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Question

Twitch streams and games stutter !

Apr 22, 2017 2:29PM PDT

So I've been having this problem for a while now and I still have not found the fix for it so I've come here again to this forum so you guys can maybe help me out. When I am watching streams on Twitch or just Youtube gameplay videos in general and when playing any sorts of games even Runescape or Call of duty 2 I experience frame jumping, stuttering, juddering and the video is just not smooth like it should've been even though I have a fairly decent computer rig. This happens in almost all of the games that I've played/tried.

Examples of the temperatures are about 35 degrees or less when nothing is running, 40 degrees when chrome and hearthstone are running, 55+ degrees when multiple tabs are open with Twitch streams and hearthstone in the background. The temperatures of the CPU seem quite normal to me since I have a stock cooler. I've also re-applied thermal paste multiple times but that did nothing.

The drivers of the graphics card should not be the problem as well since I've tried quite a lot stuff including rolling the drivers back to previous versions, re-installing the drivers, downloading drivers from nvidia official website and from ASUS website since I have an ASUS GTX 970 STIX, trying downloading and installing drivers through nvidia geforce experience, re-installing windows etc...

I remove all the dust from the computer parts once a month or even once every 14 days but that really depends.

V-Sync does help a bit in games but the problem is still there. If I have my V-Sync enabled I experience mouse input lag and I feel like everything is just so much slower when I move my camera around. I've tried lowering the graphical settings of the games that I've played and the problem still persists,

A thing to note is that under load my graphics card does produce weird buzzing/beeping noise which is most likely coil whine that should not affect the performance of the card.

Remember though that when I use Fraps the FPS counter shows that I'm running games ABOVE 60 FPS or even above 150 FPS in some cases but the problem somehow still occurs and it feels like I'm playing below 60 FPS. The problem gets reduces when I'm in a certain room/place for a long time.

I also tried moving my computer outside of the case since I thought that could be the issue because the only thing I did not replace when I got my new computer was the case.

So if you guys could give me some suggestions on what I should try next that would really be appreciated. ANYTHING helps ! It really annoys be because since I got this computer I couldn't play a single game without being frustrated about the mentioned issue and it is really making me depressed because I've paid 800$ for this computer and I can't even play a game like Runescape normally :/

Here are some EXAMPLES of what I'm talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtToZ-0pjj4 Gameplay recorded in the game called layers of fear. You can see that the juddering is definitely present and it is almost the same like mine but it varies on the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5mgQyQlCA8 another example of the problem that I was describing above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2quZcTJtEXw at around 2:50 you can see that the gameplay is choppy and juddery and just not smooth at all. This again is almost the same thing that I've been experiencing from the start when I got my computer but a bit less severe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1XE_BlSaHQ again the same problem but a little bit less severe but it still makes games not playable for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky5I5EZB9aA

MY PC SPECS:

ASUS Gtx 970 STRIX 4GB
Intel i5 4690k
MSI Z97 Gaming 5
1x8 GB HyperX fury
Corsair CX 600
Western Digital 1 TB
NEC LCD22WV Monitor

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Here's where you lose me.
Apr 22, 2017 2:37PM PDT

1. " multiple tabs are open with Twitch streams and hearthstone in the background. "
Sorry but it's well known if you push a machine like that, you may need more than one machine.

2. The 1x8 stick of RAM. You left performance on the table. Get a second stick and curb your apps as until you do (item 1) I think your PC is not the issue (except for the odd memory choice.)

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RAM
Apr 22, 2017 2:43PM PDT

I will definitely get another stick in the future but I doubt that the 1x8 stick of RAM would be causing something like this.

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Uhoh !
Apr 22, 2017 2:57PM PDT
Devil
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That's why I noted 2 things.
Apr 22, 2017 3:19PM PDT

To me this is all of the above and not one thing. I'm sure you could get by with a little curbing of the load.

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To repeat. Thing 1 goes along with Thing 2.
Apr 22, 2017 3:25PM PDT
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I highly doubt it,
Apr 22, 2017 3:27PM PDT

Even if I have everything closed and nothing is running I get the same issue. This processor that I've listed is quite good at multi tasking so having multiple tabs open should not halt the performance.

