VIA VT6421 Controller causing occasional half-second performance stutters

[Cheepnis]

******************************UPDATE*************************************

I have since determined that this stuttering issue has nothing to do with my GTX 670, but rather, is caused by an old expansion card I had connected to my motherboard to add a couple extra SATA ports for the use of connecting a couple DVD drives (Rosewill RC-215 VIA VT6421 RAID Controller).
I recently purchased another HDD, and used the VIA card to connect it, and that was about the time that I first began noticing the stuttering issue. I should have put two and two together right away, but I kind of forgot that I even had the card on my mobo since I just swapped out the connections from a DVD drive that I never use to the new HDD. I must not have had a HDD plugged into the VIA card when I originally tested by using only the integrated graphics because once I realised that the problem might be the VIA card I tested again with the integrated graphics and a HDD connected to the VIA card, and I got stutters then.

It seems that the solution is to replace the RC-215 with the VT6421 chipset and replace it with a card with a better chipset like the Marvell 88SE9130.
new thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2394571&highlight=

**********************END UPDATE***********************



Original Post:

Firstly, my PC components:
- CPU: i7 2700k
- Mobo: Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H rev 1.0
- GPU: Gigabyte Windforce GTX 670
- OS: Windows 8.1 pro
- RAM: Samsung low voltage 4GB x4
- Storage: OS on SSD, everything else on 3TB 7200rpm HDDs
Surround sound receiver (Onkyo NR-515) connected via GPU's HDMI

For the past few weeks I have noticed that once or twice per hour (on average) any games, videos, or music I am playing suffer an audio/video freeze/stutter for about a half-second.

I tried to record a number of these stutter events with a few different screen capture programs. Interestingly, each time I would play it back, the recording contained no audio or video stutter.

Monitoring running processes and CPU utilization with task manager and process lasso showed no unusual programs popping up or CPU spikes during the stutter events. Maxxing out the CPU by using Handbrake to encode videos while playing media did not cause a higher rate of stutter events compared to times when the media player was pretty much the only program running (CPU > 5%).

Here is a link to another forum where I tried to troubleshoot this problem http://www.eightforums.com/general-...second-audio-video-stutter-windows-8-1-a.html


Today, I installed the 2700k's HD3000 graphics and configured the BIOS to use only the integrated graphics (and not the 670), and the stutter problem went away. So the problem must be due to the Nvidia card.

I have had this PC running perfectly for nearly 2 years, without any problems like this at all. The GPU stays cool (idles in the mid-to-high 30s, and rarely goes above 55C) and I clean everything regularly.

I have tried at least 5 of the most recent Nvidia drivers but the stutters continue to occur. I have completely reinstalled windows 8.1, and the motherboard drivers straight from the gigabyte website. I've tried uninstalling the realtek audio drivers. And I have checked that all the connections to all of my devices are secure.



Right now I am stumped, and am assuming that this must be a problem with the GTX 670's hardware, so I will be contacting Nvidia or Gigabyte tommorow for assistance.

Does anyone have any ideas on what may be happening here?
Thanks in advance.

***EDIT
Description of the stutter:
It's like everything lags out for a half second, and then a half-second's worth of audio data comes bursting out in one instant. It's like a digital fart. When playing music really loudly the stutter sound sounds like it could possibly damage my speakers (not to mention my ears)***

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Do you have any motherboard utilities installed for OCing or monitoring temps?

They're infamous for causing symptoms like this.

Have you tried checking your DPC latency with latencymon?

 

[Pantlegz]

I had the same issue with my 680, after doing some research online I found it's not all that uncommon on 600 series cards when you're doing audio over hdmi. I switched to a dedicated sound card and did fiber to my receiver and the problem went away. I don't know that there's an actual fix for it, if you find anything let me know...

the issues were present with and without OC

 

[Cheepnis]

Do you have any motherboard utilities installed for OCing or monitoring temps?

