Choppiness In Vista

J

JordanCL

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 26, 2006
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I just got a new computer w/ Vista 32bit Home Premium. It has a Q9450 and GTX 280 and 4GB ram.

Originally my mouse cursor was sort of choppy, but updating my GPU drivers fixed that. Now I have choppy audio that is not based on CPU load that occurs every 30 seconds or so. I tried updating the onboard sound drivers but that didn't help.

And my third problem is that the internet connection seems to lag quite often and for no reason while it is working smoothly on my XP laptop. It's possible that the current wireless usb receiver I'm using is crappy, but given the 'choppiness' in nature and my other problems I'm lumping that in as a Vista problem as well.

Any ideas? I'm about ready to reformat and install Xp Pro.
 
It could be the search indexer, or prefetcher, especially if this is a fresh install. If so, it might improve in a couple or 3 days. If not, see if you can monitor the running processes and see what starts running when this happens.
 
Is this a pre-built computer? If so, see if you can borrow the media or request it from the OEM and do a fresh install on your own. I'd also suggest Vista x64 for that system.
 
It is a prebuilt. It's an XPS 630. I have the media, but no x64 was included. Also, doesn't x64 have tons of compatibility and driver issues?
 
JordanCL said:
It is a prebuilt. It's an XPS 630. I have the media, but no x64 was included. Also, doesn't x64 have tons of compatibility and driver issues?
Click to expand...

My 2 cents is that 64 vs 32 bit on 4GB is more or less is a pointless discussion. No gain to be had. Yeah, it uses all 4 GB. Yes, 64 bit instructions are larger and therefore use up the difference. For 6GB or more, yes, 64 bit, but if you don't even have a disk I wouldn't worry about getting it.

Did that Dell come with any crapware preinstalled?
 
I've never seen this problem happen to vista. I've got it on 1.5ghz machines with 512 ram and i don't even see any choppiness so to speak.

Turn off Indexing (Type INDEX in search)
Turn off shadow/system backup (Puts hardrive in use fairly often)

I'd say your an XP person, so just go ahead and put on an OS your more comfortable with.

Also, doesn't x64 have tons of compatibility and driver issues?
Click to expand...

This is incorrect.
 
JordanCL said:
Also, doesn't x64 have tons of compatibility and driver issues?
Click to expand...
I'm hoping this is meant in jest...but I guess not. Vista's x64 drivers have been on par with Vista x86 drivers for almost 2 years now.
xxEIEIOxx said:
No gain to be had. Yeah, it uses all 4 GB.
Click to expand...
There's your gain right there. There's no real downside, and a few other positives, so why not?
 
I hate it when people are like "OH NOES I'M HAVING COMPUTER PROBLEMS IT MUST BE VISTA!!!111!!!!":rolleyes:
 
Did it come loaded with a internet security suite? I witnessed first hand one of these security suites pre-loaded by Dell do what you describe. McAffee I think was it. I removed it and instaled AVG to keep things simple and left the system using Windows Firewall and Defender.

I don't get the point of these all in one suites... they usually just make life miserable for the user and cause performance issues.
 
I have had no previous experiences with Vista, and I know when it came out there were compatibility issues. Just yesterday someone told me they downgraded to 32bit to get a few applications working, so I thought: 1) There must be some compatibility issues in 64bit not present in 32 bit. 2) This person who is telling me they downgraded is reliable, and knows a bit about what they are saying.

I guess I easily could have been mistake for either. As far as having a problem and immediately blaming Vista.. well that's not true. Before I blamed anything I removed all the crap that comes w/ any Dell computer and put on my standard reformat array. I updated all the drivers that seemed related to my problems. I troubleshot to the best of my ability. I found a TON of similar issues googling 'Choppy Audio in Vista' but got very few answers.

I came here to ask because I know there are features in Vista I am not aware of. I got two immediately, I will try turning off Indexing and Shadow Backup. These are the type of things I am looking at trying.

I appreciate all the replies so far. Keep the ideas coming.
 
DeaconFrost said:
I'm hoping this is meant in jest...but I guess not. Vista's x64 drivers have been on par with Vista x86 drivers for almost 2 years now.

It probably wasn't that is the impression most folks have. Largely exaggerated but not unfounded.

There's your gain right there. There's no real downside, and a few other positives, so why not?
Click to expand...