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Recording and more
Apr 22, 2017 3:33PM PDT

Push memory and CPU pretty hard. You seem to think there's nothing wrong with the PC so I don't think I can help you. Good luck and if you figure it out, let us know.

I've worked such machined many times and it usually is a tune up of the PC, fixing things like memory systems, BIOS, chkdsk /f on drives, reading the Speccy report and more.

But you pushed back before we got going, so why not complain to this PC's maker and designer. They are on the hook to fix this one.

Post was last edited on April 22, 2017 3:35 PM PDT

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Sorry I missed a thing.
Apr 22, 2017 3:37PM PDT

You have doubt. In such cases you take the client and show them a well tuned gaming rig. Now you have a baseline to work from and they can debate "Hey you really don't need dual channel RAM" and more.

I can't remove those doubts but there is no doubt the machine isn't performing as good as you want.

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I will get that stick
Apr 22, 2017 3:46PM PDT

I never said that nothing is wrong with the PC so as I said I will accept all the suggestions that people will give me here including yours. So yeah I will borrow another 8 GB stick of RAM from my friend today because he is coming over in about 30 minutes or so and I will test it out how games perform then. I've built this PC myself so there is no PC maker that can help me. And please chill mate I know you might be right but there were a lot of people on other forums telling me that I should replace my monitor which after a long debate I did and the problem is still there. So I hope you understad where I'm coming from and why I'm doubting your answer. I just don't want to spend another 50$ if it wont change a thing.

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But you don't want to
Apr 22, 2017 3:59PM PDT

Mix Sticks !
You want a matched set , same speed etc.etc.
If one is slower, the other stick will slow down to match it .
OR
The machine won't run at all , or , keep starting and stopping or , etc, etc, ,

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Will do
Apr 22, 2017 4:02PM PDT

Yep made sure everything is the same. I will keep you guys updated on how it goes. Thanks for all the help I really do appreciate it.

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Answer
Stutter
Apr 22, 2017 3:41PM PDT

If you want to run all that stuff at the same time you might want to give some thought to moving up to an I7.

As for the ram, that single channel config is not helping you any.
A dual channel config might bump things along a little.

As a test shutdown every background task you can find and then run your game.

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Thanks for the response !
Apr 22, 2017 3:56PM PDT

That was just an example to see how much heat the CPU will output if I run all those things at the same time. I did that so I could give you guys a general idea of what the CPU temperatures look like while the CPU is under a decent amount of load.

As I mentioned above my friend is coming over today and he will bring his 8 GB stick and we will test out how the games will perform then.

Everything is closed and nothing that could be ruining the gaming performance is running in the background. I've made sure that everything is closed/shutdown and after all it is a fresh install of Windows so I don't have much stuff installed anyways.

I really do appreciate the quick answer so thank you so much for trying to help me out Grin

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There are ways to do that
Apr 22, 2017 4:02PM PDT
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Ram
Apr 22, 2017 4:14PM PDT

Make sure you fit that stick in the proper slot to enable dual channel.

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Alright.
Apr 22, 2017 4:56PM PDT

Just got the stick. I will make sure I do that. Thanks for the help !

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Still the same thing.
Apr 22, 2017 5:56PM PDT

Tested out some games but another stick of RAM did nothing, the same problem appeared during gameplay Sad

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The RAM must report in as DUAL CHANNEL
Apr 22, 2017 6:13PM PDT

And the effect it is, is about 10 percent on average.

Remember I see nothing wrong with a machine under this much load. I've lost count of gamers that want a PC to perform but don't get it that there are limits to each rig.

My everyday machine is a tad better in the CPU and RAM (i7 16GB Dual Channel DDR4.) And SSD which really removes HDD delays which are huge.

Anyhow, there's that trojan so you have that and more to work now.

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Removed the trojan.
Apr 23, 2017 8:51AM PDT

Ran malware bytes and some other free utilities and yeah I did have a trojan and some other viruses so I removed them. Thank you so much for that.

CPU-Z reports that the RAM is indeed in dual channel mode.

The thing that is weird to me is why I can't play a game which is almost 12 years old with a rig like this.

