time he started up battlefield 1942 his coumputer whould shut down or freeze. he put a new Graphics card in and it was taking up to much power. he had to get a bigger powersupply. yea anything that gives you more power would be good. That what its sounds like the problem is. its not your physical or virtural memory cause your only using 8% of your RAM so its not that. The only other thing it might be is overheating which if you have your computer in a closed space or under a desk with poor ventalation or in a room with no AC that could cause shutdown and freezes, I had that problem about a year ago. I had my tower in the pocket of a desk with no back ventalation and it was getting hot back there with no wind circulation. I just took the back pannal off the desk and boom no more freezes!!
Click to expand...


Nope, definately not overheating... Keeping an eye on the temps and my case is 32C and CPU is currenly 43C (with the CPU fan off). Using QFan, it turns back on when it hits 51C.

I noticed MBM5 monitors the voltages, but they don't seem to update all that fast.

Also, whats considered an acceptable range of voltages?
 
it depends on what you have in your computer. the more stuff thats higher end takes more power. if you have a bunch of onboard stuff with no true sound or graphics card. and only 1 CD drive and a floppy you can get away with 200 wtz. if you have the new radion 9600, a SB audigity2, a liquid cooling system a DVDRW a CD-rom a floppy and a ZIP drive you have to have the 450 or its just not enough power!
 
Originally posted by: mrgoblin
Ok for one that setup is nowhere near the power envelope and two he is probably infected with malware.
Click to expand...


Wouldn't one of the programs pick it up though?

I'll run hijack this and see if i find anything unusual...
 
and with all the high end stuff in your computer it sounds like a power problem. I am thinking when the other cooling fan kicks it. It might bump you over your power grid so you lose power.
 
and besides hes got malware protection u imbasul. thats what Adaware and spybot are for. they eliminate malware and spyware, Spybot is aggressive agenst malware! if his definations are up to day and he runs them every week there is a very very small chance that its malware, and i have never seen malware shut down a computer before, it will freeze it but not compeletly shut it down!
 
Originally posted by: Schmitty
and with all the high end stuff in your computer it sounds like a power problem. I am thinking when the other cooling fan kicks it. It might bump you over your power grid so you lose power.
Click to expand...

i just watched it kick on, then off, no change.....
 
Originally posted by: Tyrant222
perhaps 9700 is dying. do you have another card to test?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not..... I did notice a few corrupted textures in 3dmark05 and half-life 2, but very few.....
 
Is there anything i can run on my system to monitor it, and whatever causes it to crash, it logs?
 
Originally posted by: mrgoblin
Ok for one that setup is nowhere near the power envelope and two he is probably infected with malware.
Click to expand...

It is not

but a failing PSU could lead to an unstable machine

 
To check if its really a program giving you problems, run the computer in safemode and use it as much as you can.

If there are no problems there, then its obviously not a hardware problem....

Oh, and i just looked at the SC. god damn thats a lot of prcoesses running, i have less than half of that right now.
 
Sounds more like a virus, or scumware. Video drivers maybe? A 430w Antec is more than enough for that system. Have your tried using a differant power connector on the 9700(if it requires one)?
 
Unless the psu is bad, it should be plenty of power for that system. Could possibly be a heat problem. I'd download everest or motherboard monitor to check voltages and temps. However, more likely it does sound like a malware problem.
 
dear god you have a lot of processes running! I really hope thats NOT on startup! If it is, your definately going to want to disable quite a bit of those. I mean do you really need winamp and iTunes in your sys tray for example? It should be relative small amount of stuff on boot.
 
I'd give your memory a good test with memtest and if you find no errors, stress the cpu with prime95. Crashes can be a complete nightmare to diagnose, especially when they're not consistent with one activity.
 
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