Suddenly getting random stutters in all games

[Jai Gow]

After experiencing severe stutters in Hogwarts and refunding it due to it being a common issue, i have noticed not so severe and just slightly annoying stutters across all other games. They can happen every 5seconds or i can go 5minutes without. The game is essentially just "freezing" for micro-seconds which is enough to be an annoyance. I'm experiencing no loss in FPS (unless stuttering counts as fps loss). All drivers are up to date, HDD is not full and V-Sync is off

Ryzen 5 3600X
GeForce 2070 Super
16GB Ram
Windows 11

 

[Bruce]

first up, I'd be checking the internet speeds.

do a speedtest and report the results.
also reboot all your network hardware, from wireless access points, modem, routers, switches - the lot.

 

[Jai Gow]

first up, I'd be checking the internet speeds.

do a speedtest and report the results.
also reboot all your network hardware, from wireless access points, modem, routers, switches - the lot.

Thanks for the reply Bruce,
Here are the results:

Note: i am in Australia so speeds are much slower, but nothing has changed since last time i tested and had no stuttering issues.

I have rebooted everything possible and the issue is still occuring.
Note: I recently disabled ipv6 temporarily as i was getting better speeds on downloads but it was enabled again shortly after (not sure if this could be a factor)
Issue occurs in offline games even with the internet being disconnected from the pc.

 

[Bruce]

all I can add is if you have your PC as lean and clean as you can make it, that may help.
other things may be outside your control like; number of users of your network, bandwidth, line attenuation, signal to noise ratio, etc.

here is my standard list of things to cross off.
• reboot modem/router/pc
• delete restore points
• turn off hibernation
• empty web browser cache
• delete system temp files
• scan Windows for system corruption
• scan drive for file corruption
• disable unwanted scheduled tasks
• disable unnecessary startup services
• disable scheduled defragging
• trim any SSD's
• turn off Timeline and Activity History, and all things Microsoft Telemetry based
• empty recycle bin
• delete log files and error reports
• remove old Windows Updates files
• cleanup software installer and distribution caches
• delete unwanted programs
• remove any browser extensions
• if connecting via wireless, try ethernet
• pause any online cloud storage synchronising (OneDrive, DropBox)

CCleaner or Glary Disk Cleaner or the inbuilt cleanmgr command can do most of those points.
ShutUp10 by O&O Software can stop a lot of telemetry items.
other things to try;
• create another user account and login under that profile
• check for firmware updates for modem/router and PC BIOS

 

[Jai Gow]

all I can add is if you have your PC as lean and clean as you can make it, that may help.
other things may be outside your control like; number of users of your network, bandwidth, line attenuation, signal to noise ratio, etc.

here is my standard list of things to cross off.
• reboot modem/router/pc
• delete restore points
• turn off hibernation
• empty web browser cache
• delete system temp files
• scan Windows for system corruption
• scan drive for file corruption
• disable unwanted scheduled tasks
• disable unnecessary startup services
• disable scheduled defragging
• trim any SSD's
• turn off Timeline and Activity History, and all things Microsoft Telemetry based
• empty recycle bin
• delete log files and error reports
• remove old Windows Updates files
• cleanup software installer and distribution caches
• delete unwanted programs
• remove any browser extensions
• if connecting via wireless, try ethernet
• pause any online cloud storage synchronising (OneDrive, DropBox)

CCleaner or Glary Disk Cleaner or the inbuilt cleanmgr command can do most of those points.
ShutUp10 by O&O Software can stop a lot of telemetry items.
other things to try;
• create another user account and login under that profile
• check for firmware updates for modem/router and PC BIOS

Hi bruce, spent the last hour or so making sure i had done everything on this list but it didn't seem to help. Atleast my PC is clean now though! It probably needed it! Updating bios felt like it slightly improved it but the stutter is still there nevertheless.

 

[Bruce]

it was a long shot!

