Question PC stuttering, audio crackling and visual freezing

Feb 2, 2023
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Hi. My problem is as follows: PC stutters quite often, when this happens, most notable is the audio crackling. It reminds me of a FPS drop, this is also simultaneously notable when running a game. Screen freezes for a few milliseconds, you know the usual, I think.

Example:
I start my PC, absolutely no stress after over 12 hours of power off. I run Spotify, play some music and start some app, like MS Word I used to write this. My system should definitely NOT experience the described audio crackling and screen freezing every few minutes.
Also, I was streaming yesterday. Same thing happened again constantly. Now the PC was under quite heavy load, but components had proper breathing room, no torturing them there either. Notable was that after this heavier usage, heavier stress ended, streaming software closed and game used a lot less of components. Issues continued as usual.

So, what I mean is that this issue is persistent in all use of my system.
Specs:
i7-11700K
RX 6900 XT
32 GB DDR4 RAM, 3600 Hz etc…
1 TB of Seagate 530 NVMe SSD
1 kW PSU

All the drivers are, or should be, up to date, running the latest Win11.

I don’t think my PC is lacking, that’s why I would think of a software issue (don't know is this the right place to post this). What do you think? I do have a lot of background apps, sure, but trying to monitor component usage, only marginal spikes do appear in the graphs, like VERY marginal. One of the most infamous software is running all time as well, antivirus software. I cannot track any apparent issues tho, nothing.

I appreciate any help and suggestions to where to investigate this kind of behavior.

EDIT:
This is how it looks like, whether PC is under load or not: https://dl.orangedox.com/kncRWAg5S1nS64TLb6
Couple of times, under load this time, screen not only froze, but blinked grey as well. Only for the stutter's length, a few milliseconds again.
Bluetooth was one of my suspects, however nothing changed when using wired headphones BT disabled.
 
Last edited:

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

1 kW PSU
Make and model; of the PSU used in your build? 1KW is the advertised wattage, we have no other way of identifying your unit. Likewise please state the make and model of your ram and the motherboard you're working with.

running the latest Win11
Where did you source the installer for your OS?

i7-11700K
How are you cooling that processor?
 
Feb 2, 2023
2
0
10
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

1 kW PSU
Make and model; of the PSU used in your build? 1KW is the advertised wattage, we have no other way of identifying your unit. Likewise please state the make and model of your ram and the motherboard you're working with.

running the latest Win11
Where did you source the installer for your OS?

i7-11700K
How are you cooling that processor?

Thank you for replying.
So, my PSU is the Corsair HX1000i, advertised wattage indeed at 1000 watts. Motherboard is the TUF Z590-Plus Wifi. RAM configuration is 2x16 GB of Kingston Fury Renegade DDR4 CL16 3600 MHz.

I didn't quite catch the question regarding Win11, it was upgraded from Win10 using the update tool by MS, installed to my old SSD drive, later copied to the new SSD.

CPU (and GPU has waterblock too), is watercooled by the Corsair XC7. Should be mentioned that even if the PC has been powered off, and when components are at low temps, the issue repeats (regarding the Spotify x Word example).

Thank you again for replying!