2500K And Gaming Problem

[sas30uk]

Hi guys

I have a very strange problem.

When i play games i get bad stutters so iv been switching parts from my other pc and a fresh install of windows 7 to see if this would work. Different motherboard but same make and model as in my sig etc etc for the parts, exactly the same as in my sig but from my other system.

Now when i do a a prime95 test while gaming, my games run smooth, without prime95 my games go stuttery. What would cause this to happen and is there a way i can get my CPU to run full throttle 24/7 or would this be bad for it ?

Many thanks.

 

[sas30uk]

If i tab out of game and check CPUz its telling me 4.4Ghz, thats my OC speed. Iv tried to run at stock and does nothing, iv also flashed the bios and does nothing. Im getting so stressed out as been trying to figure this out for the past week

 

[sas30uk]

Iv read about quite a lot of people on sandybridge having stutter problems in games so looks like it might be CPU related

What makes you think yours is your PSU ? Is it a low wattage ?

 

[sas30uk]

Stupid question and I hope you do not mind me asking. What lane do you both have your graphic card in? Check on the motherboard that the card is in the x16 lane.

Other thing to do is to disable the turbo setting in your bios. In fact if you do not need the power management of Speed step or thermal throttling disable them all.

Are both people who have this issue using the same kit?

Hi 1Day

I have my graphics card in the top slot on my motherboard iv always used that and assume thats the right one, iv read through the motherboard manual and as far as i can see there is nothing to say what slot to use.

As for the other people having these problems, no they are on different kind of setups so i suppose i cant really go by my setup compared to theirs.

Will try as you suggest with the bios settings as was originally using a 4.4 on this chip. Will try with the bios settings you suggest and see how it goes

Thank you for your advice, i will try anything at the moment as this is stressing me out to high heaven lol

I haven't used a newer Intel mobo, nor an older 775 one for a while but, it was the EIST or something like that setting, and speedstep that usually you want to disable to prevent it downclocking.

Secondly I'd try running a game with gpu-z/msi afterburner in the background checking gpu clocks, check nothing is downclocking gpu wise.

Always helpful if you have a second screen then you can leave stuff like that open to check on as/when needed. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that logs cpu speed so you can check how often its downclocking, I just use cpu-z on the other screen so can see it actually happen.

Stuttering though could be down to so many different things, what game is it in, what gpu overclock if any, gddr5 auto downclocks if it finds its unstable, so theres potential that internally it can downclock WITHOUT showing externally if its unstable.

In some games vsync just does not play ball with the engine at all and produces a horrible stuttery performance, both Nvidia/AMD suffer from this in various games.

For me a 5850 can provide 60fps rock solid standing still with vsync on in Just Cause 2, but turn and it stutters, drops to 20-30fps, then after standing still or just not turning the fps gets back up to 60fps after a few seconds.

Now turn off vsync and all the same settings the 5850 blasts along well above 100fps and DOESN'T drop when turning, at all, buttery smooth doing anything. Vysnc just introduces horrible horrible stuttering from no where, don't know why but it does, GTA4 tends to be less good with vsync on, with Nvidia users seeing it aswell in that game.

It could be loads of different things and hopefully its not anything that Sandybridge/intel have changed that makes games have issues, though Steam doing an update just for it, and various other Sandybridge issues are starting to make me think otherwise.

Drunkenmaster you have some nice points there so allong with changing my bios settings i will also try as you suggest too as could only make things better hopefully

Thanks for the help, will report back with results.

 

[sas30uk]

Ok iv done my bios settings by disabling turbo and speed step and the thermal control. When i launch CPUz i see 1.6 idle and 4.4 when i run anything like prime 95 or launch a program. Is this normal or should it be running at 4.4 constant ?

Thanks.

 

[sas30uk]

If it's not a CPU throttle, could it be the thermal throttle on your GPU, I notice you flashed it from a HD6950 to an HD6970?

I'm just wondering if running prime means the game is running slightly slower, and therefore the card isn't under as much load and isn't throttling, but without prime, the game is running faster and the card is constantly throttling.

I forgot to mention im running the graphics card at stock as i was beginning to think the graphic card was suspect. I just flicked the switch back to the default bios and running at stock clock and memory speeds.

 

[sas30uk]

Btw this problem is still happening even with the bios settings with speed step disabled and turbo disabled, also thermal control disabled. No further closer to solving what can be causing the game stutters. Its across a number of games and not just 1 or 2 so i know something is wrong somewhere

 

[sas30uk]

Update

Iv tested a 5850 and i get the same problems so not graphic related, got to be motherboard or CPU but iv swapped motherboards and CPU's from the other system to this with a fresh install of windows 7 and still not right.

Motherboard is the exact same model with same bios and CPU is same as what i had in my main system.

Does anyone know of such a problem with these CPU's or motherboards ?

 

[sas30uk]

Have you turned off hard drive indexing on the drive you have the game installed.

