6800 - problems (stutters, 'hitching') etc ?

[DAPUNISHER]

I am with Hero on this topic, remove all evidence of the Creative card and software from your system and see if the issue goes away. It seems the majority of people with the issues being described use their products.

 

[Epsil0n00]

thanks for the link SFMedic!

Pulled from the page about AGP Aperture Size:

"Please note that the AGP aperture is merely address space, not actual physical memory in use. Although it is very common to hear people recommending that the AGP aperture size should be half the size of system memory, that is wrong!

The requirement for AGP memory space shrinks as the graphics card's local memory increases in size. This is because the graphics card will have more local memory to dedicate to texture storage. So, if you upgrade to a graphics card with more memory, you shouldn't be "deceived" into thinking that you will need even more AGP memory! On the contrary, a smaller AGP memory space will be required.

It is recommended that you keep the AGP aperture around 64MB to 128MB in size, even if your graphics card has a lot of onboard memory. This allows flexibility in the event that you actually need extra memory for texture storage. It will also keep the GART (Graphics Address Relocation Table) within a reasonable size."

 

[tr1kstanc3]

i get the problem when i load maps in americas army. it will pause video and the sound will stutter for about 10 seconds then the game resumes and plays normally. its very odd. i dont have an audigy either and did not have this problem with my 9800pro which was in this system before i swapped out.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: tr1kstanc3
i get the problem when i load maps in americas army. it will pause video and the sound will stutter for about 10 seconds then the game resumes and plays normally. its very odd. i dont have an audigy either and did not have this problem with my 9800pro which was in this system before i swapped out.

Did you disable fast writes already?

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Looks like you're all using Audigy's. Odd correlation. Anybody try removing it and see if the problem persists?

From what i've read Doom 3 has its own sould progam and doesnt rely on the sound card so much so I dont think there is a connection with Audigys and the game. I use an Audigy 2 ZS and have not expierienced this problem, but I also use an Ati 9800 Pro.

 

[cluster550]

Well, I disabled fast writes and this seems to have fixed the pauses I was experiencing.

Just some other info about my system:
256MB AGP Aperture
Using Dual Channel memory
Using the newest drivers as of about 8/17/04
Video card BIOS version- 5.40.02.15.07 (card came with this version)
Stock speeds for the entire system

 

[flexy]

someone in the futuremark tread said the problem appears when tv-out/mulitimonitor is enabled. (which is by default.) Disable and report your results

Btw. the two most often referenced games where the weird hitching/stuttering happens seem to be Battlefield Vietnam and GTA:VC.

I am specifically interested in this issue (fast fps but 'stuttering', non-smooth display).

If you have longer 'pauses' and freezes...this might be something totally different..but still the given advice might help. (fastwrites offf, agp sizes right)

here's a general guide where one guy summed the three things up

Getting rid of stutters

 

[sao123]

Maybe related, maybe not.

AMD FX53
Asus A8V Delux (Via 8kt800 pro) (Via 4.53 4in1)
1GB Ram
Geforce 6800 GT (61.77 Driver)
SB Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
WinXP Pro, SP2, DX9c

I was having studdering issues in Railroad Tycoon 3, including BSOD crashes in nv_40.dll.
I was also experiencing 0x8E BSOD errors (Audigy Squal of Death) when using teamspeak while playing C&C Yuri's revenge.


It seems a combination of Audigies + Via chips + Nvidia cards have some type of PCI bus flooding issue, which causes these troubles. I've tried tweaking RAM timings, PCI Latency, IRQ's, PCI slots, AGP aperture, I've even tried power strip hardware tweaking software...but no success so far, until i disabled fast writes, and set the pci latency between 64 & 128.

 

[AlienSpoon78]

From my original post - my pausing for 30 secs and lockups were apparently direct result from crappy ole Audigy Drivers... loaded the KXProject Drivers and problems were solved - Hope Creative Labs does something about this because Im rather disappointed w/ them at the moment.