I don't use my PC's to game so it's an area I (let's be honest) don't need to care about.

let's get more eyes on this and see what they suggest - @PeterOz @georgeks @Malnutrition @Bastet @Pyro

 

[Pyro]

Your speeds aren't great, but I find them to be sufficient for gaming, just keep in mind what other internet-intense activities are going on as well (someone streaming content, etc).


Let's get some more information:

Download and run the free version of speccy.

Once you have ran speccy, follow the instructions to upload a snapshot found here.


To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

1. In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.
2. In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.
3. Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot dialog box. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.

Please list your power supply unit

 

[Jai Gow]

Your speeds aren't great, but I find them to be sufficient for gaming, just keep in mind what other internet-intense activities are going on as well (someone streaming content, etc).


Let's get some more information:

Download and run the free version of speccy.

Once you have ran speccy, follow the instructions to upload a snapshot found here.


To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:


Please list your power supply unit

My speeds sure aren't great i agree, however i have never had an issue before even with slower speeds and the same provider

Here is my speccy snapshot!

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/g7btzdUL2jomsPka8Mo53n1

PSU: Corsair RM750 Gold 750W Power Supply

I appreciate your reply! Let me know if i can provide any other information

 

[Jai Gow]

it was a long shot!

I don't use my PC's to game so it's an area I (let's be honest) don't need to care about.

let's get more eyes on this and see what they suggest - @PeterOz @georgeks @Malnutrition @Bastet @Pyro

That is understandable Bruce! I did not know about alot of those areas and overall cleaned up about 100gb from my SSD!

 

[Pyro]

This is my laundry list, it's a good starting point for troubleshooting and should get you an idea what's going on, pay special attention to #4, you have a 4k 144hz monitor and a 1080p 60hz monitor:


1. Try running the following programs, also try to keep at least 25-30% of your disks as free space.

Run Disk Cleanup (check all the boxes) this will delete things such as your recycling bin, so make sure you don't have any files you want to keep.

Run Defragment and Optimize Drives, run this on your drives.


2. Disable any overclocking or changes to power/performance settings

Undo any overclocking you may have done (if any)

Settings > System > Power and sleep > Additional power settings
Make sure your power plan is set to balanced, high performance/ultimate performance is only beneficial on gaming laptops where it needs that extra boost.


3. Check for Operating System Corruption

Right click on the Windows logo in the bottom left and select Windows Powershell (Admin)
Run these three commands separately:

sfc /scannow

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

These will take a while to run, do not close out of Powershell while they are running, if one fails then move onto the next and then loop back around.

Note: It doesn't hurt to make a system backup before you make all these changes, save any important files of folders. While these changes shouldn't cause any issues, better to be safe than sorry.


4. Unplug unnecessary devices.

If you have a gamepad, extra monitor, external hard drive/flash drive, or anything that is not essential to using the computer plugged in, unplug it.


Once you have completed all of these tasks, restart it (using the restart option in the power menu) and re-test.

 

[Bastet]

Is the pc connected via Ethernet or Wi-Fi? If Wi-Fi then try with Ethernet.

 

[Jai Gow]

This is my laundry list, it's a good starting point for troubleshooting and should get you an idea what's going on, pay special attention to #4, you have a 4k 144hz monitor and a 1080p 60hz monitor:


1. Try running the following programs, also try to keep at least 25-30% of your disks as free space.

Run Disk Cleanup (check all the boxes) this will delete things such as your recycling bin, so make sure you don't have any files you want to keep.

Run Defragment and Optimize Drives, run this on your drives.


2. Disable any overclocking or changes to power/performance settings

Undo any overclocking you may have done (if any)

Settings > System > Power and sleep > Additional power settings
Make sure your power plan is set to balanced, high performance/ultimate performance is only beneficial on gaming laptops where it needs that extra boost.


3. Check for Operating System Corruption

Right click on the Windows logo in the bottom left and select Windows Powershell (Admin)
Run these three commands separately:

sfc /scannow

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

These will take a while to run, do not close out of Powershell while they are running, if one fails then move onto the next and then loop back around.

