Question Unresolved System Wide Hitching/Stuttering. Almost 2 Years No Solution.

[Dillonr93]

Hello all I am reaching out for the 3rd time now regarding system wide hitching/stuttering in all pc environments. System stutters in every game, on desktop, and in BIOS.

Back in 2021 I built a new at the time pc with all top end components. The system has this stuttering issue that remains unresolved 2 years later, after I've tried almost every troubleshooting tip imaginable. Everything from swapping hardware to deep diving into possible software issues has yielded no results.

Specs for the original build:
Mobo: Asus Z690A Prime
CPU: i9 12900kf
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3090Ti
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 6000MHZ 32GB
PSU: EVGA Supernova 850W
Storage: 3 Samsung 980 pro NVME drives
Peripheral: Asus Thunderbolt 3 card
OS: Windows 11
CPU cooled with a Noctua NH-D15

Current system specs, after swapping/upgrading some parts for troubleshooting:
Mobo: Asus Z790A Prime
CPU: i9 12900kf
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3090Ti
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 6000MHZ 32GB
PSU: EVGA Supernova 1000W
Storage: 3 Samsung 980 pro NVME drives
Peripheral: Asus Thunderbolt 3 card
OS: Windows 11
CPU cooled with a Noctua NH-D15
Monitors are Sceptre brand but can't remember specific model. They are 1440p 165hz monitors

I'll get into a more in depth explanation of the stutter issue now. Since my pc was built, it has been plagued with a system wide stutter that occurs in all environments, and I unfortunately have not been able to eradicate it, despite troubleshooting nearly every day since it was built, and despite replacing multiple components several times over.
In the BIOS, the system stutters periodically and all these little black squares show up on screen when it happens.
In desktop environment, the stuttering happens whenever I'm scrolling through something. Happens in steam library, file browser and internet browsers. The scrolling will hitch for a split second, and then resume.
Productivity applications stutter too. FL studio stutters and the stutters are followed by audio crackling. Photo editing software stutters too.
EVERY game I play manifests the stuttering in some way. Some games handle better than others. Games like Overwatch handle pretty well. That game only stutters during the kill cam, right before respawning. Other games however, like Cities Skylines and Civilization 6, stutter incredibly frequently.

Now that the issue is thoroughly explained, I'll go over the things I have tried, to no avail.

First I'll go over the hardware troubleshooting that didn't work

Update BIOS. No change
Currently, BIOS supports Intel default profile which is supposed to help improve stability. Enabling this does not resolve my stutter.
Upgraded PSU, thinking that the 850W was insufficient. No change with 1000W PSU
Tried two different CPUs. I got ahold of another i9 12900k and an i7 12700k and tested system with those. Stuttering persisted.
Tried 2 other Asus Z690 Mobos with my i9. Stuttering persisted.
Upgraded Mobo to asus Z790A and tried both my i9 and the i7 that I had borrowed. Stuttering persisted in both cases.
Tried an Nvidia GTX 1080TI in my system. Stuttering remained.
Tried 3 different RAM kits. Stuttering remained.
Disable LEDs in pc. No change
Ran PC with barebones components only, IE thunderbolt card removed, no peripherals. Stutter remained.
Ran PC with different NVME configurations. IE running just one nvme, then 2, then all 3 and placing them in different slots with all the different configurations. No change.
Ran PC with different RAM configurations. No change.
Tried different monitors and configurations. No change.
Tried different peripherals like mice and keyboards. No change.
Tried PC plugged into different outlets in entirely different locations like different houses. No change.
Tried over/under clocking RAM, GPU, and CPU. *INTERESTING NOTE* Messing with RAM and CPU over/underclocking absolutely has an impact on the stuttering, affecting the frequency/duration of the stutter. This applied to every hardware configuration that I tested, however, the stutter never goes away.
I have tested almost every possible BIOS option and none of them are fixing the issues
XMP on or off has no effect.
Installed a contact frame, no change.
Cooling is not an issue either. I understand I'm using an air cooler but it IS sufficient. I do not thermal throttle at all when monitoring with hwinfo or any other monitoring software for that matter. Temps stay well below 90c

