Occasional Hitching and Audio Distortion
Occasional Hitching and Audio Distortion
I encountered an unusual problem while playing games. Occasionally, the game freezes for a few frames and plays with distorted audio. This issue appears across different games, from demanding titles like Read Dead Redemption 2 to simpler ones such as Bejeweled.
Current setup:
Specs: ASUS ROG Strix 2080ti, AMD Ryzen 9 3900x (12 cores @ 3.8 GHz), 32 GB DDR4 RAM @ 3000 MHz, Asus Prime X570-P motherboard, Samsung 970 Evo M.2 SSD, 1 TB hard drive (two copies), 2 TB Seagate Barracuda, 1 TB Sandisk SSD, EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G5 (80 Plus Gold, 750W). The case provides good airflow with a Lian Li O11 Air and high-flow Noctua fans.
Peripherals: Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum Keyboard, Logitech G502 Gaming Mouse, LG 32" 2560x1440 monitor (144 Hz), Blue Yeti USB microphone, Wacom Cintiq 16.
I've tried several fixes: fresh Windows install, driver updates, graphics drivers rollback, RAM testing with Memtest86, and running synthetic tests (Prime95, Furmark, Heaven). No issues linked to the drive. Temperatures and usage remain stable. The problem started about two months ago. No clear cause identified so far. I've checked forums for similar issues but found no effective solutions.
PSU: specifications, model, power rating, age, and condition?
Turn off the device, unplug it, and open the enclosure. Remove dust and debris. Verify that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are securely positioned. Check for damage such as swollen parts, discolored areas, exposed wires, or bent conductors.
"2 months ago": Examine the Reliability History for any error codes, warnings, or related events that began around two months prior. The timeline format helps identify when issues started.
During driver reinstallation, did you perform it manually or use a third-party utility?
PSU specifications included in the initial message.
Regular monthly maintenance keeps my PC free of dust and debris. I verified all connections last night—seems the problem might be with the PCI-E power connectors on the card. Hardware appears fine.
My reliability history shows no major issues for me. Only a graphic driver crash happened when using Maya.
Excluding the wireless card and GPU, all drivers were installed automatically by Windows.
I believe I've found the solution. There's a setting in the BIOS of Asus Prime X570-P that selects the generation of the PCIE ports. This, by default, is set to Auto. If you change the default to whatever the highest generation your GPU supports it should stop the stuttering entirely.