Computer freezes in stutters and bursts when using wireless card.

[KingBean]

Okay, the scenario is this:

I built a new PC around 2-3 months ago. Well, I bought a new MoBo, CPU, GPU and RAM for my current rig.

I use a wireless card. On my previous set up (Using a Mark 1 AMD Phenom 9950), I had no issues whatsoever with this wireless card. But ever since my upgrade (Ivy Bridge i5) this same card has caused momentary hang ups, as in, the entire system becomes unresponsive (Sound will make a horrible jarring/grinding noise if I have audio on, but I don't think it is audio related, just an effect of the PC freezing).

I tired to rectify this problem by purchasing a new wireless card, all to no avail. (NO ISSUES WHEN USING A WIRED CONNECTION)

The only thing I can think of that could be down to my own error (or that of the MoBo's bios) is that I updated the MoBos bios as soon as I got it, and then experienced this problem (Due to the short time I had it before updating I have no idea if the issues were there already), BUT I DID flash the BIOS back to what it came installed with. For a few days I had no problems, but then it returned. And now, 3 months on or so, it is still here.

I should mention that the freezing occurs when online gaming or using high internet bandwidth (ie, downloading a large/multiple files), only occasionally will it freeze without correcting itself, usually it is literally a second/half second hang up and then it goes back to normal. It is far too persistent for me to just ignore but not so persistent that it completely ruins my PC experience (Like I said, it only really effects me when online gaming).

Anyway, I would appreciate some help/advice, or just some friendly input. I'm somewhat lost and Haven't found anything that can help me.

Oh, and it was all a clean windows installation. Twice infact, as I tried to fix the problem by giving Windows another fresh install.

My set up is:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Intel i5-3570K CPU
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H MoBo
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R 8GB RAM
SanDisk SDSSDX-120G-G25 120GB (SSD with OS on)
HIS HD6950 2GB GPU

Finally, I apologise for the jumble of this post. I wasn't built for creating threads! But please, just ask if you need more information.

Luke (Frustrated Self-Builder Novice)

 

[powerhouse32]

Go figure Windoze. I had a weired wireless problem too that repeated itself after some time (slow Internet).

Try check the wireless setup:

IP configuration (if you don't have/need IP6, disable it)
Also disable the network mapper stuff
Wireless card settings: if you have a b/g/n wireless card and router, check the n settings: try different options (sorry I can't say which, perhaps RTS/CTS or bandwidth 20Mhz 40Mhz Auto)

Last not least update the drivers.

Press ALT+CTL+DEL to get to the Task Manager and let it run. See which application freezes the PC when it happens. Hope you can make out something when it does (arrange by CPU load).

If your PC wasn't for gaming, I'd say ditch Win and get Linux.

 

[KingBean]

Thanks for the input. My router and wireless card are both b/g/n capable, the wireless frequency the router uses is 2.4GHz, the only other option I can set it to is 5GHz, which I have tried but my card fails to pick up the router then (Obviously not a compatible frequency for my card).
Due to the inconsistency of the problem it's quite difficult for me to be monitoring the Task Manager when it occurs. But I shall give it a shot anyway.
I'll try disabling IP6 and network mapper too.
Hopefully i'll get some answers! Thanks.

 

[KingBean]

I have just monitored the task manager while using heavy internet bandwidth. The problem arrived as expected. The odd thing is that no Process spiked with heavy CPU usage, but if I go to the performance tab in the Task Manager there is a definite spike in CPU usage history (Ranging from a 50% spike to a 95-100% spike).
Are there any known issues with Intel CPU's and wireless connectivity? or perhaps Gigabyte motherboards? It feels like a hardware issue, incompatibility or fault I cannot say. But something in PC does not like wireless cards.

 

[KingBean]

Just updated BIOS again. It is a newer version than the previous one I attempted. Will update soon.

 

[KingBean]

No luck with the BIOS update I'm afraid. Still in the dark!

 

[Guest]

Did you ever figure out the cause? I'm on a Win7 laptop with the same issue. Periodical stuttering. Stops when I disable wifi. Nothing spikes in task manager.

 

[KingBean]

I'm afraid not. Although i'm curious what hardware you are using, specifically the CPU and Mobo, because I'm semi-convinced the problem stems from them.

 

[Alliegill]

Hi did you manage to fix the issue ? I have exactly same setup like yours same motherboard same processor and same 8 gig ram with same model number . I was running testes to check if my memory was bad but then I read wireless card could cause problems so I took it out my computer haven't frozen since where as it was fully freezing every few hours . I am really frustrated . I could use some advice from you

 

[BadLuckTechGuy]

I'm aware that this is quite old now and chances are no fix has been found, but I'm encountering the same exact issue after upgrading from an AMD Phenom II to an Intel Haswell i5. I noticed that when I lock my wireless PCI card to only downloading at 4 megabytes a second, problems cease to persist - however once I let it take advantage of my max bandwidth, download speeds peak at about 7.5 meg and shortly thereafter if there is ANY multitasking going on my system will lock for anywhere between 5-30 seconds and then kick back in. When it happens, usually my wireless adapter has to reconnect to my router.

Quick update - as I've learned that Haswell chips no longer have legacy PCI support, I'm assuming that's my issue. However, it seems that the problems that I was experiencing have ceased after installing modded Atheros drivers.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/15297-latest-atheros-modded-driver-for-windows-7-vista-and-winxp/

 

[KingBean]

This is a long time coming but I fixed this problem a long time ago. It was down to the wireless PCI card. I have no idea the reasoning behind it but once I changed it (I'm now using a Gigabyte Wireless/Bluetooth PCI card) the problems ceased.