I originally posted in the video games forum because I wasn't sure whether it belonged in CPU, GPU, etc since I did not know the cause. Not getting much response from anyone in that forum, I guess since it is more about game discussion.
I searched for people having/had similar problems, and none of the suggested solutions in those threads worked.
When I play games, the computer has serious hiccups/slow downs. Sometimes its hiccups, other times it just flat out slows down and is unplayable. When it hiccups, the screen freezes for a second and sounds buzzes, when it is a slowdown it is just a really long hiccup. Sometimes one game will stutter, then I try again, it runs fairly smoothly in comparison, but then will keep hiccuping on the third game and on. Sometimes I can get a few smooth games in. Most of the time, it will be unplayable.
It happens sometimes when watching a movie, very rarely it will happen if I'm just surfing the web or on start up from shutdown or sleep mode.
I monitored the temps, they were all fine, I checked CPU speed and there were never any dips or abnormal behavior during the hiccups. Drivers are all up to date. I ran windows memory diagnostic which reported no problems. I ran malwarebytes and microsoft security essentials which found nothing serious. I did chkdsk and I also used hard drive sentinal which all reports healthy HDD. I tried running games on low, medium, and ultra, all which were the same. I tried defragging somewhere in between there.
I just ran 3DMark because maybe my video card is dying? Would a bad GPU cause the sound to freeze too though? Anyways, the first few tests, lots of hiccups, I opened my case and listened as well. There was a hissing sound that stops when the hiccup occurs. I couldn't pinpoint the location of it, but it seemed to be near my GPU or CPU, didn't seem like the HDD. It was especially difficult to pinpoint because it was quiet and I couldn't hear it if I faced towards the computer. I could only hear it with my ear to the side. But as the test goes on and it went to the fire storm tests, there were much less hiccups and I didn't hear the hissing sounds at all.
Some stuff I forgot to mention is that sometimes when I wake up from sleep mode or from being shut off, it is a black screen with the mouse for about half a minute before the desktop shows. Also, it seems starting last night just before I posted this topic, it hiccups after starting up for a couple minutes as well.
Also, just figured this out now, it is the worst when it is an online game. Still occasionally hiccups, but much much less. Also, it doesn't seem to happen when playing Steam games. I only played them for about 20 minutes each just trying to figure out where it triggers and doesn't but I didn't even notice a small hiccup playing on steam. Of course, my steam library doesn't have any online games though. The games I typically play are starcraft 2 and Battlefield 3. The steam games I tried were Far Cry 3, Skyrim, and Bioshock Infinite.
I don't think it is necessarily an online thing as it happened in single player and happens when playing movies off of my HDD. It also occurs when watching movies on Netflix.
So is it more likely a software issue or maybe still HDD? Given the circumstances, it seems less likely to be the GPU or CPU.
The only thing I haven't yet done, other than put in different hardware, is reformat which I am trying to avoid because I don't have the SolidWorks license key anymore so if I reformat, I will lose the program. Also, I cannot find my Windows disc so I have to wait for a new one...
Components:
MB: AsRock P67 Extreme4
Cpu: i5 2500k
Gpu: msi twin frozr ii gtx580
1 tb hdd for storage
16gb of ram ddr3 I think its corsair
I searched for people having/had similar problems, and none of the suggested solutions in those threads worked.
When I play games, the computer has serious hiccups/slow downs. Sometimes its hiccups, other times it just flat out slows down and is unplayable. When it hiccups, the screen freezes for a second and sounds buzzes, when it is a slowdown it is just a really long hiccup. Sometimes one game will stutter, then I try again, it runs fairly smoothly in comparison, but then will keep hiccuping on the third game and on. Sometimes I can get a few smooth games in. Most of the time, it will be unplayable.
It happens sometimes when watching a movie, very rarely it will happen if I'm just surfing the web or on start up from shutdown or sleep mode.
I monitored the temps, they were all fine, I checked CPU speed and there were never any dips or abnormal behavior during the hiccups. Drivers are all up to date. I ran windows memory diagnostic which reported no problems. I ran malwarebytes and microsoft security essentials which found nothing serious. I did chkdsk and I also used hard drive sentinal which all reports healthy HDD. I tried running games on low, medium, and ultra, all which were the same. I tried defragging somewhere in between there.
I just ran 3DMark because maybe my video card is dying? Would a bad GPU cause the sound to freeze too though? Anyways, the first few tests, lots of hiccups, I opened my case and listened as well. There was a hissing sound that stops when the hiccup occurs. I couldn't pinpoint the location of it, but it seemed to be near my GPU or CPU, didn't seem like the HDD. It was especially difficult to pinpoint because it was quiet and I couldn't hear it if I faced towards the computer. I could only hear it with my ear to the side. But as the test goes on and it went to the fire storm tests, there were much less hiccups and I didn't hear the hissing sounds at all.
Some stuff I forgot to mention is that sometimes when I wake up from sleep mode or from being shut off, it is a black screen with the mouse for about half a minute before the desktop shows. Also, it seems starting last night just before I posted this topic, it hiccups after starting up for a couple minutes as well.
Also, just figured this out now, it is the worst when it is an online game. Still occasionally hiccups, but much much less. Also, it doesn't seem to happen when playing Steam games. I only played them for about 20 minutes each just trying to figure out where it triggers and doesn't but I didn't even notice a small hiccup playing on steam. Of course, my steam library doesn't have any online games though. The games I typically play are starcraft 2 and Battlefield 3. The steam games I tried were Far Cry 3, Skyrim, and Bioshock Infinite.
I don't think it is necessarily an online thing as it happened in single player and happens when playing movies off of my HDD. It also occurs when watching movies on Netflix.
So is it more likely a software issue or maybe still HDD? Given the circumstances, it seems less likely to be the GPU or CPU.
The only thing I haven't yet done, other than put in different hardware, is reformat which I am trying to avoid because I don't have the SolidWorks license key anymore so if I reformat, I will lose the program. Also, I cannot find my Windows disc so I have to wait for a new one...
Components:
MB: AsRock P67 Extreme4
Cpu: i5 2500k
Gpu: msi twin frozr ii gtx580
1 tb hdd for storage
16gb of ram ddr3 I think its corsair
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