GPU Stuttering Issue on Dell T3600 Tower SOLVED

[thatnanoguy]

Hi all. I have recently tried to throw an MSI GTX 660 ti (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696) into a Dell Precision T3600 tower in an attempt to make another gaming computer. The tower specs are as follows:

Processor: Intel Xeon E5-1660 0 @ 3.30 GHz
RAM: 8 gigs DDR3 1600
MOBO: Dell 0PTTT9
PSU: Dell Model F635EF-00 635W
OS: Win7 Professional 64 Bit

Unfortunately, when attempting to game on the system, the frame rates stutter constantly (Borderlands 2/Presequel, Planetside 2) and some games even crash completely (star citizen 🙁 ). To figure out what the problem is I have tried to use the gpu in 2 additional systems, one of which was an identical T3600 and the other was my gaming rig that the gpu originally game from. The stuttering occurred in the second T3600 but not in my rig. I also tried a couple of the older drivers from nvidia thinking that it may be a software issue. This did not fix the problem either. To test the T3600s with a different GPU I installed an old HD 5770 and it seemed to work perfectly with no stuttering. What I am thinking is that the PSUs in the T3600s for some reason cannot handle the power draw from the GPU. Here is the info on the PSU:

+12VA 18.0A Max
+12VB 18.0A Max
+12VC 18.0A Max
+12VD 18.0A Max
+12VE 18.0A Max
-12V 0.5A Max
+5VSB 4.0A Max
Combined Output 635W Max

What do you all think? Is this some issue that I may be able to fix or is the PSU the problem?

Just an update, I did a clean reinstall of windows 7 and the stutter is still there. I have no idea how to fix this. Don't think it is a power issue either. I ran the card off of the psu from another computer while gaming and the stutter was still there again.

Thanks!

SOLUTION BELOW

 

[carver_g]

It's interesting that the problem has happened in two different T3600's but unless your PSU is actually defective, it has plenty of power to drive a 660ti. It's an 80+ Gold PSU so it's a little under-rated at 635W.

I had a T3600 running with a 7950 and had a similar problem in certain games, and it was especially bad in GTA4 and Farcry 3. I was running the Dell Windows 7 Pro x64 factory install and did a clean install of Windows 8.1 and the stuttering went away.

Best of luck.

 

[thatnanoguy]

It's interesting that the problem has happened in two different T3600's but unless your PSU is actually defective, it has plenty of power to drive a 660ti. It's an 80+ Gold PSU so it's a little under-rated at 635W.

I had a T3600 running with a 7950 and had a similar problem in certain games, and it was especially bad in GTA4 and Farcry 3. I was running the Dell Windows 7 Pro x64 factory install and did a clean install of Windows 8.1 and the stuttering went away.

Best of luck.

Hey thanks for the response. Unfortunately I dont have access to 8.1 but I do have win 7 home laying around here somewhere. Do you think a clean install of that would work?

 

[thatnanoguy]

Hey all, Just wanted to update the thread with a solution. On a whim I shut off the hyper-threading on the cpu and POOF all the issues went away. I have no explanation as to why this worked or what was actually wrong but for anyone looking for a fix this is it.