Stuttering in games

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bartmasta

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Yo all, since a few days ago all my games have been stuttering. I'm getting normal fps which is at least 60 and up to 250 depending on the game, and all of them have been stuttering.

It started a few days ago. I don't know what's causing it and I nearly tried everything, reinstalling display drivers, setting cpu and ram settings to stock, defragmenting, reinstalling games, turning on vsync...

Please help! + 1 internets to whoever helps
 
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bartmasta

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PS: No it's not internet related and by stuttering I mean when I start moving it feels like it freezes for 0.1 sec

here is what i mean http://www.xfire.com/video/77b92/
 
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bartmasta

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CPU: AMD 64 x2 6000+ brisbane core 3.1 GHz @ 3.3 GHz
GPU: Palit 9600 GT 1 GB o/c edition
RAM: 2 x 1 GB Patriot 4-4-4-12 826 MHz 2.2 V
HDD: 80 gb samsung and 260 or something GB seagate
PSU: Modecom feel illumination 500w
 
MykC

MykC

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I would...

1) disable the sound device for your PC in device manager. Reboot. Launch game. If the problem still persists I would...

2) Run a spyware program. Reboot. Launch game. If the problem still persists I would...

3) Open msconfig, disable all programs that launch on startup. Remove all shortcuts in the startup folder. Reboot. Launch game. If the problem still persists I would...

4) Format and reinstall. Install video drivers only. Install the game only. Reboot. Launch game. If the problem still persists I would

5) Do steps 1 and 3. Reboot. Lauch game. If the problem still persists. Something is F-d up.


On a side note, I've never found defragging my HDD to do anything uselful except waste time.
 
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bartmasta

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Tried 1,2, 3. Don't know what you mean by remove all shortcuts in the startup folder.

Also tried running on intergrated graphics.

I've checked out Windows event viewer and I've been getting this error quite a lot:

The npkcrypt service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

Still have to try memtest
 
MykC

MykC

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Start buttom -> All Programs

This will show all the programs you have shortcuts to their folders. There is a folder called "start up". If you place a shortcut in this folder it will run the shortcut each time windows starts up. But, for the most part unless you put something in there, nothing is going to be in there.
 
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ozarkamax

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google search says npkcrypt is part of a game called gunbound if that helps. if you know of that game you might try reinstalling it or troubleshoot using that info.
 
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bartmasta

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Well I reinstalled windows. didn't fix it. I tried running a cpu stress test for 14 hours, no errors. Tried memtest with both sticks. no errors.

It's still happening. I think it's either the cpu or motherboard, but how do I fix it?
 
MykC

MykC

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Now, it safe to assume it hardware related. So, your going to have to replace or try your hardware on a platform that is working properly to see if you can reproduce the error when changing out the equipment.

This isn't always possible unless you have another computer in the house or a friends computer you can work with. Start with the video card because I would say that a good majority of the time its related to this. Your CPU from my experience, either works or doesn't and the outside chance its a problem with your motherboard.

Also, try running the games at the lowest resolution and the lowest grafic settings and does the sound stutter as well?
 
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bartmasta

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I already took my 9600 GT out and tried intergrated i was getting exact same thing, also tried lowest settings. Music sometimes stutters. You may say it's because of multitasking but i was never getting this before.
 
gamerk316

gamerk316

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If music stutters, we're down to CPU (not likely), sound (driver issues?). memory (likely BSOD by now), or HD (probable culprit).

Run a HD check, theres enough free programs around. You might be having an HD dieing on you...
 
MykC

MykC

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The only time I've got stuttering in a game is when
a) Sound problems
b) Not enough memory

But these aren't the problems... I wouldn't say multitasking would ever cause this problem unless it consumed a lot of your memory that the game wanted.

Does it stutter when your just standing around in an area that has nothing going on or changing? If it stutters while your idly doing nothing in an enviroment that has nothing changing then it would rule out a swapping issue.
 
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bartmasta

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Ughh

How would I be able to see if the game is stuttering if nothing is moving/changing

Although I think it's only when I start to move around
 
MykC

MykC

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Well, subtle animations in the enviroment or your characters idle animations, more noticable if the music stuttors.
 
