So I built my current setup about maybe 8 months ago. Here are the specs:
i5 3570k
MSI Z77A-GD55 mobo
Patriot 2133 mhz RAM (2 x 4gb)
2 x EVGA SC GTX 580 (SLI)
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800w PSU
Corsair H80 CPU closed loop cooler
Creative X-Fi Titanium sound card
Silverstone Raven RV03 case
When I first put this all together it ran fine for a few months. This problem started about 4 to 5 months ago. When gaming or even playing blu rays I get slight stutters. It doesn't happen very often in Blu rays, but in games it happens every couple of seconds. I can even find spots in games, like in Tomb Raider, where if I pan the camera back and forth over a certain area it will stutter every time, yet if I look in the opposite direction and do the same it's fine. In Battlefield 3 I enabled the performance overalay and found that whenever it stutters there is a spike in the CPU frame time. After playing for a bit the spike will be almost like rhythmic where it spikes every couple of seconds, even on the score screen at the end of the round when nothing is going on. If I continue playing passed this it ends up getting to the point where my frame rates drop way low and the performance overlay shows a ridiculous amount of variation in the CPU frame times.
Now the really weird part is when it stutters the lights in my room flicker. This isn't just placebo or anything, I can watch the performance overlay in Battlefield 3 and each time there is a CPU spike my lights flicker. And in Tomb Raider when panning back and forth over the area that stutters my lights will continually flicker. This would point to a problem with the wiring in the house, but I just recently moved here and had this problem before I moved, as well.
I'm pretty sure this isn't just a defect in games when loading new parts of the level. Stutter gets so bad at times it's unplayable and is more or less constant. Then there are sometimes when there is almost no stutter.
Also, at first I thought this problem was only in SLI, but then I noticed that I do get slight stutters on one GPU, just not anywhere near as noticeable. And when I go into window mode in battlefield 3 the stutters are gone and the performance overlay looks like it should (and it shows high usage on both gpu's, so I don't think it's disabling SLI in this situation, although I know it's supposed to).
I have tried everything I can possibly think of. I can't remember some of it but here is a list of what I can remember I've tried:
Tried adjusting almost every possible BIOS setting
Typically run CPU at 4.2 ghz, but tried adjusting back to factory defaults and tried OC'ing to 4.6. Stutter was much worse on default settings, and seemed to get better as CPU OC increased.
Reformatted PC and only installed the most basic drivers and a game to test
Took out sound card, completely uninstalled drivers (with driver sweeper) and ran onboard audio
Tried disabling onboard audio
Tried multiple drivers for just about everything (chipset, GPU, sound card)
Tried multiple new SLI bridges
Bought an SSD (installed multiple games on SSD, same problem)
Bought a UPS
Returned the UPS and got a new PSU (Corsiar HX 1050) and RAM (Corsair 1600 mhz 2 x 4gb)
Returned PSU and got a new CPU (i7 3770k)
Tried running an extension cord into the garage to be on a different breaker
I'll add more things I've tried if I can think of them, but please don't recommend the really basic stuff like Windows power setting or clean install drivers. I have tried all of the basic fixes. I have been trying to fix this for months now.
Oh, and as far as I'm aware it's not a heat issue. My GPU's max out at about 74 degrees, and CPU is max of 60 (celsius). All temps I can monitor seem fine, so unless it's RAM or VRAM temp or something I think it's fine.
Every time I change out hardware it seems to fix the problem but it eventually comes back. When I first put in the i7 I thought the problem was solved, but after 2 days it came back just as bad as before.
Sorry this post was so long, but I think it was necessary to get a full picture of my situation. I don't know much about electrical, so any recommendations for that or any recommendations at all would be much appreciated. I'm extremely frustrated with this problem and am close to giving up on PC gaming altogether.
i5 3570k
MSI Z77A-GD55 mobo
Patriot 2133 mhz RAM (2 x 4gb)
2 x EVGA SC GTX 580 (SLI)
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800w PSU
Corsair H80 CPU closed loop cooler
Creative X-Fi Titanium sound card
Silverstone Raven RV03 case
When I first put this all together it ran fine for a few months. This problem started about 4 to 5 months ago. When gaming or even playing blu rays I get slight stutters. It doesn't happen very often in Blu rays, but in games it happens every couple of seconds. I can even find spots in games, like in Tomb Raider, where if I pan the camera back and forth over a certain area it will stutter every time, yet if I look in the opposite direction and do the same it's fine. In Battlefield 3 I enabled the performance overalay and found that whenever it stutters there is a spike in the CPU frame time. After playing for a bit the spike will be almost like rhythmic where it spikes every couple of seconds, even on the score screen at the end of the round when nothing is going on. If I continue playing passed this it ends up getting to the point where my frame rates drop way low and the performance overlay shows a ridiculous amount of variation in the CPU frame times.
Now the really weird part is when it stutters the lights in my room flicker. This isn't just placebo or anything, I can watch the performance overlay in Battlefield 3 and each time there is a CPU spike my lights flicker. And in Tomb Raider when panning back and forth over the area that stutters my lights will continually flicker. This would point to a problem with the wiring in the house, but I just recently moved here and had this problem before I moved, as well.
I'm pretty sure this isn't just a defect in games when loading new parts of the level. Stutter gets so bad at times it's unplayable and is more or less constant. Then there are sometimes when there is almost no stutter.
Also, at first I thought this problem was only in SLI, but then I noticed that I do get slight stutters on one GPU, just not anywhere near as noticeable. And when I go into window mode in battlefield 3 the stutters are gone and the performance overlay looks like it should (and it shows high usage on both gpu's, so I don't think it's disabling SLI in this situation, although I know it's supposed to).
I have tried everything I can possibly think of. I can't remember some of it but here is a list of what I can remember I've tried:
Tried adjusting almost every possible BIOS setting
Typically run CPU at 4.2 ghz, but tried adjusting back to factory defaults and tried OC'ing to 4.6. Stutter was much worse on default settings, and seemed to get better as CPU OC increased.
Reformatted PC and only installed the most basic drivers and a game to test
Took out sound card, completely uninstalled drivers (with driver sweeper) and ran onboard audio
Tried disabling onboard audio
Tried multiple drivers for just about everything (chipset, GPU, sound card)
Tried multiple new SLI bridges
Bought an SSD (installed multiple games on SSD, same problem)
Bought a UPS
Returned the UPS and got a new PSU (Corsiar HX 1050) and RAM (Corsair 1600 mhz 2 x 4gb)
Returned PSU and got a new CPU (i7 3770k)
Tried running an extension cord into the garage to be on a different breaker
I'll add more things I've tried if I can think of them, but please don't recommend the really basic stuff like Windows power setting or clean install drivers. I have tried all of the basic fixes. I have been trying to fix this for months now.
Oh, and as far as I'm aware it's not a heat issue. My GPU's max out at about 74 degrees, and CPU is max of 60 (celsius). All temps I can monitor seem fine, so unless it's RAM or VRAM temp or something I think it's fine.
Every time I change out hardware it seems to fix the problem but it eventually comes back. When I first put in the i7 I thought the problem was solved, but after 2 days it came back just as bad as before.
Sorry this post was so long, but I think it was necessary to get a full picture of my situation. I don't know much about electrical, so any recommendations for that or any recommendations at all would be much appreciated. I'm extremely frustrated with this problem and am close to giving up on PC gaming altogether.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram