[SOLVED] Awful stuttering/freezing throughout use of PC, I'm completely stumped with diagnostics and would really appreciate any help/advice. Troubleshooting

[Tocoe]

The Problem:
For about 6 months, I've been experiencing periodic (once every 4-5 hours) freezing and stuttering. These stutters are very jarring and freaky, like a snippet of audio gets looped and the framerate chugs, it actually sounds like it's about to BSOD but never does. This isn't a minor issue by any means, and the fact I haven't been able to pin it down in 6 months has me really worried. I still use my PC everyday for study but my heart drops every time it happens and I'm getting really worn out trying to diagnose it.
I'm newish to PC building and troubleshooting, I have actually learnt a lot about hardware/software diagnosis in my efforts to solve this issue, but I feel that I've made little progress unfortunately. I almost want to try and send all my parts back for RMA because I really can't pin it down to any one cause.

The Specs:
CPU: Ryzen 3900x (not overclocked)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro 3200mhz - 16gb (no X.M.P)
GPU: GeForce RTX™ 3070 GAMING OC 8G (rev. 1.0) (overclocked slightly using autogenerated recommended OC profile using proprietary software, Is running well within safe temps.)
Motherboard: X570 AORUS ELITE WIFI (rev. 1.x)
PSU: Corsair AX850
Cooler: iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX Liquid CPU Cooler
OS: Initially Windows 10 but now Windows 11

The Diagnosis:
This isn't my first online post regarding this issue, I've posted on Toms hardware and other platforms previously. In these threads I received lots of helpful troubleshooting advice, but was never able to actually nail the problem down. Here is a list of the things I've tried with some screenshots.

• chkdsk and sfc/scannow
• Updated BIOS (currently on latest version.)
• Updated Nvidia drivers
• Reinstall of all drivers available from motherboard's support page (including chipset)
• Reset BIOS settings and disabling X.M.P
• Clean reinstall of Windows 10, and a clean install of Windows 11 as well
• Using different Audio outputs
• Killing background applications: My stutter issue is unrelated to software and power usage, and will happen even with just Youtube or Spotify playing. I have used the computer with fresh Windows install and bare minimum software (browser, adobe software, games) and no background programs but the infamous stutter remains.
• Memtest86: This produced mixed results. When I initially built this system I was running 4 modules (32gb) at X.M.P profile 1 with no issues. Now this configuration results in BSOD on boot and hundreds of memtest errors. I found through trial and error that I can safely use 1 or 2 modules without X.M.P, any other configuration results in memory errors. Interestingly, the memory modules all work fine individually, but not with more than 2 at once, and never with X.M.P. I have also tested all 4 DiMM slots individually, and all passed. This memory instability began around the same time as the stutters, so they are certainly related. The stutters occur regardless of how much RAM is used, but memory errors don't occur with 2 modules or less and no X.M.P. I think it is fair to rule out memory, as these issues appear to be symptomatic, not causal.
• HWiNFO64 Logging: I've run the logging during a stutter, I have done this multiple times for cross-referencing, but I really have no idea what I should be looking for. I have noticed that the CPU effective clock spikes massively during the stutters. It's going up to 1900mhz, whereas it normally operates around 500-1300mhz Regardless, here is the log (the stutter occurred around 5-10 seconds before the end of the logging.)
• LatencyMon: This is reporting high DPC routine execution, linked to NVIDIA Windows Kernal drivers. I'm not sure if this is directly related, as these results occur regardless of a stutter. image1 image2
• Prime95: I just ran some CPU stress tests today, and got some interesting results. Every time I run small FFTs or smallest FFTs both thread 23 and 24 fail almost immediately. I'm very unfamiliar with these types of tests, but would I be correct in assuming that this may be linked to my problem? Image

If you can offer any expertise or even further diagnosis steps I will be very grateful. I've really been through the ringer with this one haha, At this point I'm beginning to accept that it's probably hardware related, and I just want to be certain where the fault is so I can move forward with RMA.

 

[Colif]

So did it change at all on 11 compared to 10?

Could be this: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-issues-fix-and-workaround-for-ftpm-stuttering-issues

i need to look into latencymon, Nvidia always seems to be at top of every search of it I found, so I don't know if that is normal or a clue.

rounding errors can be fixed by increasing voltage to ram in bios. That might be cause perhaps. It would cause BSOD

Memtest86: This produced mixed results. When I initially built this system I was running 4 modules (32gb) at X.M.P profile 1 with no issues. Now this configuration results in BSOD on boot and hundreds of memtest errors. I found through trial and error that I can safely use 1 or 2 modules without X.M.P, any other configuration results in memory errors. Interestingly, the memory modules all work fine individually, but not with more than 2 at once, and never with X.M.P. I have also tested all 4 DiMM slots individually, and all passed. This memory instability began around the same time as the stutters, so they are certainly related. The stutters occur regardless of how much RAM is used, but memory errors don't occur with 2 modules or less and no X.M.P. I think it is fair to rule out memory, as these issues appear to be symptomatic, not causal.

not sure if voltage help you use 4. It might.

thats an odd situation. i have same mb running vengeance pro rgb 32gb though I only have 2 sticks so I can't really test it.

 

[rickypicky5]

• Memtest86: This produced mixed results. When I initially built this system I was running 4 modules (32gb) at X.M.P profile 1 with no issues. Now this configuration results in BSOD on boot and hundreds of memtest errors. I found through trial and error that I can safely use 1 or 2 modules without X.M.P, any other configuration results in memory errors. Interestingly, the memory modules all work fine individually, but not with more than 2 at once, and never with X.M.P. I have also tested all 4 DiMM slots individually, and all passed. This memory instability began around the same time as the stutters, so they are certainly related. The stutters occur regardless of how much RAM is used, but memory errors don't occur with 2 modules or less and no X.M.P. I think it is fair to rule out memory, as these issues appear to be symptomatic, not causal.

Memtest86 is a standalone program (no other software is running) and if it fails then it's likely a real problem with either the memory sticks, the slots, or the motherboard.

 

[Colif]

that and it fails Prime

LatencyMon: This is reporting high DPC routine execution, linked to NVIDIA Windows Kernal drivers. I'm not sure if this is directly related, as these results occur regardless of a stutter. image1 image2

open nvidia control panel
Manage 3d Settings
Power management mode - set to prefer maximum performance

might reduce it a little, I did it earlier.

 

[Tocoe]

Could be this: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-issues-fix-and-workaround-for-ftpm-stuttering-issues

My god I think you've actually solved it! The video on that article is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing for the past 6 months.

I did enable fTPM as it was listed as a requirement for Windows 11 prior to it's launch. Originally, my bios had this setting off by default but now the latest version of my BIOS (which I flashed while trying to fix this issue,) changed fTPM to enabled by default (they were likely just following Microsoft's lead,) so when I was resetting bios to default settings, it didn't resolve the issue... It all makes perfect sense now. I just got completely blind sighted by the memory issues that are probably unrelated, and the impromptu switch to fTPM by my motherboard manufacturer made it such that setting default bios settings didn't resolve it. I have disabled fTPM, I will update this thread if I have further stutters but I'm quite confident that this was the problem all along. Thank you so much!