Problem Stuttering Graphics playing games

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Guys just some pointers please as I'm so out of touch with fixing desktop hardware these days and have an issue with my own PC. When playing games I get stuttering. It's not lag as it's offline as well and graphical settings are set to recommended and drivers up to date. Now usually this is an issue with the Graphics Card, RAM, PSU or general cooling issues. I don't think it's a cooling issue or RAM issue.

So has anyone got any tips on software/hardware to test these components (cheaper the better if possible). I know of memtest86+ for RAM so I think thats covered (unless someone can suggest better software).

 

what he said ^

Use memtest86 on one stick of ram at atime for accuracy.

Dowload Riva tuner and GPUz to check the temps and fan speed of the card.

Check the BIOS for accuracy on voltages and cpu temps or you could download cpuid hardware monitor or core temp but the BIOS is most accurate.

What are you systems specs? include everything including make and model of psu.

 

Yah, we really need to know the game and GPU you're using. Also, stuttering can sometimes come due to swapping, i.e. you don't have enough ram to run the game.

 

Sorry should of said. It happens on Medal of Honor and Call of Duty MWF2. The games are set to medium settings. I have a Palit 8800GT, Dual Core CPU (around 2.6GHz), 4GB RAM. Can't remember the PSU brand but it was an expensive and powerfull one. I've had the PC for around 3 years and it never used to do this. It sort of stutters and the picture flashes leading me to believe it's a hardware issue. Also had an issue with random switching itself off about 4 months ago that seemed to fix itself.

 

Random cut outs could point to psu. Have you tried running it at low detail to see if it improves.

 

I did think it was the PSU at first as it did it twice and has never shut down again. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not. I have lowered the settings but didn't test for long as I didn't have time.

 

I would try cleaning out the pc to start with, especially the cpu and graphics card fans. Maybe reseating the graphics card and the ram too.

 

Sounds like a plan, will strip the PC out and do a rebuild and test the RAM with Memtest and check temperatures as well. As this only seems to happen what is a rough ball point temperature for the CPU and GPU to run at under heavy load?

 

Your spec should be able to run the game, if it was a heat problem i would expect the stuttering to increase the longer you played as heat builds up. I would try some benchmarking software to stress test you system.

 

This.

I'd also take the opportunity to do a fairly careful inspection of both the motherboard and graphics for any visible leakage/ bulging on any of the capacitors. I've had similar issues caused by failed capacitors (in one case the combination of bargain basement parts and a generic PSU caused the death of every single capacitor on the graphics card and half the caps on the mobo!) and even if your PSU is rock solid if the MOBO or GFX card have cheap caps on you can see an impressive failure rate!

 

download riva tuner or gpuz and check the temps of the card. If your getting any artifacts this could mean vram damage which can be cause by heat or a dodgy psu.

Check the BIOS for the 12v, 3.3 and 5v voltages just incase. if any of those voltages are above or below by 10% then your psu needs replacing.

 

Does the stuttering occur when you turn the settings down?

 

I tried to turn the settings down and turn off all the extra graphical tweaks and I think there was still some stuttering. I haven't done much testing as I've got the throat infection from hell but will do in the next day or two.

 

I don't guess you've got a spare video card lying around.