There is no real gain at 4GB. I've gone back and forth twice at 4GB, and saw nothing to make me keep the 64 bit. No performance or stability gains whatsoever. Overall, 32 bit is more compatible. Not many issues left at this point, but for someone that doesn't have a disk for it (the OP) I see no good reason to have them go the the hassle of getting one for the purpose of gaining anywhere from nothing to possible single digit performance gains, not worth it. There may be an old printer or scanner or camera involved that won't work anymore, etc. When my 8GB comes on Wednesday, I will be going 64 bit and not looking back, but in this situation I don't believe it will solve the OP's problem. I understand the basis for your recommendation and don't entirely disagree with it, however I don't think it does anything for the problem at hand, and may cost money, even it it is a small amount. I know we are both attempting to help, and that is what is good here. Someone may like your advice, someone might prefer mine, but in the end the options were presented and they had that choice. ;)
 
Don't you think you should've consulted us about any compatibility issues?
 
I just tried a few speed tests. On my laptop I got:

Down: 9196kbps Up: 493kbps

On the desktop I got:
Download Speed: 1933 kbps
Upload Speed: 190 kbps

On a second run on my desktop I got similar down speeds but my up seemed to average higher (close to the 500 on the desktop), but then seemed to experience a 'internet chop' that I've been experiencing. The test was at 100% completed and it just hung there for a few seconds, then dropped to 350 and alternated from 353-355-357 for about 10 seconds very quickly, then jumped to 190 and completed. The test stayed at 100% completed for about 30 seconds.

On a third run, I got:

Download Speed: 1822 kbps (227.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 444 kbps (55.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

And there were no upload stalls as in the previous trial. The machine didn't come with a wireless card installed so I am using an old USB wireless stick I had lying around. It might be the problem.


I've turned off Indexing, Virtual Memory, and System Restore. I'll see if that has any effect on my audio issues.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
There is no real gain at 4GB. I've gone back and forth twice at 4GB, and saw nothing to make me keep the 64 bit. No performance or stability gains whatsoever. Overall, 32 bit is more compatible. Not many issues left at this point, but for someone that doesn't have a disk for it (the OP) I see no good reason to have them go the the hassle of getting one for the purpose of gaining anywhere from nothing to possible single digit performance gains, not worth it. There may be an old printer or scanner or camera involved that won't work anymore, etc. When my 8GB comes on Wednesday, I will be going 64 bit and not looking back, but in this situation I don't believe it will solve the OP's problem. I understand the basis for your recommendation and don't entirely disagree with it, however I don't think it does anything for the problem at hand, and may cost money, even it it is a small amount. I know we are both attempting to help, and that is what is good here. Someone may like your advice, someone might prefer mine, but in the end the options were presented and they had that choice. ;)
Click to expand...

Interesting, I have Vista 64 bit and I noticed a significant difference. Things load a bit faster and when I say open the games folder it does it instantly instead of waiting a few seconds.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
There is no real gain at 4GB. I've gone back and forth twice at 4GB, and saw nothing to make me keep the 64 bit. No performance or stability gains whatsoever.
Click to expand...
You're personal experience does not make for a fact. Many people, including me, do see a difference between the two. I'm current using both platforms on nearly identical systems, and I notice a difference. Besides, many of the advantages to x64 aren't on the surface, noticeable features. Some are security related, for example. On top of that, the compatibility issue is a stale argument. That isn't really an issue anymore, accept in extremely unique situations.
 
JordanCL said:
I have had no previous experiences with Vista, and I know when it came out there were compatibility issues. Just yesterday someone told me they downgraded to 32bit to get a few applications working, so I thought: 1) There must be some compatibility issues in 64bit not present in 32 bit. 2) This person who is telling me they downgraded is reliable, and knows a bit about what they are saying.

I guess I easily could have been mistake for either. As far as having a problem and immediately blaming Vista.. well that's not true. Before I blamed anything I removed all the crap that comes w/ any Dell computer and put on my standard reformat array. I updated all the drivers that seemed related to my problems. I troubleshot to the best of my ability. I found a TON of similar issues googling 'Choppy Audio in Vista' but got very few answers.

I came here to ask because I know there are features in Vista I am not aware of. I got two immediately, I will try turning off Indexing and Shadow Backup. These are the type of things I am looking at trying.

I appreciate all the replies so far. Keep the ideas coming.
Click to expand...


This may or may not help, but I just remembered someone I knew that had a similar problem with a Dell. He said he spent 2 hours on the phone with their tech support and didn't resolve it. It turned out that rather than ever turning it off, he was putting it to sleep. I had him power it off and back on, and it worked fine. The drivers apparently didn't get along with the power management and just a good hard reboot resolved his issues. Do you power it down, or put it to sleep? I still feel this is a driver issue in any case. Vista should run fine on that hardware.
 
