Question New PC stuttering on anything once an hour (approximately) for 1-3 seconds.

Mar 14, 2019
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So more than a month ago I encountered something strange. While I was playing games my PC would stutter for a few seconds once in a while (once every 30 minutes - 1 hour). Thinking it might be the games' fault and not the PC's I did not give it much attention. But after a while I notice that this stutter happens everywhere. Playing games, watching videos, working in excel etc etc ( the stutter is disturbance in video and audio for a small period of time). So after spending many many hours trying to find a solution online, I am in a dead end. So guys, please help out with what you can. Here is what I did:



I downloaded LatencyMon and ran a few tests which indicated where the problem is and here are screenshots along with the LatencyMon report/stats: View: https://imgur.com/a/7vbfD1J


And here is what I have done so far to try and fix it:
  1. Uninstalled video and sound drivers and installed them again.
  2. Changed my power settings to High Performance.
  3. Stopped the throttling.
  4. Made sure all my drivers are up to date.
  5. Made sure BIOS version is up to date.
  6. Turned off Fast boot or w/e it is called.
  7. Scanned for corrupted files etc in the command prompt. Everything is ok.
Here are my PC specs:
Motherboard: MB GB B450 AORUS M/ AM4
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8C/16T 2700x ( 3.70GHz, 20mb, 105w, AM4)
Hard Drive: 1TB SSD ADATA SX6000 PRO M2 2280 PCIE
Power supply: PSU FORTRON HYPER 700W
GPU: VC ASUS CERBERUS GTX1070TI OC/8GB
RAM: 16GB (2x8) DDR4 KINGSTON 2933MHz CL17 HyperX Furry

OS build: 17763.379

Gaming seems to be fine as the temperatures rarely go above 70C even on ultra settings on most games. I bought this PC 2 months ago and this problem is really really annoying me. So please help!
Thank you all in advance!
 
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According to PSU experts, that Fortron Hyper 700W is not great at all. That could definitely be causing the issue.

I highly recommend replacing it, I recommend the Seasonic Focus Gold plus: https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-SSR-650FX-Modular-Warranty-Compact/dp/B073H33X7R
Or a EVGA G3 650W unit.

Once you replace the PSU, if you are still having issues, I recommend running Asus ROG RealBench (real world stress tester) for 8 hours and seeing if you encounter instability.
 
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Ok another issue, your motherboard is not good enough for a Ryzen 7 2700X. I believe this is the main issue.

The problem with most B450 motherboards is that the VRMs (power delivery) is absolute garbage for the Ryzen 7 2700X. It will force it to throttle, if not, the VRM can overheat and die really quickly.

According to multiple sources on the web, the power delivery of that AORUS motherboard is not great at all. Plus with the fact that the Ryzen 7 2700X is an absolute power hog vs the 2700 and 1700X, it makes perfect sense. (But say you had a Ryzen 7 2700 or a 2600X, it would probably run fine.)

I recommend you upgrade your motherboard to something like a Gigabyte AORUS X470 AORUS Master.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND WATCHING THIS VIDEO, You'll learn EVERYTHING you need to learn about the importance of choosing the right motherboard for the right CPU.

 
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Mar 14, 2019
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Thanks for all, will see what happens after work!

CPU was set to 3.7 GHz ( which is the default, afaik), not 4.35 GHz. Is it still a lot?

Have to check online how to lower it at 3.2GHz because it is grayed out in the BIOS options and I can't change it.

Edit: Turns out I can change it to 3.2GHz using the + and - of the keyboard. However is that all I need to do? Should I touch other settings or anything else when lowering the to 3.2GHz? Sorry for the stupid questions but I am kind of a newbie :(

Edit2: What about LetancyMon report and the 0xc0000056 error? Should I try a new windows installation before touching the CPU GHz?
 
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Were you using this Windows installation on a previous build, in other words, when you upgraded to Ryzen, did you do a clean install or are you still riding a previous installation with the new hardware?

Also, as mentioned, that FSP Hyper 700 is pretty much low quality garbage. Even if it's not the problem, you would be wise to replace it with a quality unit, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a contributor to the problem at all.

Click the spoiler for model recommendations.