They're infamous for causing symptoms like this.

Have you tried checking your DPC latency with latencymon?

I did not install easy tune 6 this most recent re-install. Since you mentioned mobo utilities I have uninstalled all of the non-essential utilities like 3dpower and a couple others. We'll see if this has an effect.

I don't know much about latencymonitor but I have installed it and taken screenshots of each page when the PC was mostly idle, and I will use a video capture program later while listening to music to record the latencymon results during these stutter events. But, as I said, I don't fully understand what I am looking for with latencymon, so if you could tell me what to pay attention to, I will record the results and post them here.
screenshots from latencymon when PC is idle:



***UPDATE (from following post):

Ok, now that latencymon has been running for over an hour a stutter must have occurred because the "conclusion" section of the "stats" page has changed from "Your system appears to be suitable for handling real-time audio and other tasks without dropouts" to "Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. you are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as dropouts, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. Also, one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in control panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates."***

I had the same issue with my 680, after doing some research online I found it's not all that uncommon on 600 series cards when you're doing audio over hdmi. I switched to a dedicated sound card and did fiber to my receiver and the problem went away. I don't know that there's an actual fix for it, if you find anything let me know...

the issues were present with and without OC

Holy crap that is disappointing to hear. I WILL NOT go back to the optical cable. I recently spent ~$1000 on a surround sound system, mainly so that I could use HDMI to have 5.1 sound in games and to play 24-bit audio. I would rather smash my 670 with a hammer and buy only AMD GPUs for the rest of my life than go back to optical.
Did you contact Nvidia about the problem?

 

[Cheepnis]

Ok, now that latencymon has been running for over an hour a stutter must have occurred because the "conclusion" section of the "stats" page has changed from "Your system appears to be suitable for handling real-time audio and other tasks without dropouts" to "Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. you are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as dropouts, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. Also, one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in control panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates."

 

[stahlhart]

Probably irrelevant to your issue, but do you have core parking disabled?

 

[Cheepnis]

Probably irrelevant to your issue, but do you have core parking disabled?

I'm still kind of a PC noob, and don't know what core parking is.

 

[stahlhart]

I'm still kind of a PC noob, and don't know what core parking is.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/Windows-7-amp-Core-Parking-a-better-way-to-Turn-It-OFF-m1861804.aspx

It involves changing registry settings, so the usual caveats apply.

 

[Cheepnis]

http://forum.cakewalk.com/Windows-7-amp-Core-Parking-a-better-way-to-Turn-It-OFF-m1861804.aspx

It involves changing registry settings, so the usual caveats apply.

thanks for the link to that simple guide to unparking. I just checked resource monitor and none of the cores said parked, but I guess they could possibly be being parked at the times of the stutters. I believe I will try disabling parking next.
Can you please tell me some of the benefits of disabling it, and any possible negatives consequences?

Also, that link says it's for windows 7. Do you think the method would be the same on windows 8.1?

Thank you and everyone else who has tried to help me here.

 

[f1sherman]

Try creating another user account (hopefully clean and w/o unnecessary baggage), and logging there

CTRL+ALT+DEL --> Task Manager --> Startup --> disable all (use caution; revert later)

You may try with reasonably minimalistic hw configuration. Unhooking all non-essential hw.

Check for viruses, rootkits (torrents can spell trouble).

I usually keep another Windows installation on the same PC, just in case and for troubleshooting.

 

[stahlhart]

It was just a hunch, and I figured that it couldn't hurt to try.

I noticed it on my system during overclock stress testing -- it was strange and frustrating that Prime95 would fully load all of the cores to 100%, but LinX-based tests (Intel Burn Test, OCCT etc.) would not, and this turned out to be the fix.

I also saw a slight uptick in benches afterward, but nothing really all that significant.

I think that it's just a means for the operating system to decrease resource usage to save power and keep temperatures down, probably mainly intended for laptops to extend battery life.