DeaconFrost said:
You're personal experience does not make for a fact. Many people, including me, do see a difference between the two. I'm current using both platforms on nearly identical systems, and I notice a difference. Besides, many of the advantages to x64 aren't on the surface, noticeable features. Some are security related, for example. On top of that, the compatibility issue is a stale argument. That isn't really an issue anymore, accept in extremely unique situations.
Click to expand...


I've heard it depends on the CPU. AMD get's little peformance gains by going to x64 as it must be running tops 32-bit. On the other hand, Intels implementation of x64 does get gains over it's 32-bit performance.

I have zero linkage to back this up, but I do recall reading it somewhere. Take it with a grain of salt, it could be completely unfounded and wrong.
 
DeaconFrost said:
You're personal experience does not make for a fact. Many people, including me, do see a difference between the two. I'm current using both platforms on nearly identical systems, and I notice a difference. Besides, many of the advantages to x64 aren't on the surface, noticeable features. Some are security related, for example. On top of that, the compatibility issue is a stale argument. That isn't really an issue anymore, accept in extremely unique situations.
Click to expand...

My personal experience is as valuable as yours. Or anyone else's for that matter. I believe you yourself talked about "placebo" effects on Windows service packs in another thread. Same applies here. My personal experience is that running the same benchmarks on the same machine with a 64 bit OS and the same 32 bit OS gave me numbers within 2% of each other, both up and down. I do not attempt to get someone to reformat their entire machine at the expense of their time, possible money, and potential loss of compatibility, when they didn't ask about changing their OS.

And compatibility issues are not extremely unique. Not everyone bought new hardware yesterday. I had to buy a new scanner to go 64 bit. Most manufacturer's will not update drivers for existing models. I have no disrespect for your experience and effort, but I see no point in trying to convert someone that didn't ask. Had the question been about switching, I'd be one of the first ones to back you up, but the first thing I would do is ask what kind of hardware they were using and if they had verified there were 64 bit drivers available for all of it, and if not, if it is worth the expense to them to upgrade it.
 
Met-AL said:
I've heard it depends on the CPU. AMD get's little peformance gains by going to x64 as it must be running tops 32-bit. On the other hand, Intels implementation of x64 does get gains over it's 32-bit performance.

I have zero linkage to back this up, but I do recall reading it somewhere. Take it with a grain of salt, it could be completely unfounded and wrong.
Click to expand...

I've heard the reverse, but that was some time ago, so I don't know if Intel has caught up. AMD invented the 64 bit extensions being used. Intel had to license it, because nobody wanted to use itanium.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
My personal experience is as valuable as yours. Or anyone else's for that matter. I believe you yourself talked about "placebo" effects on Windows service packs in another thread. Same applies here. My personal experience is that running the same benchmarks on the same machine with a 64 bit OS and the same 32 bit OS gave me numbers within 2% of each other, both up and down. I do not attempt to get someone to reformat their entire machine at the expense of their time, possible money, and potential loss of compatibility, when they didn't ask about changing their OS.

And compatibility issues are not extremely unique. Not everyone bought new hardware yesterday. I had to buy a new scanner to go 64 bit. Most manufacturer's will not update drivers for existing models. I have no disrespect for your experience and effort, but I see no point in trying to convert someone that didn't ask. Had the question been about switching, I'd be one of the first ones to back you up, but the first thing I would do is ask what kind of hardware they were using and if they had verified there were 64 bit drivers available for all of it, and if not, if it is worth the expense to them to upgrade it.
Click to expand...

Man, please stop:rolleyes:
 
Well, here ya go:

In general, though, the situation with 64-bit applications and 32-bit applications on Vista 64 isn't mature yet. While a user running large data sets will almost certainly see improved performance, users with less demanding needs may actually see reduced performance. As always, check with the software supplier, and see if you can run a few tests of your own first.

The bottom line: 64-bit Vista is certainly viable from a performance perspective, but still has a ways to go. Now if we can get all the apps developers to think in 64-bit mode, maybe we'll get better performance all around. But don't forget to stock up on memory.
Click to expand...

Look it over: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2280808,00.asp

64 and 32 are pretty much the same in most regards.

Edit:
Here is another one: http://www.exoid.com/?page_id=123

..and one done regarding some audio application xp still the king http://rainrecording.co.uk/vista/performance
 
JordanCL said:
Back on topic pls? :confused:
Click to expand...

Around here? Keep dreaming.

Open up task manager and goto the performance tab. What do ya see? Anything odd? You can click on the view tab and select show Kernal times..

Did things improve when you took off that USB WiFi adapter?
 
Met-AL said:
Around here? Keep dreaming.

Open up task manager and goto the performance tab. What do ya see? Anything odd? You can click on the view tab and select show Kernal times..

