# [SOLVED] Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature r



## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

I am experiencing this problem for quite a while and in fact it is so weird that I was unable to replicate it. I will try to briefly describe it.

My system is
AMD FX 6300 3.5ghz turbo 3.8ghz.
Gtx 760 ASUS 2gb in a 16X PCI-e 2.0 slot.
2x4Gb 1600mhz DDR3 kingstom hyper memory
Gigabyte 970A D3 REV 3.0 motherboard.
VS 650W Power Supply
CPU temps never exceed 40C
GPU temps never exceed 70C.
Using latest drivers.

The system is not overclocked. Everything is running at optimal settings.

Each time I play a game for a longer period, two or one hour or so It starts lagging and stuttering. I have these annoying micro-freezes each time I walk a few meters. The frames are solid when I stand, or move around a certain area. Lets take Alien Isolation as an example since I play it now. It would be a great example.

I am getting perfect frames, around 80 frames average. After 2 hours of gameplay terrible stutters start to occur. For instance each time I open doors the game freezes for 1 - 2 seconds and then frames jump back to the said 80. I think it happens because new section of the map starts loading, but I fail to understand why it starts "Stuttering" after a certain amount of time and does not happen for the first time the game is launched. After I turn off the game and launch it again the problem "MAGICALLY" goes away and the stutters reoccur after the said time.

Of course this is not the only game I have noticed to have this problem with. It happened with Watch_Dogs and Dead Rising 3. First I was blaming the optimization, but now when I see that the same "symptoms" appear with other games as well, I started blaming my system.

I would greatly appreciate if you could tell me what is causing this problem and how could I fix it. I have been on every forum I could think of, Tom's hardware, Nvidia Forums, Steam forums, Windows forums and nobody could help me.

I would greatelly appreciate if someone helped me. I am desperate.


Thank you.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Hi and Welcome to TSF!

Have you make sure that all of your drivers are fully up-to-date? I would even recommend a clean install of the NVidia drivers through Experience.


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Hi and Welcome to TSF!
> 
> Have you make sure that all of your drivers are fully up-to-date? I would even recommend a clean install of the NVidia drivers through Experience.


Yes all drivers are up to date. They are updated each time new drivers are released.

Also I tried reinstalling the operating system which also wipes all the previous drivers from my HDD or any potential application that could cause it and the problem still preserves. I believe it is an hardware error, but I do not know which component should be replaced.

My bet is the CPU. I have noticed higher CPU usage spikes when the stutters started to appear... Or maybe it is the ram? I have honestly no idea.

I would appreciate any tips.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Please preform a hard drive test using this guide here: 

How to perform a Seagate's Seatools Test | Tech Support Forum


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Please preform a hard drive test using this guide here:
> 
> How to perform a Seagate's Seatools Test | Tech Support Forum



Did a test in windows environment by following the guide.
Did short generic and short self tests. Both passed.

Any other ideas?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Let's test your memory as well. You can use this guide below or the built in Windows Memory tester.

How to perform a MemTest86+ Test | Tech Support Forum


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Let's test your memory as well. You can use this guide below or the built in Windows Memory tester.
> 
> How to perform a MemTest86+ Test | Tech Support Forum


Negative. I left the test running for like 3 hours. Did two passes and 0 errors.

It is not the memory. My bet is it is the CPU or the Board.
Any other suggestions?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

In the BIOS, what are the 12V, 5V, 3.3V and VCORE voltages?


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> In the BIOS, what are the 12V, 5V, 3.3V and VCORE voltages?


Thank you for your support. I am really satisfied so far.

Here is a screenshot of the voltages you asked for.

Vcore is handled automatically.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Voltages, HDD, and Memory all seem to be running correctly.

Let's take a look at your system temperatures. Follow this guide here: 

How to check your system temperatures | Tech Support Forum


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Here. I took the screenshot when the temperatures stopped increasing. This is pretty much the max temps I get with everything running on 100%. Used PRIME 95 and MSI Kombustor.
I mentioned in the original post that they seem fine.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

As for hardware, everything looks to be in order.

What have you installed lately? Does this happen on ever game you play?


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> As for hardware, everything looks to be in order.
> 
> What have you installed lately? Does this happen on ever game you play?


Yes. Symptoms appear in every game I play. After certain amount of time, stuttering appears. Restarting the game magically fixes the problem.

Only difference is it is less noticeable in less demanding games and more noticeable in demanding games but that is logical.

So to shortly answer your question. Yes it does happen in every game.
If I installed something lately? Well I do not think it is relevant because I have been experiencing this issue since the day I built this computer, I just did not pay much attention to it. Now I do when I see that demanding games do not run the way they should.

I also reinstalled the operating system, hoping this issue would disappear but it did not.

My question is. Could this be caused by bad hardware compatibility?
If it is software related, how would I know what is causing it?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

How long ago was the OS reinstalled? Does restarting the game fully fix the lag?

Let's take a look at your system hardware specifications. Please follow this guide on how to get those specifications: 

How to find your system specifications | Tech Support Forum


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Yes. Restarting the game fully fixes the lag.
Here are the specs: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/fCrYfZOj7rjudbo0bOiRomC


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

That's strange that a restart of the game fixes it. That's the same on all of them?

Have you tried to reinstall any of the games?


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> That's strange that a restart of the game fixes it. That's the same on all of them?
> 
> Have you tried to reinstall any of the games?


Yes I did. I tried reinstalling, I tried decreasing graphics, I tried everything I could possibly think of. I have no idea what the heck is causing it. The issue is the same on all games. Less demanding games are playable and the issue is barelly noticable, but games that.. simply load more resources or assets or I dunno make it worse.