No 1day i dont know how to do that, will search google

Ok found it and done it will try my games soon and let you know if that worked.

 

[sas30uk]

Update :

Iv tried with indexing off and still does not help.

The problem only appears when i move mouse to the left or right or if im strafing left or right in games. If im moving forward i dont get the stutters.

Iv tested 3 mice and 2 monitors also to eliminate them but nothing.

 

[sas30uk]

what games are you getting the problem with?

sata ports set to AHCI mode?

Any FPS game i try im getting. Crysis 2 demo, BFBC2 & Counter strike source so far. Yes my sata ports are also set to AHCI. Iv tried every component change now and still the same.

I guess it has to be a bios setting or a driver problem but i have a clean install of windows 7.

 

[sas30uk]

Nope I have not had a single issue with my SB gaming set up. And I have used most of the different cards to test the performance including cross fire and Sli.

That is why this thread is so puzzling for me. I suspect that drivers or some conflict in hardware settings is causing this. But not sure how to go about identifying the problem. The fact that prime running removes the issue. Is just mind boggling.

Iv done more tests with prime95 running and that actually does not stop the problem, maybe just had a good few mins at the time prime was started. Im puzzled myself, my last ditch effort would be to try a different type of motherboard and not the asus one. Surely cant be a CPU issue.

Did you try with Vsync disabled, as in certain games thats exactly what i got, Just Cause 2 being the worst in that moving in a straight line everything was fine but turning produced a lot of slowdown/stutter, without vsync the problem just wasn't there, turn it off in game and remember to check the CCC just incase you have vsync forced in there aswell. I'd also try with just vsync enabled in game, and vsync forced from the control panel.


THeres certainly some oddities lately I'm finding, Nvidia/AMD and various setups have strange stuttering no ones really found a cause of, while Vsync worked for me in Just Cause, other games can have a little of the same issue while plenty have entirely no issues.

Iv tried with vsync off and on. Weirdly enough if i have vsync off in BFBC2 i get even worse stutters while flying the chopper over buildings its even more pronounced.

 

[sas30uk]

Do you have access to a Nvidia card by any chance? Might be a driver issue?

Nope but thinking of getting one just to test.

 

[sas30uk]

Update :

Iv just tested my PC without any graphics drivers and its still playing exactly the same as with drivers so does this mean the drivers are not getting detected ?

I right click my computer and devices, then display and unistall drivers. I try to install the ATI drivers and then it asks me to restart but when i do my display has changed resolution and i dont have CCC no more.

Also i noticed at the end of installing the ATI drivers i see it says installing VGA compatible device and its searching windows update for this. Is that normal or should it not be detecting that from the drivers ?

Many thanks.

 

[sas30uk]

11.2 the latest one i believe.

JFYI

I get these stutters even during minecraft game and i know this is not heavy on the graphics i doubt :/

 

[sas30uk]

Iv not long got back from OcUK

Got a new Asus P8P67 Pro *Revision 3* motherboard and a MSI 580 GTX

Just finishing off a fresh winodws 7 install just to be on the safe side and then downloading a couple of games and will do some testing to report back with.

Thanks a lot for the help so far here

 

[sas30uk]

Complete and utter rubbish. Sandybridge cpu's do not have a stutter issue. Have you tried putting your 6950 back to stock?

Yes i have tried it at stock i mentioned that in my above posts. Still does not help.

do a quick google search, there are several people having random stuttering issues in games on their new SB builds, so to say its rubbish is harsh, just because lots of people dont have issues, does not mean some setups wont have some. they have also said they have tried a different gfx card to eliminate that, so the 6950 being OC'd would not be the problem.
after a bit of reading, there is an issue with HDAudio, have you disabled that and see if the problem goes?

I will try that if after testing on the nvidia card fails mate, would not affect me really as im using a USB headset.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[sas30uk]

Update :

New revision motherboard and Nvidia 580 GTX working all fine on crysis 2 demo, thats the game that was showing most signifficant signs of a problem along with BFBC2. Looks like all is good for now. Cant untill tomorrow so i can test BFBC2.

So far im happy and 1day looks like you might have been right about that compatibility problem.

Will post tomorrow when tested BFBC2.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[sas30uk]

How is it with the 6950? (In the interests of nailing what your actual problem was)

I dare not put it back in at the moment mate now everything is fine. Going to put it in the other system and do some more tests with having the 2 new motherboards. Will find out tomorrow and speak to you on teamspeak about it

Just for reference all systems with perfectly working hardware old and new can have problems and do, it may seem harsh but it was being implied the issue is down to Sandybridge cpu's and that is not true.

Eliminating something to test just because it wasn't the reason on someone elses similar issue is not to be advised either. I would always suggest anyone with issues, back everything to stock and check. It's common sense. Not everyone has a winner when they unlock 6950's either.

I did set everything back at stock, at last resorts it was looking like it could be a CPU problem but thankfully thats not turned out to be the case.