Did things improve when you took off that USB WiFi adapter?
Click to expand...

I haven't taken off the USB adapter. I was thinking it might be responsible for the choppy internet because it's probably a PoS. I do not think it has anything to do w/ my audio issues.

It's funny because I was watching the task manager after posting the 'on topic' reply thinking I should get some more info. What I noticed in processes ranked by CPU use was that I had missed something. The System process (the actual Kernel process) jumps to 2-4% usage when the Audio gets choppy. I just came back to post that and saw your post.

The performance tab doesn't look too iffy. Just looks like normal CPU usage.. small 2-3% usage with sporadic larger spikes to 5-12%. Although when I showed Kernel usage the it seems to be nearly 100% responsible for the larger spikes.

What's the next diagnostic step?

Edit:

2rm8ok7.jpg
 
You could try process monitor, and see if anything unusual is going on during the choppyness. I've used Vista on multiple machines for over a year and a half and never had choppy audio, just telling you so you realize that it's unusual and not something Vista just does all the time, and therefore most likely a driver, installed crapware, or malware. I am also listening to music or watching a high-def movie anytime I'm using my PC, and that is usually anytime I'm awake, and like I said no such problems.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it out. Last time I used process monitor I couldn't see anything because processes were flying by so quickly.

I just installed a bunch of updates, maybe I lucked out and that fixed my problem. I need to go to sleep and will check up tomorrow. And btw, to the person who asked if I was actually powering down or just sleeping -- I am most definitely shutting down and restarting. I never have, and probably never will use the sleep function on any of my computers.

Also, it seems every time I restart the USB wireless isn't seen and I am not connected to the internet. I have to unplug it and reinsert it to get it up and running. Makes me glad to have front USB ports.
 
Damn, your screenshot really messed me up..."what the heck, how come that taskmanager is all over the posts.. :D Try alt-printscreen next time.. it only takes the active window instead of the entire screen.

The USB WiFi could be the problem, I would take it out and see. It's USB afterall and it should be painless to remove and eliminate it as a possibility.

What audio chip/card do you have? Realtek HD Audio? If so, promptly update the drivers if you haven't done so already. My Realtek HD on my laptop is a root of all my hatred towards that machine. And yes, the audio is choppy as heck on it.

What about memory usage...on the performance tab you should have in the physical memory section the total RAM, the cache, and free should be around zero. Up on the graph, you should have Memory as in how much is actually used as memory and not cache. Does it look all good?
 
Here's a trick to try if that's onboard audio.

  • Open the Control Panel and Click on “Hardware and Sound”
  • In the sound category click on “Manage audio devices”
  • Right-click on “Speakers and Headphones” and then choose 'Properties', and then the “Enhancements” tab.
  • In the Enhancements tab check the “Disable all enhancements” checkbox and click “Ok” twice to exit.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
My personal experience is as valuable as yours. Or anyone else's for that matter. I believe you yourself talked about "placebo" effects on Windows service packs in another thread.
Click to expand...
Exactly, which is why I don't pass my personal experiences off as facts. You also are ignoring my comments where I said many of Vista x64's benefits are not performance related. There's a great thread going in which someone asks the difference for a school project.

As of veering off topic, if you go back to my very first post, I asked an obvious question to get an important fact out in the open that the OP didn't mentioned. I asked if it was a pre-built, OEM system. It was, which in most cases, is bogged down with crapware, and not configured to the optimal settings. My advice to anyone I know who buys an OEM system is to rebuilt it fresh, without using the restore media to have a nice, clean install. The performance, often times, is like night and day. Given that, I simply through it out there to go with an OS that will take full advantage of his memory. Simple as that...no need to get the blood pressure up high.
 
JordanCL said:
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it out. Last time I used process monitor I couldn't see anything because processes were flying by so quickly.

I just installed a bunch of updates, maybe I lucked out and that fixed my problem. I need to go to sleep and will check up tomorrow. And btw, to the person who asked if I was actually powering down or just sleeping -- I am most definitely shutting down and restarting. I never have, and probably never will use the sleep function on any of my computers.

Also, it seems every time I restart the USB wireless isn't seen and I am not connected to the internet. I have to unplug it and reinsert it to get it up and running. Makes me glad to have front USB ports.
Click to expand...

Are you sure you have the latest drivers for that USB wireless adapter?

DeaconFrost said:
Exactly, which is why I don't pass my personal experiences off as facts. You also are ignoring my comments where I said many of Vista x64's benefits are not performance related. There's a great thread going in which someone asks the difference for a school project.