Let's start with the biggest misconception out there, which is that if a unit has high watts it will be ok or is good. No. Just, no.

There are plenty of 750-1000w units out there that I wouldn't trust to power a light bulb and might in fact be more dangerous due to their supposedly high capacity due to poor or non-existent protections inside the unit.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, how many watts or amps it says it can support is irrelevant.

Higher 80plus certification doesn't mean anything, UNLESS it's on an already known to be high quality PSU platform. For example, a Seasonic Prime platinum unit is going to be a better product than a Seasonic Prime Gold unit, because we already know the Prime platform is very good, and platinum efficiency along with it shows there are some improvements internally to account for the higher efficiency.

In a case like that, it might be worth it. It's likely the unit will create less heat, it will probably have better performance in regard to ripple, noise and voltage regulation. It might shave a few pennies, or dollars, off the electric bill over the course of a year.

Other than that, it is not going to perform any better than the same platform with Gold efficiency. On the other hand, just because a unit has Titanium 80plus ratings doesn't mean the unit is any good at all. For example, there are Raidmax units with Titanium efficiency and I wouldn't trust one of those to power a light bulb. There are a lot of units like this out there.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, whether or not it has an 80plus certification or not is irrelevant.

Whatever you do, don't EVER buy a power supply based on whether it has RGB or lighting, or looks like it might be a quality unit. Some of the biggest hunks of junk out there look just as good as a Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium, but I assure you, they are not. So far as I've seen there are really no excellent units out there that have RGB built in. Maybe one or two models, but rest assured you'll be be paying for the lighting, not for the quality of the power supply.

I don't know what country you reside in, and I know that sometimes it's hard to come by good units in some regions, but when possible, when it comes time to get that PSU, I'd stick to the following if you can.

Seasonic. Seasonic isn't just a brand, they are a PSU manufacturer, unlike many of the PSU brands you see they make their own power supply platforms AND a great many of the very good PSU models out there from other brands like Antec, Corsair and older XFX are made by Seasonic.

Just about anything made by Seasonic is good quality for the most part. There are really no bad Seasonic units and only a very few that are even somewhat mediocre. They do make a few less-good quality OEM style units, but mostly those are not going to be units you come across at most vendors, and they are still not bad. Also, the S12II and M12II 520 and 620w units are older, group regulated models. At one time they were among the best units you could buy. Now, they are outdated and not as good as almost any other Seasonic models. They are however still better than a LOT of newer designs by other manufacturers.

The Seasonic 520w and 620w S12II/M12II units CAN be used on newer Intel platforms, if you turn off C6/C7 in the bios, but I'd really recommend a newer platform whenever possible. Prices are usually pretty good on those though, so sometimes it's worth accepting the lack of DC-DC on the internal platform. Higher capacity versions of the High current gamer are not based on that platform, so they are fine. Those being the 750w and higher versions.

Most common currently, in order of preference, would be the Seasonic Focus series, then Focus plus, then Prime, then Prime ultra. It's worth mentioning that there are generally Gold, Platinum and Titanium versions within each, or most, of those series, but that does not necessarily mean that a Focus plus Platinum is necessarily better than a Prime Gold. It only means that it scored better in the 80plus efficiency testing, not that the platform is better.

Again, don't let yourself get tangled up in the idea that a higher 80plus rating specifically means that it is a better unit than another one with a lower rating, unless you know that it is a good platform from the start. All these Focus and Prime units are pretty good so you can somewhat focus on the 80plus rating when deciding which of them to choose.

Super Flower Super Flower is another PSU manufacturer. They also make most of the good units sold by EVGA like the G2, G3, P2 and T2 models.

Super Flower doesn't have a very broad availability for the units with their own brand name on them, and are not available in a lot of countries but for those where there is availability you want to look at the Leadex and Leadex II models. The Golden green platform is fairly decent too but is getting rather long in the tooth as a platform AND I've seen some reviews indicating a few shortcomings on units based on this platform.

Even so, it's a great deal better than a lot of other platforms out there so you could certainly do worse than a Golden green model. Units based on the Leadex and Leadex II platforms are much better though.

