6850oc problem

[glets]

i recently bought 6850oc because it seemed a very good deal and from internet reviews it could play almost anything... but in games like dragon age 2 and BBC2 and AC brotherhod, i have high fps 60-70 or more and the games experience constant small freezes(sorry ican't explain it better) . for example i have high fps but the game seems like it's choppy. I have done every test possible memtest prime95 and other benchmarks seem to run fine and with normal temperatures on everything!!! the only possible problems that i can't examine is the soundcard and the power supply that might cause this problem. the soundcard id onboard REALTEK ALC892 and i am attaching a photo of the power supply(wich i think is the problem)

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome.

I think it could well be  a case of latency.

Download and run dpclatency checker from  http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

The problem is easilly fixed but finding the culprit can be more troublesome. Latency is caused by bad programming generally. There are various rules for how a program should access the core and if it doesn't follow these rules it can result in the core not being released for the next operation and this causes a bottleneck that backs up. The biggest headache from our perspective is that we have to find the rogue program/driver.

The best way to tackle this is to go to Task Manager and then in the Processes section stop all the processes that are not required for Windows to run. If you do this one at a time until you find the one that is causing the trouble. Then depending on what it is as to how you tackle the repair.

If none of that works you would need to go to Device Manager and disable all the devices not needed to run the system. Then you can enable them one at a time and again see which one causes the problem.

Have fun!

[glets]

thanks for the quick reply! but the program doesn't find anything wrong(everything green) what should I do now?

[Dark Mantis]

Try leaving the program running while you do whatever normally causes the problem. Then you can check to see if it is there.

[glets]

I can't find anything wrong what the hell is causing this chops once in a while in the games? i ordered a new psu and a new sound card...

psu: http://www.corsair.com/power-supply-units/enthusiast-series-power-supply-units/enthusiast-series-modular-tx850m-80-plus-bronze-certified-750-watt-high-performance-modular-power-supply.html

sound: http://en.store.creative.com/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-x-fi-xtremegamer/1-15853.aspx

[Dark Mantis]

I would try removing the sound card totally and see if the poroblem still exists. Make sure that you have disabled the onboard sound as well. Comes under Azalia codec in the BIOS.

Obviously make sure that you have all the latest graphics cards drivers and BIOS version. Remove or disable anything that is not totally required to have the system function. In other words strip it back to basics.

[glets]

I have done all of that disabled onboard devices from BIOS and have the latest version, i also installed the graphic drivers in every possible way. I'ne been trying to find a solotion for some time now and the only wek spots in my system is the psu and the sound card. I' post the results when i install them! Thanks for the help!

[Grozdan]

I could tell you that I had similar problems that were caused by sound but the problem wasn't in the card or drivers but in bad game optimization...
I'm not familiar with your current PSU so you could try something with a little bit more "quality" (like that Corsair you ordered) just to see if the problems persist because those freezes could be originated by low power output that your card receives. If problems persist, at least you'll know that the PSU doesn't make them (but having Corsair PSU is always a good thing)...

As for that sound card, did you browsed on driver compatibility with Windows OS? Creative makes more and more bad drivers for some of the cards and they just abandon them when new OS arrives (I threw away 2 of Creative cards when switched to Win 7).

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I had a similar experience with my Creative Audigy 2 sound card. Sitting in my cupboard now instead of in my machine.

[glets]

i had audigy 2 zs from my old pc and was very satisfied, but caused problems(much more stuttering) in games on my new pc compatibility maybe. which sound card in the same price range do you recommend? 

[Grozdan]

Don't get me wrong, that Creative sound card you linked could be very good! My friend has (I honestly don't remember exact name) Creative X-Fi Titanium/Platinum/Fatality/Something something and he couldn't be happier!

You could also check that Asus Xonar series - I heard only the best about them...

[glets]

the problem was the stupid psu i had! now with the new one everything works like a charm! I play crysis 2 on hardcore settings and it's smooth same for dragon age 2 every game i have plays better and those stupid freezzes stopped!!! AC brotherhood runs smooth too but with some graphics options lower, before it didn't run smooth even at the lowest settings in  everything. problem solved just don't buy cheap psu on a new gaming system! 

[Dark Mantis]

You have learnt one of the most important lessons to do with PCs.....don't buy cheap PSUs. They never end up being cheap and often cost an arm and a leg when they go wrong and take half of your nice expensive hardware with them.

On a different note perhaps someone with more audio knowledge than me (that's most people!) can tell me if the onboard Realtek ALC 889 chip is better than the Creative Audigy 2 that I have in my cupboard. I only play games and watch films etc no heavy duty audio uses.