I received my Xonar D2X sound card a couple days ago...

[aaa12585]

and it made everything sound a whole lot more crisp!

Unfortunately, I ended up giving up on it due to a little problem I was having with games and I have no idea how to solve.

The Problem is that I'm getting low FPS every other second in my games. i don't know how to explain it any better. It's a sort of micro stutter and it only starts happening when I enable the audio drivers (the only way to achieve 5.1)

Now, I couldn't handle it anymore because it hinders my performance incredibly. So, I decided to re-install windows 7 and start fresh just for this one little problem.

Everything went VERY smooth after installing the driver and testing a game. Then, I tested the channels and Analog output because the audio only works on 3 out of 5 speakers (2 rears don't work). After, I changed one of the options in the settings, my game started up on it's "micro-stuttering" tangent again!
So, I decided to put the option back to what it was and wouldn't you know it? It doesn't change the micro-stuttering AT ALL I've gone days with no lead what-so-ever. Even the internet has no answer.

Does anyone have a clue as to why this could be happening?? I'm happily open to suggestions/answers.

btw, I've experimented with Xonar UNi drivers and Asus's latest, plus I only use a single discrete graphics card (Radeon HD 4770).

 

[johan851]

Sounds like it could be related to DPC latency. Try downloading this guy and seeing what it says: http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

Does your audio also stutter? Or is it just the video?

 

[aaa12585]

Thanks, I'll check this out right now.
It's just the video. Audio is buttery smooth and amazing to say the least.

 

[aaa12585]

Test Interval: 1000

Absolute Maximum: 5339

<Edit>
Either Gaming or idle, it stays within a fluctuation of 100 - 450 latency and Every 60 seconds it will shoot up to 5000
<Edit>

Side note:
I took a close look at frames while playing Counter strike without VSYNC for a moment and it shoots between 250fps to 120-80fps every 1/2 second. Very odd slow downs. Could this be considered within the term of Micro-Stuttering?

 

[johan851]

5339 is pretty high for DPC latency. Ideally you should be sub-500. That might be part of the cause. It does sound like micro-stuttering, but that term is pretty overloaded and can mean a lot of things.

By the way, It's always easier for everyone if you post your complete system in your signature, like the way I have mine set up.

Download the latest drivers for your card from AMD, if you haven't already: http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/P...PU+Download+Detail&ostype=&keywords=&items=20 You should also make sure to download the latest drivers for your chipset.

If updating those drivers doesn't work, try rebooting and going into the BIOS and disabling all the onboard devices you're not using. Serial ports or printer ports if you have them, onboard audio, all that. If all of that doesn't work, you might try moving your graphics card or sound card (or both) to a different slot on the motherboard. Sometimes moving the IRQ assignments of devices around can fix issues like this.

When you reinstall video drivers, try doing a completely clean install to wipe out any old settings you have.

 

[aaa12585]

Doing all of that is what got me here in the first place. I will try removing my wireless adapter, I'm not using it anyway.
Some things here will take a little time and I have to leave for a little bit. I will update/post my computer specifications in my sig and post back here with more answers and results on your diagnosis later tonight. thanks!

Later that night...

NOTE: Also, I put my specs into my signature, but they don't appear. I do believe I'm not doing anything wrong here...

So, I removed my wireless adapter and it appears to fixed the skyrocketing-to-5000 issue. So, I decided to put the D2X in my second PCI-E x1 slot and boot it up. I disabled on-board audio chip from the BIOS. Everything worked as intended (under 140 latency) until I started up Counter Strike Source (this will be the game I test it with since it's faster to boot and blah blah blah.) Once it started up, everything went up to about a moderate 430-440. Once I joined a game and started playing, Latency hit a low of 533 and a high of 763. I was still getting the stuttering I measured with FPS before. When I exit the game, everything goes back to normal.

Any ideas?

1. My next test will consist of changing the D2X's slot placement to the first PCI-E x1.
^^EDIT:
Changing the placement has helped quite a bit. The absolute maximum latency was 408. Unfortunately, it's not enough to stop the micro stuttering.
Could the issue also have something to do with my sound card being too close to my graphics card? possibly due to heat or close-quarter currents hindering latencies? (the PCI-E slots are below and and above my graphics card... no almost no space between them.)

2. I will switch slots again and re-install Windows 7 to clean any driver conflicts that may be occurring at the moment. Wish me luck!
^^EDIT:
Running a clean install of Windows 7 SP1, there are no drivers installed what-so-ever except for Windows default. During Idle I'm running Absolute maximum latency of 232 and a consistency of 90-120.
^^EDIT 2
I installed the latest graphics driver for card and I'm recieving Abs Max of up to >3000 and 7343 every 35 seconds or so when playing Counter Strike Source. Along with a current latency of 110-220. Still getting the stuttering. Going to install Sound driver anyway to see how it goes.
^^EDIT 3..... JEEZ: Alright, installed the audio driver and setup my 5.1 sound, but now when playing a game, I idle at 700-900 latency.
I know I haven't exhausted my options, but there has to be a reason as to why this is happening. I haven't come up with much of a lead here.
--

 

[Pinky]

If I' read your last post correctly, it's when you loaded the latest video drivers you started experiencing the issues again? It appears to be a video driver issue/conflict, no?

I'd also make sure you have the latest chipset drivers installed, as those are what govern communication between the various PCIe slots, etc.

 

[aaa12585]

If I' read your last post correctly, it's when you loaded the latest video drivers you started experiencing the issues again? It appears to be a video driver issue/conflict, no?

I'd also make sure you have the latest chipset drivers installed, as those are what govern communication between the various PCIe slots, etc.

My thoughts exactly.

Just installed my latest wlan driver and it appears to have fixed everything. I also disabled some in the Device Manager just in case. I'll have to polish my setup later today, I'll be keeping my eye out for any more issues.

Thank you so much for your help. that Latency tool has done wonders, along with your advice!

 

[johan851]

No problem! I dealt with a very similar issue for a really long time, except it was the audio rather than the video that was stuttering. Imagine clicking a link in chrome and getting an audio stutter.

 

[aaa12585]

I wanted to come back to this in order to give the REAL solution to my problem. After a few more months of this crap still happening to me, I went through excessive tests with each piece of hardware.

I FINALLY found out what the problem was and hopefully, someday, someone will learn from this. Even though the odds of someone finding it with the current thread name it has are against me, it's worth a note.

The problem was that my CPU was overheated constantly. Although the thermal compound was applied correctly, it had been in my computer for quite a number of years without replacement, so it dried out. Also, I found that my heatsink had collected almost half an inch worth of dust... of course.

So, I took out the little fan on the heatsink and washed the dust off throughly,
along with scraping off the thermal compound from it and the CPU.

Applied a fresh coat of thermal compound

Now everything is working like the day I first bought it!

As stupid as I feel about the situation, atleast I found the cause of the issue. Glad to share