Appears I did have the hitching and jerkiness issue as well.... I did the 2D Clocks = 3d Clock speeds and problems appear to be solved for the most part.

 

[Acanthus]

Creatives idea of a driver update is releasing a new card...

 

[GnomeCop]

I have yet to disable my SB audigy drivers, but the hiccups occur with the 5.40.02.15 bios. I havent seen an official leadtek bios newer, so I havent flashed it.

 

[sao123]

I'd love to load the kxproject drivers, but they dont yet support the audigy 2 zs cards...

 

[GnomeCop]

the new beta 66.00 drivers fixed all stuttering problems without a bios flash for me

 

[sao123]

where are the beta drivers avaialable for download? I might try them

 

[TheNoblePlatypus]

Originally posted by: sao123
where are the beta drivers avaialable for download? I might try them

Here.

 

[AlienSpoon78]

Regards to the KXProject drivers... one thing I do notice is that positional sound is all wrong. Id be running around on a hill in Joint Ops hunting for Snipers to knife and the gunshots come across all wrong on the speakers... I do currently have an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro and in the KXProject settings the speaker test comes out right (kinda) I have Klipsch 4.1 and It keeps running the speaker test like a 5.1 but both front speakers play when center channel is tested.... but its better then having no sound which is what I was running into w/ the Creative drivers.

 

[sao123]

After doing some reading on the internet, im not convinced that the creative labs drivers is necessarily the problem (at least in my case). It seems that the via pci bus still has its flaw in that 1 device can hog all the bandwidth and cause other devices to stall.

In my case, I found that my video card hogs the pci bus (I thought the pci bus was finally separated from the agp bus but somehow they are still linked.) and causes my sound card to stall and finally blue screen if it cant start communicating. If it does get the bus before the timeout, it still causes pauses, laggy / repetitive looping sound, until is has completed its cycle. Perhaps this is an issue with the GF 6800 driver hogging the bus, but most likely its just an unresolvable via problem until they redesign the bus, with proper parking.


Are any of you seeing this symptoms of a via pci stall?

 

[flexy]

redesign the bus, with proper parking.
Are any of you seeing this symptoms of a via pci stall?

Many people with that issue(s) are on Nforce - so it can not be a VIA issue....

 

[sao123]

Well the only thing left could be my power supply and i just decided to check...
during heavy gaming my 12volt rails are @ 11.491 and have dipped to 11.43...but those are still within the 5% tolerance values arent they?

 

[sao123]

Now I am really starting to question my powersupply. I've been reading some of the posts at evga.com's forums. I really starting to wonder if my power supply is the problem...

I just turned on the amd cool and quiet and my cpu throttled down to 1200 with a voltage drop too...and seems that my studdering problem is less severe, almost even gone.

But you'd think a strong 480watt could handle all im throwing at it...
amdfx53 2400 1.475v , 1 GB ram 2.7v , geforce 6800 gt , sb audigy 2
4 sata hdd, 1 dvd/rw , 1 dvdrom, floppy, 5 case fans + 2 hdd cooler fans



Well now im considering this...
Thermaltake Silent PurePower 560W Power Supply for AMD and Intel ATX 12V, Model "W0023" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-015&depa=1

or
unless you guys have another suggestion...

 

[flexy]

480 W PSU (good brand) should be plenty ?!!?!???!!

I'd rather first eliminate all other factors, maybe even do an emergency new windows install without any Audigy drivers etc...and then see if you have any problems....i would be extremely surprised if you;d really need a 560W ...

 

[sao123]

my +12v idle voltage 11.55 & 11.49 @ heavy load with a few dips to 11.43.
so im thinking im borderline on the 5% tolerance

 

[Jojo7]

I had the same problem, though it was more of a 5-10 sec freeze than a stutter.

I disabled fast writes and it hasn't happened again.

 

[sao123]

I already had fast writed disabled...didnt fix my problem.

 

[GnomeCop]

try the 66.00 beta drivers