Sporadic audio stuttering/video frame drops with system freezes

O

Octave7

Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2021
Posts
5
Hello there,

I've been having sporadic audio stuttering + video frame drops and system freezes for a couple of months.
It comes and goes for the time being and I've tried a lot of things even with suggestions coming from some of posts in this forum, but nothing seems to resolve the issue completely.
So, I'm posting all the required information here and I'm hoping if some of you would give me some more ideas of what is causing the problems.

Performance Recorder Trace File:
trace.zip

Sysnative BSOD Collection:
SysnativeFileCollectionApp.zip

Speccy Spec Snapshot:
http://speccy.piriform.com/results/BYHfDzdpQFbsY3bFnY1mKKZ

LatencyMon Report:
LatencyMon.zip

To give more details on the system and problem:
The PC is just a bit over 1 yr old.
It was working perfectly fine until it wasn't.
I first noticed when I heard static noise when I watch live stream or HD videos.
Then, audio stuttering and frame drops start pretty regularly showed up playing games or even just watching videos.
Even with system idling, I can notice the mouse movement is not smooth sometimes, which quite indicates micro system freezes.

Things that I tried:
1. ram test with MemTest86: PASSED; no error whatsoever
2. reinstall Windows 10 with fresh drivers, including reformatting my whole M2 drive: didn't solve it
3. M2 drive self-testing (extensive): PASSED
4. install latest drivers : I got a 3rd tool to identify driver issues, and it did suggest updating audio drivers and all that but it still didn't completely solve the issue
5. updating BIOS: I have the latest and refreshed last week and it didn't help

I did mention that the problem can come and go.
Sometimes, I can go through a whole night gaming, only noticing this issue maybe a handful of times like hiccups.
However, just now, I had a pretty bad string of freezes and the games just became unplayable.
The sporadic nature kinda steers me to the drivers and software but the problem is also persistent that I would not be surprised that it's my hardware.
I don't have a 2nd PC, so it's not possible for me to swap out parts to debug, especially things like power supply.

Some other information:
Power supply: Seasonic FOCUS GX-650, 650W 80+ Gold, Full-Modular
Memory: Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 (I'm using A2+B2)
No 3rd party security/antimalware software, and the window defender/antimalware is on
No CPU overclocking
D.O.C.P is enabled for RAM

Thanks for reading and appreciate any insight into the problem!

Octave7
 
Hi, @FreeBooter ! Appreciate the suggestions!
I've tried the latest Radeon drivers released on 12/3 once, but it wasn't helping, and that was before I reinstalled everything.
After I reinstalled, I just went for the latest WHQL driver since the latest is optional.
Anyway, I'm downloading both and give it another try.
Any alternative download link to the RealTek HD Audio Codecs?
It's only 250MB, but it says it's gonna take me 2hrs to download it.
 
Ok, I updated both drivers, GPU and HD Audio Codecs.
I'll see if this helps or not.
I'll report back one way or the other.
 
Hi @FreeBooter : I haven't gotten a lot of hours using my PC after I updated those 2 drivers.
I think I had about 4-5 hrs in total and about 2-3 hrs in game.
So far so good, I must say!
I think I notice only one hiccup but I think that could be the game itself, and the rest is stutter free.
I'll keep monitoring!
So, I think the HD audio codec driver is making a difference, and I had some issues with the new GPU driver but that's a separate issue.
I must have tried 4-5 different audio drivers but none worked out, including the one that is on ASUS website.
So, I really appreciate your recommendation!
If the problem occurs again, I'll report back!
 
Hi all, I hope there is no problem reviving this post, because my audio stuttering and video frame drop problem has returned.
It also took a worse turn this time as I'm experiencing black screens and screen flickering in game.
It usually started with stuttering issues and eventually it becomes black screen.
The Radeon software does report a crash and recovery after a couple of minutes (never recovered one time).
I tried driver versions 21.12.1 (optional) and 21.10.2 Recommended (WHQL) but neither worked out.
Right now, I only have the driver installed without Adrenalin software, and so far, I haven't experienced black screens but stuttering is still there.
I also notice the VGA LED was led after post but my PC still functioned.
It only went away after the PC woke up from sleep, so I reinstalled my graphic card, and it took care of the lit LED, but stuttering issue is still there.

I guess the problem was more than just the audio driver to start with, and the current symptoms do suggest my VGA card may have some issues.

Any suggestion is welcome, but for now I'll be living with this problem as I can't find a cheap VGA card to root out a defective VGA card.
 

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