As of veering off topic, if you go back to my very first post, I asked an obvious question to get an important fact out in the open that the OP didn't mentioned. I asked if it was a pre-built, OEM system. It was, which in most cases, is bogged down with crapware, and not configured to the optimal settings. My advice to anyone I know who buys an OEM system is to rebuilt it fresh, without using the restore media to have a nice, clean install. The performance, often times, is like night and day. Given that, I simply through it out there to go with an OS that will take full advantage of his memory. Simple as that...no need to get the blood pressure up high.
Click to expand...

I wasn't going to post in this thread again, but I apologize to you and the OP (for derailing the thread). I can be as opinionated as anyone else, and shouldn't have run my mouth, regardless of what I thought. In the future I will keep it to myself.
 
Catweazle said:
Here's a trick to try if that's onboard audio.

  • Open the Control Panel and Click on “Hardware and Sound”
  • In the sound category click on “Manage audio devices”
  • Right-click on “Speakers and Headphones” and then choose 'Properties', and then the “Enhancements” tab.
  • In the Enhancements tab check the “Disable all enhancements” checkbox and click “Ok” twice to exit.
Click to expand...

This was one of the things I found while researching the issue. Unfortunately it didn't solve mine (Yes, I have onboard audio).

xxEIEIOxx said:
Are you sure you have the latest drivers for that USB wireless adapter?

I wasn't going to post in this thread again, but I apologize to you and the OP (for derailing the thread). I can be as opinionated as anyone else, and shouldn't have run my mouth, regardless of what I thought. In the future I will keep it to myself.
Click to expand...

I'm positive I have the latest drivers for the wireless adapter because the CD is long gone. So to install it I downloaded the drivers straight from the website. As far as not positing in the thread anymore -- that's just silly. People have opinions and experiences which make for great recommendations -- it's just at this point I'm not looking to upgrade to x64 if I don't feel that I can troubleshoot well -- which so far, I can't.

No need to apologize for derailing, I basically begged for a derail with the 'Aren't their compatibility issues w/ 64 bit!?' part. As I said I really value everyone's input and appreciate the help. I'm leaving for a day and a half to go to the casino. I will be back tomorrow night and will continue working on this. Wish me luck! And btw, the updates did not solve the audio issue :(

Edit: Yes onboard is Realtek Audio
 
Have fun at the casino! Win a bunch, and buy a new PC!

One question if I catch you before you go. Is the audio slow, or just broken up? Maybe a pci latency issue? People shouldn't be still having this problem, but it could happen.
 
I had a problem with sound skipping and my computer kinda freezing for 2 seconds then back to normal. i used process explorer and found out it had something to do with the chipset drivers. i installed the new ones and the random 2 second freeze went away and everything has worked great ever since.
 
Zupah can you be more specific?

EIEIO The audio plays normally for the most part. Every once in a while it begins to slow (as if a record was switched form 45rpm to 33rpm) and then distorts and breaks up and then w/in 2-3seconds is back to normal.

Also, I went +$500 at the casino which pays for 1/2 of this computer. Thanks for the good wishes :D
 
About the chipset drivers thing, it looks like that model has the NVIDIA® nForce 650i SLI chipset. Go to NVIDIA's website and make sure you have the latest drivers from them. They have a scanner (beta) that will scan your system and tell you if you have the latest drivers, and if not recommend the correct ones. It works reasonably well.
 
I'll definitely check my chipset drivers when I get home from work. Last night I wanted to fix the problem so badly since I felt I had narrowed it down (knew it was a system service causing the spikes in turn causing the choppiness).

I went in services and was stopping them one by one hoping that it wasn't possibly a multi service issue that I would overlook by stopping single services. I went to stop one service and it warned me that it would stop two other services that relied on it. I almost decided to skip it but figured since I was just stopping I could always start it again or restart if needed.

Well guess what? Disabling that service (3 total in the tree) fixed my problem -- at least in winamp. So I went to open youtube where I was experiencing a similar issue and realized I had no internet connectivity. The service(s) is directly related to internet connection (& wireless?). I started the service and still had no choppiness, so the problem service is one of the two subs. Unfortunately I really needed to get to bed so I figured I'd solve the problem when I got home today.

First I will try to simply remove the USB wireless and see if the problem is still there. If not, I will try a different wireless solution and see if it is just the USB stick or the underlying service.

Most likely it is the USB stick because it's old and crappy. If that's the case I'll have a new card on the way from NewEgg tonight.
 
Didn't want to wait so I bought a card after going to the gym today. Installed and my problems are gone. Internet is back to screaming (at least the downpipe) and no choppy audio.

Amazing that a mediocre USB stick (that did have Vista drivers btw) was causing me so much grief. Thanks for the help everyone!
 
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