Do you have any idea what component should I change or upgrade?
Also could it be optimisation related?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

What's the make and model number of your PSU?


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> What's the make and model number of your PSU?


Corsair VS 650


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Any ideas how to fix this?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

It cannot be hardware related if a simple restart of the game fixes the issue.

Your system does not show a active Antivirus installed. Why?

Please download and install MSSE for your machine and install it:

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

Then run a scan.


Also please remove all versions of Java on your system as they are very out of date.


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Anyone?


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

I uninstalled my antivirus because I found it useless. I never had issues with viruses and I usually notice them sooner than my anti-virus program.

I ran a full scan and no virus has been found. JAva has been removed and fully reinstalled....


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

I've asked others to take a look at this thread.


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> I've asked others to take a look at this thread.


I have been digging a little more and I think I know what is causing it.

Could it be my old LCD ASUS monitor? It is old, and has problems with refresh rate. You can literally see it flicker just like the old CRT screens. It is 5:4 which is no longer supported and also I use DVI to VGA.

My question is could THIS be the issue?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

I want to say yes, however, you state that a restart of the game fixes the issue.

It could be that the refresh rate is too slow for your GPU though.


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> I want to say yes, however, you state that a restart of the game fixes the issue.
> 
> It could be that the refresh rate is too slow for your GPU though.


It really depends. Sometimes you can see the flickering, sometimes you can not. It has something to do with the ammount of frames the game is running at.

I wanted to buy a new LCD screen anyways. I will give it a try and post the results. If the problem is not in the hardware or software it must be something outside.


If new LCD with DVI connection will not fix the issue, I will upgrdade to windows 8 and see if it changes anything.

Thanks for the support so far. I appreciate it.


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Sorry for double post.
Nevermind. I think it has something to do with my graphical memory. I am playing far cry 4 now and there seem to be these "micro-stutters" from the start of the game. I noticed that decreasing TEXTURE quality from high to low almost completely removes the stutters.

This seems to be a big issue because this means my GPU is terribly underperforming. I should be running this game on ultra.

I have a screenshot of the graph.

Image-Share - image-jpg-2759-176

Any ideas what should I do?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Erik9631 said:


> It really depends. Sometimes you can see the flickering, sometimes you can not. It has something to do with the ammount of frames the game is running at.
> 
> I wanted to buy a new LCD screen anyways. I will give it a try and post the results. If the problem is not in the hardware or software it must be something outside.
> 
> ...


If you do buy a new monitor, stick with a IPS Asus or Samsung branded unit.



Erik9631 said:


> Sorry for double post.
> Nevermind. I think it has something to do with my graphical memory. I am playing far cry 4 now and there seem to be these "micro-stutters" from the start of the game. I noticed that decreasing TEXTURE quality from high to low almost completely removes the stutters.
> 
> This seems to be a big issue because this means my GPU is terribly underperforming. I should be running this game on ultra.
> ...


Just to be sure, check a secondary game. A GTX 760 should have no problem running these games.

I'm still wondering if its having trouble matching the refresh rate of the monitor.

Temps seem to be okay a 66. You haven't overclocked anything in the BIOS have you?


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> If you do buy a new monitor, stick with a IPS Asus or Samsung branded unit.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


There were several CPU overclocks in the past, but nothing 24/7. This board has only 4 + 1 VRM and overclocking is not an option.
So to shortly answer your question. No it is not overclocked.


For the sake of it. I will reinstall crysis 3 and test it. See if it is going to cause any lags or stutters. I have been posting about this to multiple forums and they have told me that it is 90% optimisation related because none of those games are optimised and thousands of people have issues with them.

Crysis 3 will soon tell.


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Suprisingly there were absolutely no lag spikes and the GPU was running stable. It really could be the optimisation then?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

I'm confused now. I though this issue was happening on all of your games you play?


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> I'm confused now. I though this issue was happening on all of your games you play?


Yes all the games I mentioned. It started with battlefield 4 but I remeber new drivers fixed the problem. Then it was same will all the games released this year.

I somehow combined it and thought it is the same issue...


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

So BF4 and Crysis 3 are running smoothly, no issues, no lagging.

The remaining games show signs of lag during both single player and multiplayer.

And your system is fully up-to-date with Windows Update and drivers?

The BIOS is running on default settings?

That's all correct, correct?

Your system should be able to run the games no problem. With the NVidia Experience software installed, allow the software to search for your games then optimize them using the optimize button.

See if that changes anything.


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## Erik9631 (Oct 15, 2014)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> So BF4 and Crysis 3 are running smoothly, no issues, no lagging.
> 
> The remaining games show signs of lag during both single player and multiplayer.
> 
> ...



Correct. Everything as you say.


I also tried Far cry 3... never played it on this system... it works as well. How could I be so blind? It is not fault in my SYSTEM after all...
I do not really trust experience, BUT I have been browsing multiple forums and a lot of people were having these stutter issues with the named games.

Setting textures to medium on far cry 4 while leaving the rest on ultra fixes the stutters.

So to sum this all up. It was all optimization related. But thanks to the fact that I built the system a year ago right before these badly optimized games started hitting the market, It looked like the issue was in my system, but after downloading and trying older equaly or more demanding games with good optimization, which work fine, I realized the issue is not in my computer.

I was just terribly unlucky and the paranoia was not making it any better.
I am sorry for bothering and I appreciate the support and help.

I consider this solved.

Thank you again. :flowers:


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Micro freezes | Micro stutters after 30 minutes of gaming (Not temperature relate*

Well, at least you found the root of the problem.


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