What could be the problem?

[yinlun]

I just built a new computer using the following:

CPU: Intel C2D e6750
Motherboard: MSI Neo2 FR
Case: CM Stacker 830 SE
HD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 (WD3200AAKS)
Video: BFG 8800GT 512MB OC
CD/DVD: Samsung S203B
RAM: OCZ Gold 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-12
PSU: Antec NeoHE 500w Power Supply
OS: Windows XP Media Edition SP2

After running it for a day, I went ahead and raised the FSB to 400 to get a mild OC of 3.2Ghz. It's stable after running memtest, orthos for 12 hours, super pi, 3dmark, hdtune, hdtach. Idle temps are ~22-26 degrees C, full load orthos tests hit a max of 51 degrees celcius and sit around 46-49.

It boots perfectly fine, and loads fine. It's very smooth and very fast. Except for one problem. It hiccups every now and then.

Examples:
(1)
Load up Ventrilo, and it loads extremely fast, barely even noticing it access the hard drives.
Hit the Setup button on Ventrilo and it temporarily freezes - no mouse movement, no more animation etc. for a good 3-4 seconds before the setup menu loads. Same thing happens when I close the setup menu, or close ventrilo.

So I thought it may be the program, so I tried another program.
(2)
Load up World of Warcraft. Everything loads fast and smoothly. And the same hiccup occurs when I go to logout and close the program.

So maybe it's a connection issue right? Since both programs deal with internet connection. So I disabled the network connection.

(3)
Loaded up Itunes. Same thing, loads fast, plays my songs smoothly, but when I go to close it. It freezes up for that 3-4 seconds.

Does any one have any idea why it might be doing this??

Please help!

 

[elmer92413]

Might be your RAM, try loosening the timings and see if it improves

 

[robisbell]

ram or you may be onto something about the Inet connection.

 

[oynaz]

Does the problem go away if you remove the overclock.

 

[yinlun]

Okay, yesterday I went and removed the overclock. So now it's back to a 2.66Ghz. My idle temps are still about 20-24 degrees celcius. And under full load it doesn't exceed 39 degrees. I loaded the optimized settings in the bios, with the ram using automatic speed selection and it defaulted to the factory timings 5-5-5-15.

The problem still occurs.

I can eliminate the internet connection. Browser, updates, and connecting to vent servers all happen w/o a hiccup. And then with vent open, internet disconnected, the hiccup still occurs when closing the ventrillo app, or hitting the "setup" button.

Any other ideas?

 

[yinlun]

Update:
I started searching a couple of forums. On the ventrillo forums it seems people with a Logitech G15 Keyboard are having the same issues. The odd part is that it's happening with more than just ventrillo on mine. So it might just be that my Keyboard drivers are up to date. (dl'd from Logitech site last night)

I'll have to do more testing, but there's a couple of things that I noticed on the new computer that didn't happen on my XPS M170, which also used the G15, but used the drivers from the CD (2 years old) rather than the logitech site.

1) Whenever I plug in a usb device into the usb port of the G15, I recieve a message from windows stating the device will run faster in a usb 2.0 port. This never occured (same devices) on the xps.

I didnt really give it a thought, but maybe it is this interferring. I'll have to test it when I get out of work. Any idea on why it might interferring, and solutions (aside from drivers)

 

[oynaz]

Try another keyboard if you can. I do not think that will solve the issue, but try anyway.

Perhaps the USB drivers are acting funky? Try updating them.

I believe there is something about USB legacy support which can cause trouble. It can be disabled in BIOS, IIRC.

 

[yinlun]

Okay, it is the keyboard.

Once loaded up in windows, I disconnected the keyboard. Everything ran smoothly. Plugged the keyboard back in, still smooth. BUT.

Restarted, and it started freezing again. The USB drivers are up to date, and it's only with the keyboard - the mouse works fine. I disabled legacy usb, no difference. The keyboard drivers are up to date, switched the keyboard back to the XPS M170, no freezing.

So it only causes a freeze if the G15 keyboard is plugged into the back during start up. If it is plugged in after, there's no issues....?????

 

[robisbell]

well, rather odd to see a Keyboard cause this. sounds like the drivers may not be compatible with that old keyboard, and it's ports may be 1.1 and not 2.0.

 

[oynaz]

Cool, you found the culprit. You should write to Logitech for help, their support is usually quite good.