Computer stutters when online

S

Soapy5

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Messages
82
I am having a weird problem that I cant pinpoint. For some reason, whenever I go online, or have a program that downloads stuff (i.e. steam) tries to go online, about 80% of the time my entire computer starts stuttering. The stutters last anywhere from .5 to 4 seconds and occur every 1-3 seconds, and everything is affected: mouse, video, sound, you name it. For the duration of the stutter everything freezes, but the mouse and window locations are updated. So if you are moving your mouse when a stutter happens, the mouse will jump around after a stutter event. Also, whatever program or browser that was trying to access a webpage or file times out, meaning nothing is downloading. The stuttering pretty much makes the computer unusable. (I am using my laptop to type this). The stuttering will persist until I close the offending browser or program, and after 10 seconds or so, everything will be back to normal. The stuttering started about 4 days ago, and I just built the computer about 2 weeks ago.

I checked the cpu load, and the load does climb from an average of 3% to around 30%, but never maxes out. Also, the gpu load isnt affected when idle, but when i tested it when the gpu was undergoing a stress test (MSI kombuster), the gpu usage drops around 30% and the stress test graphics freeze for the duration of the stutter.

I initially thought the cause might be the overclock on the videocards, but that was the first thing undid and nothing changed. I also have recently replaced my wificard from a Xtreme N desktop PCI express adapter by D-Link to an ASUS PCE-N13 card so that's my prime suspect since its the only hardware change. (the reason for the swap was that the D-Link was getting crappy network reception, despite its $50 tag. The ASUS card gets much better reception, and worked perfectly initially).

I dont think its the network, since I can browse the internet with no trouble on my laptop. It only affects my desktop.

My system specs:

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3
2 x MSI R6970-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6970 2GB in CrossFire
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850
Crucial M4 64GB SSD
2 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 1333
HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
3 x Hanns-G HZ281HPB 27.5'' in eyefinity (1920x1200 each)
Intel i5 3.3GHz

old WiFi card: D-Link Xtreme N

new WiFi card: ASUS PCE-N13


I did a search online and I am not the only one with this problem, but I couldnt find a solution to the problem. Anyone have any suggestions besides OS reinstall or hardware RMA?
 
Have you tried disabling your antivirus?
Updated drivers?
Have you scanned the PC for viruses and such?
What happens when you try the DLink card again?
 
I have no antivirus, and have all the updated/reinstalled drivers for both cards.
I haven't really downloaded stuff (this is a new build) other than the windows updates and the like, so i doubt its a virus.

I tried the D-link card again, and stuttering stopped \o/

of course now I have to deal with the terrible signal this card gets. Although I did begrudgingly install its wifi software and the signal seems to have been boosted by a bar or two. (now I have two bars! :D)

So Im assuming the problem definitely lies in the asus card. Could the problem be a software/conflicting driver issue or do I have a bad card?

Edit: so after a bit more refined searching, it turns out that stuttering and the ASUS PCE-N13 card go hand in hand. Apparently its not enough to just install the new driver: i have to completely erase the old one. How do I do that? Device Manager > Network Adapter > ASUS PCE-N13 >Uninstall?
 
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Soapy5 said:
Edit: so after a bit more refined searching, it turns out that stuttering and the ASUS PCE-N13 card go hand in hand. Apparently its not enough to just install the new driver: i have to completely erase the old one. How do I do that? Device Manager > Network Adapter > ASUS PCE-N13 >Uninstall?
Click to expand...

Wow, what a pain in the ass. :eek: I would say uninstall the old driver (making sure Add/Remove programs doesn't have anything listed, there isn't a folder for any of its' software in Program Files, and going to Device Manager and manually uninstalling as you said). Basically remove any traces of it you can think of. Then get CCleaner and run both Cleaner and Registry. This will insure any other traces are taken care of. After all that, restart you computer. Then run CCleaner (both Cleaner and Registry) again, just to be 100% sure.
 
Ok, so an update: After erasing all the old drivers, and updating the card with the newest version, the stuttering finally stopped. However, the card kept losing network connection after 5 minutes or so and refused to reconnect until after a restart, only to repeat the problem. During the 5 minutes where It could actually connect everything was good to go and the signal was great (4 bars). I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers a second time, and now the card refuses to connect at all. It still is able to discover networks with a good signal, it just cant connect. To clarify, this is the ASUS card I am talking about.

Edit: quick update: the card does connect to a network eventually, but the moment I start a web browser or try to access the network it looses connection.

Double edit: Yea... so it works now. I didnt do a thing, and eventually it started to work. although the connection stays solid, actual internet connectivity is very spotty and I frequently get pages not found and the like... :confused::confused::confused:
 
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