Experiencing stuttering and freezing during video playback? Could be a GPU hardware issue.
Experiencing stuttering and freezing during video playback? Could be a GPU hardware issue.
This summer I acquired a new GPU, the Steel Legend 9070 XT. I’m pleased with its basic performance, except for the problems I encounter while watching videos. My other components are 5700X3D, B450 Mortar max, and 32GB 3600MT RAM. Right now everything is stock, no undervolting applied. The main concerns: Video playback – when streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, or another platform load videos, they often stutter or drop frames. It’s not always the same; sometimes it freezes completely while watching a clip. Audio disappears entirely. If I wait, it usually recovers, but sometimes the app needs to restart. Occasionally, AMD drivers display vague messages like “an issue has occurred.” When frame rates drop, switching to Alt+Tab can temporarily stabilize things. There are times when background videos cause the mouse and GUI to freeze as well. The problem seems more frequent with Netflix and other browsers than with YouTube. While YouTube experiences less severe stuttering, it rarely freezes the system for long periods. In contrast, Netflix tends to be more problematic across both Chrome and Firefox. It also happens when using my second monitor, though not as severely as on single monitors. I haven’t captured a clear freezing video yet, but I’ll share it later. Gaming performance is solid with BF6 Open Beta, Humankind, Endless Legend, and Cyberpunk 2077 running without issues. Deathloop offers average frames but suffers from noticeable lows. System diagnostics show only minor frame drops (1% at 40-50 vs 80-100), which I find more bothersome than the actual stutter. AMD’s overlay reports 25-30 low frames, while my perception is closer to 15 FPS drops. It seems to fluctuate—sometimes sharper, sometimes smoother. It might be worse on certain maps or during late-game sessions. Adjusting CPU utilization to 60 FPS doesn’t help, and even then no crashes occur. I’ve tried various driver updates (25.3.1 to 25.8.2), reinstalled Windows, changed XMP settings, disabled and enabled freesync, and ran memory checks. No errors found. I’m wondering if others see this as a hardware fault and should consider an RMA. Even though it doesn’t crash outright in games, the video decoder issue feels plausible, especially since Deathloop has similar problems before.
It doesn’t seem like a typical homework issue. This feels similar to what I faced with Ayymd drivers for years across various devices and generations. I think the freezes you described often happen when hardware interrupts occur, pointing toward a driver problem. A quick search revealed others experiencing stuttering during video playback, especially with multiple monitors connected. You might try disconnecting all but one monitor to test if that resolves the issue.
Turning off the second screen appears to reduce the video stutter. It might have made a difference in deathloop but not significantly otherwise. Still, it’s about 1% below the ideal performance compared to the average. What should I do with this data? Just stick to using just one monitor.