Corsair. The CX and CXm units are ok as a budget option, but I do not recommend pairing them with gaming cards. The newer 2017 models of CX and CXm are better than the older ones, but still not what we'd call terrific, so if it specifically says 2017 model, or it has a capacity other than an even 100, like 550w, 650w, 750w, etc., then it's likely at least better than those older ones. Aside from that, any of the TX, RMx, RMi, HX, HXi, AX or AXi units are good. Those are listed from best to worst, with the best being the AX and AXi units.

Antec. The True power classic units are made by Seasonic, and are very good, but are not modular. The High current gamer 520w and 620w, or any other PSU you see on the market that is 520w or 620w, are also made by Seasonic, based on the S12II and M12II platform for modern versions, and are pretty good units but again they are an older platform that is group regulated so if you go with a Haswell or newer Intel configuration you will want to avoid those because they do not support the C6/C7 Intel low power states.

The Antec High current gamer 750w and 850w units are very good and are not the older design, which came in 520w and 620w capacities and were good for back then but again, are an aging Seasonic platform that is not the best choice most of the time these days. Occasionally, these older units MIGHT be the best unit available and you could do worse than one of them, but a newer DC-DC platform is desirable when possible if it doesn't mean sacrificing quality elsewhere in the platform. There are however older and newer HCG models, so exact model number will likely be a factor if choosing one of these however both the older models and the newer models are good.

Antec Edge units are ok too, but reviews indicate that they have noisy fan profiles. I'd only choose this model if it is on sale or the aesthetics match up with your color scheme or design. Still a good power supply but maybe a little aggressive on the fan profile. This may have been cured on newer Edge models so reading professional tear down reviews is still the best idea.

Antec Earthwatts Gold units are very good also.

BeQuiet. BeQuiet does have a few decent models, BUT, you must be VERY selective about which of their models you put your trust in. From model to model their are huge differences in both quality and performance, even with the same series. If you cannot find a review for a BeQuiet unit on HardOCP, JonnyGuru or Tom's hardware that SPECIFICALLY says it is a very good unit, and does not have any significant issues in the "cons" category, I would avoid it. In fact, I'd probably avoid it anyhow unless there is a very great sale on one that has good reviews, because their units are generally more expensive than MUCH better units from Antec, Seasonic, EVGA and Corsair.

Super Flower. They are like Seasonic and they make power supplies for a variety of other companies, like EVGA. Super Flower units are usually pretty good. I'd stick to the Leadex, Leadex II and Golden Green models.

EVGA. They have BOTH good and not very good models.

Not very good are the W1, N1, B1, B3 (All models except the 650w model), BQ, BR, BT and G1 NEX models.

Good models are the B2, B3 650w, G2, G2L, G3, GQ, P2 and T2 models.

FSP. They used to be very mediocre, and are a PSU manufacturer like Seasonic and Super Flower, although not as well trusted based on historical performance. Currently the FSP Hydro G and Hydro X units are pretty good.

I would avoid Thermaltake and Cooler Master. They do have a few good units, but most of the models they sell are either poor or mediocre, and the ones they have that ARE good are usually way overpriced.

This is just ONE example of why I say that. Very new and modern CM unit. One of the worst scores ever seen on JonnyGuru for a well known brand name product. Doesn't look to be much better than a Raidmax unit. Sad.


And most of the models I have linked to the reviews of at the following link are at least good, with most of them being fantastic.


Certainly there ARE some good units out there that you won't see above among those I've listed, but they are few and far between, much as a hidden nugget of gold you find in a crevice among otherwise ordinary rocks and don't EVER assume a unit is good just because of the brand.

If you cannot find an IN DEPTH, REPUTABLE review on Tom's hardware, JonnyGuru, HardOCP, Hardware secrets (Old reviews by Gabe Torres), Kitguru (Only Aris reviews), TechPowerUP, SilentPC crew or a similar site that does much more than simply a review of the unboxing and basic tests that don't include reliable results for ripple, noise, voltage regulation and a complete teardown of the unit including identification of the internal platform, then the unit is a big fat question mark.

I recommend not trusting such units as companies generally always send out review samples of any unit they feel is going to get a good review, and don't send them out if they know they are going to get hammered by the reviewer. No review usually equals poor quality. Usually.

