Help! Random Microstuttering

[abshih]

Hello Everyone,

I just assembled a new PC for a couple of weeks and I have noticed micro-stuttering/freezing when I am using the computer. It will usually last about 1-2 seconds and if there is audio streaming it will also stutter. I have been checking the temperature monitors and the mobo and cpu both are ranging from 32 C to 40 C (under load).

This usually happens once or twice a day considering I use the computer about 2-8+ hours. It's very irritating to have a brand new system and have this random problem. The problem occurs randomly when I am just doing light surfing on Firefox and listening to Spotify or if I'm playing a video game like Starcraft 2/Dota 2

My Computer Specs:
ASUS P9X79 PRO
Intel i7 Extreme (Sandy Bridge E) cooled by NOCTUA DH-14
Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600 (4 Dimms)
LSI MegaRaid 9266-4i - Raid 0 - Intel 520 120 GB x 4 (BOOT DISK)
WD Velociraptor 150 GB x 2
EVGA Geforce GTX670
ASUS Xonar STX Sound Card
Corsair 950 Watt PSU

Note: It is not the sound card because I put it in after I started experiencing this issue.

Any help would be great!

Thank you!
Alan S.

P.S. I know my computer does not have any ROG equipment, but you guys seemed more helpful than the regular ASUS Forum.

[Zka17]

Have you made sure that your memories are compatible with the motherboard (QVL)? Have you used Memtest for memories?

[abshih]

I don't think the ram I bought is part of the QVL list.

They did have Corsair Vengeance 16 GB Kit on there, but that was a 9 Cas Latency one and I got the 7 Cas Latency.

I ran the Win Mem Diagnostics on standard twice and it passed it both times.

I will be running the extended test overnight.

Any suggestions on what I should do?

I am not running any OCs.

[Zka17]

You can check your kit compatibility here: http://www.corsair.com/learn_n_explore?id=12373

Sorry, I meant Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/)

[MarshallR@ASUS]

I will put money on it being your LSI. Basically it'll have massive bandwidth numbers but your latency will probably be hit because it's a large RAID array on the back of an additional chip through the PCIe bus. That round-trip is more than your usual SATA ports. Do you really need 4-disk RAID0?

Try checking the latest drivers for it or trying a different PCIe slot, just in case.

[abshih]

Hello,

I ran the extended Win Mem test last night and it passed. I will run the MemTest86 when I get a USB Drive later today.

I suspected it may be the LSI Raid Card, but I am not sure why it would cause stuttering when watching YouTube Videos or Spotify since I would assume all streaming sources get put into RAM and it never gets written to the hard drive and read. I accidentally meant to say the the LSI Card is set up in RAID 1, not Raid 0. It could potentially be

Another forum suggested it may be the new GTX 670 because the drivers have issue with stuttering? Then again, I get audio stuttering also...

How much does it matter if the GFX card or other peripherals are on different slots? I have a NOCTUA DH-14 and it's quite large and I wouldn't be able to use the 1st PCIe slot unless I removed one of its fans.


Thanks,
Alan

[Zka17]

I was using one of those LSI Raid things on a R3E board (with 3 GTX 480s), and never had any problems...

Actually, I suspect the GTX 670 too (if the memories are alright)... maybe it's too new and it wasn't enough time to release driver/BIOS updates yet... You could try this with an other VGA if you have...

[abshih]

Hello,

so I got in contact with Corsair and I am going to get a RMA for it once I finish moving. I am hoping it is the ram. I did not run Memtest64 stick my stick I just ran with all 4 sticks in with 4 passes twice and it passed... I am hoping it is still defective.

I am def still getting the microstuttering, it seems to happen most when I am listening to Spotify or Surfing the net, but I notice it during gaming also but it does not happen as frequently.

I have also noticed that some programs act kind of sluggish compared to my previous system that had much lower specs. E.g. opening a chat window that use to be basically instantaneous now has a .5 delay. It's very strange since my gaming performance is much better... in some games I am getting frames 150+ where as I use to get ~40-50 in the past system. It's just the microstuttering that is random that is really annoying. I can get zero in a day of 5-8 hours and I can get like 4-5 in an hour.