Note: It doesn't hurt to make a system backup before you make all these changes, save any important files of folders. While these changes shouldn't cause any issues, better to be safe than sorry.


4. Unplug unnecessary devices.

If you have a gamepad, extra monitor, external hard drive/flash drive, or anything that is not essential to using the computer plugged in, unplug it.


Once you have completed all of these tasks, restart it (using the restart option in the power menu) and re-test.

Thanks to Bruce's steps i have 75/231GB free on my SSD as well as 457/1.81TB free on my HDD!

I ran all cleanups that you have suggested, as well as ensuring power plan was set to balanced. I noticed there is a AMD balanced option as well as a default windows one, i was wondering if maybe the AMD balanced power plan is more optimised for my PC rather than windows one?

I ran all 3 of these commands, sfc /scannow came back with some corrupt files and said all files were successfully restored.
Other 2 commands seemed ok.

Unplugged all devices excluding mouse, keyboard and main 144hz 1440p monitor.

I then played a game for about an hour or so and still noticed stuttering, it did seem to be a bit "less stuttery" (Unless my brain is playing tricks on me!) but there were still visible stutters unfortunately.

 

[Jai Gow]

Is the pc connected via Ethernet or Wi-Fi? If Wi-Fi then try with Ethernet.

It is connected by Ethernet! I am lucky enough to be able to have the modem sitting on my desk

 

[Pyro]

What type of ethernet cord are you using? It should be at least a Cat5e or Cat6.

It should be printed on the sides of the cord.

Does every game stutter or just some? What games?

When did you notice this happening? Was something changed before it started, even little things like a driver update or a new program/software.

 

[Rustys]

Did this start before and or after updating the drivers?

All drivers are up to date,

Post a new speccy report.

 

[Bastet]

It is connected by Ethernet! I am lucky enough to be able to have the modem sitting on my desk

Thanks.
Is Windows up to date? There was a problem between games & Windows which was fixed with an update.

 

[Jai Gow]

What type of ethernet cord are you using? It should be at least a Cat5e or Cat6.

It should be printed on the sides of the cord.

Does every game stutter or just some? What games?

When did you notice this happening? Was something changed before it started, even little things like a driver update or a new program/software

The cable is a Cat5e, nothing related to my network has been changed and my PC is 3 years old and just suddenly started stuttering, had no signs before this.

Happens on every game that i have tried so far, Hogwarts Legacy is where it started, but reports say that it's a common issue and the game is not optimized well, but since then i have noticed stutters in other games that i have played (not sure if this is related or bad timing) I have tried games such as CSGO, Forza Horizon 5 and even tried Minecraft just to see if it was high-demanding games that were the issue

All driver updates new programs etc were installed due to the stutters occurring and me trying to fix the issue, i had not installed anything from what i can remember prior to it happening which is really strange

Did this start before and or after updating the drivers?

Post a new speccy report.

This is the speccy report with all devices plugged back in, can unplug and repost if needed http://speccy.piriform.com/results/cVSHM1eq8wH8FlWeXTPQo0O
It started before updating drivers, i updated them in the hopes of resolving the issue

Thanks.
Is Windows up to date? There was a problem between games & Windows which was fixed with an update.

Windows is up to date, version 22H2 (Windows 11)

 

[Pyro]

Do you have v-sync enabled on your games? Have you tried disabling it if so?

 

[Rustys]

Lower you setting in the game.

Turn off motion blur.

EDIT: When was the last time you rebooted the entire network?

 

[Jai Gow]

Do you have v-sync enabled on your games? Have you tried disabling it if so?

Lower you setting in the game.

Turn off motion blur.

EDIT: When was the last time you rebooted the entire network?

I always disable motion blur and v-sync in games, first thing i do I'm pretty convinced it's not to do with in-game settings (but im no expert clearly) as it has suddenly started happening throughout all games whether they are highly demanding or not. Maybe trying to capture the stutter in a video could be useful, i could be explaining it pretty poorly.

I rebooted my entire network maybe 2-3 months ago