Other models that should never be trusted OR USED AT ALL, under any circumstances, include A-Top, AK Power, Alpine, Apevia, Apex (Supercase/Allied), Artic, Ace, Aerocool (There might be one model worth using, but I'd still avoid them.), Aspire (Turbocase), Atadc, Atrix, Broadway com corp, Chieftech, Circle, CIT, Coolmax, Deer, Diablotek, Dynapower, Dynex, Eagletech, Enlight, Eurotech, Evo labs, EZ cool, Feedtek, Foxconn, G7, HEC/Compucase Orion, HEDY, High power, iBall, iStar computer co., Jeantec, JPac, Just PC, Kolink, LC Power, Linkworld electronics, Logisys, Macron, MSI, NmediaPC, Norwood Micro (CompUSA), Okia, Powercool, Powmax, Pulsepower, Q-tec, Raidmax, RaveRocketfish, Segotep, SFC, Sharkoon, Shuttle, Skyhawk, Spire, Startech, Storm, Sumvision, Tesla, Trust, Ultra, Wintech, Winpower, Xilence (Until I see a reputable review of a model showing different), xTreme (Cyberpower), Youngbear and Zebronics.
 
The + and - on the CPU multiplier set to 32 should be all you need to do to set it to 3.2ghz. I would of course set the voltages to automatic, which shouldn't deviate too much from factory defaults. I would also set your ram speed to 2133 or 2400 while your at it.
 
I really doubt that the power phase, and thus, the CPU clock speed, is the problem.

The B450 Aorus M has a single 24-pin ATX power connector to provide power to the motherboard, with an 8-pin ATX 12 V power connector delivering power directly to the CPU. Looking at the power delivery, this model looks to have an multi-phase hybrid digital power delivery which on paper is more than capable of supporting AMD’s top Ryzen 2000 series processor, the Ryzen 7 2700X with an overclock. The power delivery features a single heatsink the closest section to the rear panel, but the top section of phases and VRMs are laid bare.

The CPU VRM uses an interesting 4+3 phase design that’s definitely not 8+3 phases, but is still sufficient for the price point.

So, not very good as an overclocking option, but "should" be ok at stock operation and settings. All this reduction of settings should completely be unnecessary as there are plenty of other Gigabyte boards using the exact same VRM and heatsink configuration that do not have any issues with the 2700x at the default configuration.
 
Mar 14, 2019
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@Darkbreeze Hey, man. No, this was a brand new setup and windows was freshly installed on it, not by me tho. The interesting thing is that these stutters happen only once every 30 min - 2h. And they are for a 1-2-3 seconds. And it happens no matter what I am doing. Maybe only watching youtube or working.Aside from that the PC is running really good with really decent temperatures. I will do a clean new windows installation these days, as I am guessing it is a driver that is probably the cause, since I got so many corrupted windows files with errors. If it turns out that I am wrong I will most likely change the PSU, as you guys have suggested (wasn't aware that is such garbage, since it had decent reviews online, but maybe I didn't look deep enough). Anyways thank you all for the great advice and I will give you an update these days after I reinstall the windows. Thanks again!
 
The only "reviews" you can trust when it comes to power supplies, are the professional reviews you find on reputable sites done by respected PSU reviewers. Tom's Hardware (Aris), JonnyGuru (Mostly Oklahoma Wolf) and HardOCP are the main sites doing quality in depth reviews using the proper full featured test equipment these days. Any reviews for a power supply you see on Amazon, Newegg and other retail sites are less than worthless. If a unit turns on or has a shiny chassis, and doesn't instantly burn up, is probably getting a five star review from most users. In fact, aside from common known problems, none of those sites have much real value when it comes to assessing the quality or performance of practically any PC component. Always look ONLY to professional reviews when possible.

As to the clean install, this:

Windows 10 Clean install tutorial
 
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Update:

After reinstalling the windows on Sunday morning the problem has vanished. I haven't noticed any stutters in sound or video. LatencyMon didn't catch anything critical as well. So I guess it was a driver / bad windows installation related issue. Thanks to all for the PSU advice. If anything changes I will re update for more advice. But as of now, everything is running smoothly and without any issues what so ever. Cheers!
 
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