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bartmasta

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you may be on to something

when im not typing or anything my music isnt stutering and when i am it does stutter

could be related with the games
 
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RegistrationCop

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Hey there. I've been having this stuttering issue for quite a while now also. I don't notice it in music or any kind of sound based apps. In games (full screen 3D) the sound never stutters or misses a hitch, but the video does this thing where it's like - "smooth, skip, smooth, skip, smooth, skip" consistently. It skips at the same rate of time every time (once every half a second or so). This leads me to believe it isn't a performance issue (like fragmented HDD, low speed memory (or not enough), slow processor, slow video card etc.). My framerates are always excellent, but the problem seems to lie in possible frame skipping. I think it's some type of driver/hardware compatibility issue. I have tried XP SP2/SP3, Windows Vista 64, Windows 7 64, and I haven't noticed much of a difference. Some notable games that do this are Oblivion, Fallout 3, Blood (when running in Dosbox emulation), Daggerfall (when running with VDM Sound in XP), Doom 3, and Quake 4 to name a few. With all of these games there is a skipping that is always consistently on que time-wise. Meaning it always does it the whole time and on a strictly consistent basis. Seems like it could be an error in data flow, like I mean the data isn't flowing smoothly, it's skipping beats. I'm so frustrated.

My system - Pentium Dual Core E6300 @ 3.8 GHz, Corsair Dominator 1066 MHz (DDR2) 5-6-6-18 2T @ 2.1 v, ATI Radeon HD 4870 (Visiontek, 512 MB), Western Digital Caviar Black 640 GB with 32 MB cache, Antec 1200 case, DVD/RW/CD combo drive, Gigabyte EP45-UD3L Revision 1.0 board, X-Fi Xtreme Gamer sound card by Creative Labs, Antec EA-650 (650 watt) PSU, Zalman 9900 LED CPU cooler.
 
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RegistrationCop

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To add to my previous post, I'm going to try using an older IDE drive connected directly through my IDE slot/controller on my board. Right now I am using SATA II and somewhere else on another forum I read about some guy having the stuttering/skipping issue and he found out the cause was SATA controller issues. I'm not sure if his problem was the same as mine, or even if your guys' problems are the same as mine. It makes it difficult to tell when we can't compare physical results.. Simply typing on a forum actually causes a little added confusion in my opinion. It's hard to convey what I or anyone else means in their posts... If anybody here has any ideas to what the cause could be, please let us know.

Oh, and here are some things I've tried --> Defragmenting/formatting HDD, switched to another HDD, switched between 3 video cards, sold my M4A79T Deluxe board (which I thought was the cause, man I feel dumb, BIG MISTAKE) for this UD3L board (I know, I know), switched from AMD to Intel CPU (after trying a different AMD CPU), tried RAID 0 between the two drives I had, turning off virus protection, no virus protection, reinstalling XP/Vista/7, different monitor, 3 different power supplies, etc... AND STILL, the problem is here. I have basically switched ALL of my hardware out. It's upsetting, to say the least, when you have an itch that you can't scratch. A decent fix for Oblivion and Fallout 3 was to use the Oblivion and Fallout 3 stutter remover(s) (mod(s)), they work very well for the most part and make the games totally playable. You have to tweak some settings but they will work if setup right. I'm getting a hunch here that it's either SATA controllers, or some type of optimization in video drivers that the video card companies are doing lately for newer games. I'm guessing a lot of newer games don't do this as much. I noticed my older computer never had this problem until updating drivers (I think, could be wrong, could have been something else). Any suggestions, anybody?
 
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titdoctor

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I know you said defragging hasn't helped. But, you should try a quality defrag program like PerfectDisk. I have to defrag before every game or the gameplay is slightly choppy. Mayb try a pagefile defrag also?Some older games like pagefile memory.
 
EepSquared

EepSquared

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Could be an IRQ conflict too (which I've ruled out on my system since disabling the only other component sharing an IRQ with my video card: an unused USB hub).

I have stuttering in Assassin's Creed 2 and Mirror's Edge after getting a PNY GeForce 9800GTX+ 512MB. On the same system and video drivers (and upgraded to latest as of this post--Forceware 197.45) with an EVGA 8600GTS 512MB there is no stuttering so it's gotta be the vid card in my case. It doesn't matter if I use the 6-pin supplemental power cable or 6-pin-to-4-pin Molex 8981 connector Y adaptor (but plugging 2 4-pin Molex 8981 connectors into the Y adaptor reduces the stuttering a bit, compared to only 1 Molex 8981 connector).

Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz)
Gigabyte 8I945P-G motherboard
4GB DDR2 400MHz dual-channel RAM
Antec Trio 550W (3 +12V rails and is enough power for all of my hardware per http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp )

See http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/280544-33-stuttering-9800gtx#t2144890 for my reply in a similar stuttering thread.
 
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