Here's a discussion that's Windows 8 specific:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1337271/properly-disable-win8-core-parking

I just figured it might be worth a try before you take a hammer to your GPU.

 

[Cheepnis]

Try creating another user account (hopefully clean and w/o unnecessary baggage), and logging there

CTRL+ALT+DEL --> Task Manager --> Startup --> disable all (use caution; revert later)

You may try with reasonably minimalistic hw configuration. Unhooking all non-essential hw.

Check for viruses, rootkits (torrents can spell trouble).

I usually keep another Windows installation on the same PC, just in case and for troubleshooting.

I might try that, but I am skeptical since I performed a clean re-install 3 days ago.

It was just a hunch, and I figured that it couldn't hurt to try.

I noticed it on my system during overclock stress testing -- it was strange and frustrating that Prime95 would fully load all of the cores to 100%, but LinX-based tests (Intel Burn Test, OCCT etc.) would not, and this turned out to be the fix.

I also saw a slight uptick in benches afterward, but nothing really all that significant.

I think that it's just a means for the operating system to decrease resource usage to save power and keep temperatures down, probably mainly intended for laptops to extend battery life.

Here's a discussion that's Windows 8 specific:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1337271/properly-disable-win8-core-parking

I just figured it might be worth a try before you take a hammer to your GPU.

ha!
Well I set it up so that the cores will never park but that didn't solve my stutter problem. Thanks anyway. Still good info to know.

 

[Cheepnis]

Below is the full log of latencymon after running for a few hours. It looks like the important part is this:

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 2520.930345
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 335.23 , NVIDIA Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.043727
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 335.23 , NVIDIA Corporation


The problem is that I don't know what to do with that information.






_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. Also one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 3:01:58 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: MOTHER
OS version: Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd., Z77X-UD5H
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2700K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 16345 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 3503.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 2421.0 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 248972.915843
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 4.036185

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 248939.303243
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 0.932009


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 250472.804453
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.076713
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.115640

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 13264553
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 3
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 2520.930345
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 335.23 , NVIDIA Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.043727
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 335.23 , NVIDIA Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.108420

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 44537692
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 1597
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 30
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: qbittorrent.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 3301
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 1021
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 143718.358264
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.004124
Number of processes hit: 27


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 338.048022
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 250472.804453
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 101.011446
CPU 0 ISR count: 13264559
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 2520.930345
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 75.951848
CPU 0 DPC count: 36481638
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 184.189032
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 269.098202
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 1.267759
CPU 1 DPC count: 357586
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 332.197155
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 301.459892
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 3.796838
CPU 2 DPC count: 2198477
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 428.942182
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 303.852127
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 5.776920
CPU 3 DPC count: 2832751
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 145.601236
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 247.397659
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 2.782104
CPU 4 DPC count: 1091412
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 284.394210
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 301.948615
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 1.258650
CPU 5 DPC count: 316975
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 122.409428
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 268.844705
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 2.438627
CPU 6 DPC count: 853869
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 277.830606
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 289.113902
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 1.432513
CPU 7 DPC count: 406611
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[BFG10K]

Try disabling the GPU's high definition audio device in the Device Manager and test the onboard sound by itself. If the problem vanishes, it's probably the GPU.

 

[ZGR]

Try having a GPU monitoring tool running in the background to monitor GPU frequencies? I noticed similar hitching on my 650m because it was downclocking itself due to the 'power management mode' being set to Adaptive under the nvidia control panel; in 'Manage 3D settings'.

If you notice a strange GPU usage/clockspeed drop during these freeze-ups, then it could help you troubleshoot from there. Having MSI Afterburner or something similar running in the background will provide a good picture on GPU activity.

 

[Deders]

How do you get the log from dpc latency monitor?

 

[Cheepnis]

Try disabling the GPU's high definition audio device in the Device Manager and test the onboard sound by itself. If the problem vanishes, it's probably the GPU.