Software troubleshooting that didn't work

Fresh install of Windows (both 10 and 11, issue happens in both)
Installed Linux Ubuntu. Stutter happens there too so this is absolutely not an OS issue.
Uninstall/reinstall every driver imaginable both with and without DDU
Uninstall all bloatware, or prevent it from being installed
Disabled TONS of windows processes/services that could potentially impact performance. This included doing tons of registry edits to disable features that you can't access otherwise
Messed with settings of individual programs to try to fix, such as enabling/disabling hardware acceleration on chrome.
Installed Windows onto different NVME drives ( I discovered that one of my NVMEs outperforms the others this way)
Installed all sorts of diagnostic and monitoring software. *IMPORTANT NOTE* None of the monitoring software detects this stuttering AT ALL except for Riva Tuner. Latencymon only points at NVIDIA driver which I Know isn't the issue at this point. Task manager and other monitoring software that charts individual component performance does not show any strange fluctuations on any components when the stutter happens. Riva tuner has shown split second FPS dips to 0 when the stutter happens. Asides from that, no monitoring software has been helpful.

That's pretty much the extent of what I tried. I am really at my wits end. I have had 3 different people that I know personally, who are very knowledgeable about PC's (ones a programmer and the other worked in a computer repair shop) and they are all absolutely stumped.

The only physical component I haven't tried swapping or replacing is the NVME drives.

My remaining thoughts are that the issue is Storage related, or that this issue is platform specific. Meaning that my specific MOBO/CPU/RAM configuration is the issue (I only troubleshooted with like parts). Another possibility I've considered is that one of the components has a defect, such as a short, that is causing damage to whatever system I put it in, which would explain why several different MOBO/CPU/RAM configurations yielded no results.

Im in desperate need of help resolving this. This PC was built to be a high end gaming and productivity rig that should last me many years. I have spent too much replacing components and Im getting to the point to where it might be best to just build an entirely new pc from scratch, which I really don't want to have to do .

This issue doesn't seem to have an obvious, simple solution. I feel this issue needs to be solved by someone who is incredibly experienced with PCs and has been experienced for a long time. If you can easily think of a solution off the top of your head, I can guarantee you that I have tried it and it didn't work. I need some really well thought out ideas to try here. Please let me know what you think, and as always, I really appreciate everyone's time and responses!

 

[Ralston18]

What does the system do, try to do, or stop doing when the stutters occur?

Use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, Performance Monitor, Process Explorer to observe system performance.

Use all four tools but only one tool at a time. Leave the tool window open so you can watch then work and game as usual. Watch for what changes when the stuttering occurs.

Take your time, be methodical, and just watch through a few stuttering episodes.

Also take a look at how all of your devices are connected, Look for loops: Device A connected to Device B connected to Device C connected to Device D connected to Device A again. In any manner or path. Break those loops. Especially any involving electrical power. Check power strips and surge protectors.

Sketch it all out and track carefully.

Post accordingly.

 

[Dillonr93]

The stuttering almost seems like it is tied to a process. Its not happening from performing certain tasks on the pc, rather it seems more like its based on some kind of cycle or clock. It kind of seems like it happens when the pc is trying to load in data from somewhere. So for example. when I'm scrolling through file browser, it will hitch momentarily before it continues the scroll, revealing more files. Does this on web browser too. In games it seems to be related to switching states. So in Overwatch, when watching the kill cam the game will stutter for a second when the kill cam ends and you respawn. In Baldurs Gate 3, the game stutters when switching between characters, when new environments are loading in and it stutters when attacks hit and generate some kind of particle effect. Cities skylines just stutters in a cyclical manner, once every couple minutes. Youtube videos will stutter periodlically as well.

The thing is that I've basically tried all that. None of those monitoring apps show anything out of the ordinary. When the stutter happens, none of those performance parameters drop at all. I did notice that SOMETIMES the LAN will spike up hard when the stutters happen. Though I don't think internet or LAN drivers have anything to do with it, as the issue still happens before having the LAN driver installed. hw info doesn't show any anomalies when the stutter happens. Riva tuner doesn't even detect it but its FPS monitor picks up the stutter. So like the stutter will happen, riva tuners FPS monitor sees it but the other monitors don't fluctuate. at all.

I've also done the whole loop and electrical thing. I've booted the PC barebones and the issue happens. No thunderbolt card, case buttons disconnected, no peripherals connected except a keyboard OR mouse (tried both configurations). I even had the fans disconnected. Issue remained.

I've had the pc plugged in multiple locations, with and without various power strips. None of that mattered.