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NOW THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
Apr 23, 2017 9:03AM PDT

I have this old game squirreled away and the ONLY WAY I can play it is in a Virtual Box running Windows 98 or XP.

Old games might be using depracated DX graphic calls and the author never updated it to use the new DirectX. DX is known to clunk down and process the call but at a performance loss.

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Answer
If you, let's get a WEB Speccy so I can read it.
Apr 22, 2017 4:24PM PDT
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Speccy snapshot.
Apr 22, 2017 4:54PM PDT
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Speccy
Apr 22, 2017 5:58PM PDT

Is there an AV product on this machine?

Java and flash player are magnets for malware.
I don't have either on this w7 machine.

Bytefence....if you think you need a malware scanner look at malwarebytes.

Is there some reason you have windows update disabled?

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Answer
Speccy reading. What I would do if mine.
Apr 22, 2017 5:19PM PDT

1. The RAM has been noted.

2. The CPU is a tad warm. I take it this is under some load so unless I know more, leave the case cover off for max air flox.

3. Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
You're in luck. Support is free. Ask your work for a contact to work OS issues and how to get W10 for free now. Every company I work with has a plan to move now or later.

4. JAVA. Unless you know why you need it, uninstall.

5. Power Profile. Until it's perfect, set all to Never.

6. Bytefence. Read https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/614397/bytefence-antimalware/
It would never be on my systems.

7. FAILED UPDATES. I may leave that with your company IT and Bleepingcomputer to sort out. It's something I'd look at just in case. Usually not a performance issue.

8. BIOS is current. Good.

9. CHKDSK /F all drives.

10. Virtualbox. Uninstall unless you use it.

11. RED ALERT. Possible TROJAN.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/UPDATER.EXE-8521.html

I see this in the connections at the end of the report. You must know what this is. All indications is this is the noted trojan as it fits the profile of the trojan waiting for command.

Grif has a list of scans at http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/how-to-remove-pup-option-603542/#post-f742c795-5881-433b-a29b-6d758efe5cd3 that I use.

End of reading.

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Thanks
Apr 22, 2017 5:37PM PDT

Wow thank you for such a detailed response.

2. Yes I was doing something for work while watching streams.

3. Was thinking about upgrading to Windows 10 for a long time now but decided to wait it out a little bit since a lot of users have been reporting issues that came with the updates on Windows 10. Going to be getting Windows 10 this week in hopes that it would improve my performance in games.

4. Uninstalled Java since I do need it anymore thanks for the info.

5. Did that as well.

6. Uninstalled Bytefence.

9. Checked the disk for errors and nothing came up.

10. I'm using Virtual Box for Linux OS.

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CHKDSK /F ???
Apr 22, 2017 6:15PM PDT

We are not looking for errors, we are letting Windows do it's thing with the drive. I've run into more folk that run CHKDSK without the /F or /X (depends on the machine) and they report back like this.

It's simply a thing we do to remove doubt.

Nice bad trojan there.

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CHKDSK report
Apr 22, 2017 8:24PM PDT

Executed the command in CMD and after the process was completed I got the following event log.

Chkdsk was executed in read-only mode. A volume snapshot was not used. Extra errors and warnings may be reported as the volume may have changed during the chkdsk run.

Checking file system on G:\
Volume label is ESD-ISO.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
1280 file records processed. File verification completed.
0 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 0 EA records processed. 0 reparse records processed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
1490 index entries processed. Index verification completed.


CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
1280 file SDs/SIDs processed. Security descriptor verification completed.
105 data files processed. Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

15181759 KB total disk space.
4659248 KB in 994 files.
476 KB in 107 indexes.
67695 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
10454340 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
3795439 total allocation units on disk.
2613585 allocation units available on disk.

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Chkdsk
Apr 23, 2017 12:14AM PDT

You did it wrong.
You scanned in read only mode.
You scanned the wrong drive.......what is 'G'?

Try it this way.
Start>computer>rc the 'C' drive>properties>tools>error checking.
Put a tick in both boxes, click start.

With a 1TB hdd that will take some time to run.
After it's done use the event viewer and locate the log.

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So you left out the /F and /X?
Apr 23, 2017 8:31AM PDT

It's just something we do to get rid of something we are seeing today.

I know it's hard to accept this. But it is what we do.