I have already tested connecting my monitors and receiver through the motherboard DVI and HDMI, and no stutters occurred. This definitely has to do with the gpu.

Try having a GPU monitoring tool running in the background to monitor GPU frequencies? I noticed similar hitching on my 650m because it was downclocking itself due to the 'power management mode' being set to Adaptive under the nvidia control panel; in 'Manage 3D settings'.

If you notice a strange GPU usage/clockspeed drop during these freeze-ups, then it could help you troubleshoot from there. Having MSI Afterburner or something similar running in the background will provide a good picture on GPU activity.

I will monitor the gpu with gpu-z and probably afterburner (if it has the same kind of monitoring program that precisionx has) next.

I've always had the Nvidia control panel set to "prefer maximum performance" and my card has always downclocked anyways. But I never had this stutter problem in nearly 2 years of owning the 670. And I like that the card doesn't have to operate at max power and temps when I'm just browsing the internet, or leaving the pc on overnight for whatever reason.

I've installed the PowerMizer Manger from Nvidia that allows you to keep the card at fixed values, but I haven't gone through with it yet because I really don't want change those settings if I don't have to. I just want everything to work like it did up until a few weeks ago.

How do you get the log from dpc latency monitor?

Copy&Paste after pressing the stop button in latencymon.

 

[Cheepnis]

Today I used the PowerMizer Manager from Nvidia to disable the downclocking. Stutters still occurred the same as before. Afterburner's performance monitoring graphs showed nothing unusual (that I could see) during the time of the stutters. So it's not that.

I also updated to the most recent stable bios for my mobo. No affect.

memtest86 completed with no errors.

 

[Destiny]

I have the exact same issue... It started happening 4 months ago I first thought it was my CPU or my internet... then I thought it was my DOTA 2 game and I reinstalled the game...but then I found out its my Windforce GTX 670... it will do that once in awhile... like at least once or twice in a 4 hour gaming session. Most of the time its like once every half hour


I did the same thing you did and including giving my rig a cleaning thinking dust may be causing it...

But then one time it went bonkers after stuttering and my OS gave a GPU failure warning or failure to recognize drivers then 30 seconds later it works... since then it has happened at least 3 more times going bonkers and giving a failure warning.

 

[Cheepnis]

I have the exact same issue... It started happening 4 months ago I first thought it was my CPU or my internet... then I thought it was my DOTA 2 game and I reinstalled the game...but then I found out its my Windforce GTX 670... it will do that once in awhile... like at least once or twice in a 4 hour gaming session. Most of the time its like once every half hour


I did the same thing you did and including giving my rig a cleaning thinking dust may be causing it...

But then one time it went bonkers after stuttering and my OS gave a GPU failure warning or failure to recognize drivers then 30 seconds later it works... since then it has happened at least 3 more times going bonkers and giving a failure warning.

I have recently determined that this issue is not at all caused by the GTX 670, at least in my case. More troubleshooting has caused me to realize that it was a problem with an old storage controller card (VIA VT6421 chipset) that I had connected to my motherboard. You can read about it in the update to the original post I have just made.

I never received any GPU failure warnings, so it kind of sounds like your problem may actually be due to the 670, or is at least a different problem than mine.
I recommend visiting Nvidia's support center and ask a question (link: http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/ask) or live chat with tech support (http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/chat/chat_launch) if you have not already.
I found their support service to be very customer friendly and competent.
They always responded to my questions within a day or two (or faster), and did help me figure out what was wrong with my system. (You will, of course, have to register with the site before getting support)

I know how annoying this issue can be, and how much time it can take to troubleshoot a problem that only happens once per hour or more, so you have my sympathy. Best of luck to you.

***Thread title changed to be more useful***


I will report back in a few weeks, when I have tested my system with a new storage controller, to confirm whether this issue is solved for me. Thanks again to all who have responded.