Hey Guys/Gals - I have been experiencing "LAG" somewhere in my system. Usually when playing music or video's it will start to chop up for a few seconds and then start coming back in fine. My temps are all down low and its just boggling my mind. (I run an H2o cooling system. I am running Vista but I want to make clear that this was happening on a fresh install of XP as well so I am positive its not a Vista problem.

1st off system specs.

e6400 @ 2.13Ghz
2 X 1gb Corsair XMS 6400 Ram @ 2.1v 400Mhz
2 X 512mb Corsair XMS 6400 Ram @ 2.1v 400MHz
2 X Sata 160 hd's NOT RAID
Antec Neo 500w PSU
Geforce 7900 GS

TT Armor Tower with PLENTY of air flow. 15cm fan in front, 15cm fan in back 90mm fan on back by PSU and 90mm fan up top.

All cables are neatly packed away and NOT obstructing airflow.

I have tried running each stick of ram seperately and I still have the problem. I ran MEMTEST with no issues. passed all those test. A complete checkdisk didnt turn up anything either. I have formated and removed everything but 1 stick of ram and a HD and Optical drive and STILL have the issue. What gives? Any ideas? Im wondering if the PSU is taking a dump?

Onboard Sound ? or? Please list

If it's onboard sound I suggest upgrading it. :\
Not with a $20 card tho, you obviously built it to be nice! But it doesn't have to be extreme...

I'll give more details with seeing your next reply.

Stomp

I was using the onboard sound but about 2 weeks ago I upgraded to a sound blaster audoigy 5.1 card. (I thought the on board sound was the problem) but it still does the same thing,,,

I'm going to guess it's the 2x512's not saying they aren't supported/matching/or anything else. But maybe you are in dual channel mode & have only 2x512 in one channel & the 2x1GB in other channel, thus making 1 channel of the CPU to run faster than the other??? I really need $1,000,000 to get back in the loop of all these new CPU's.

If that isn't the problem, I'm going to guess it's a setting in the CMOS/Bios.

I still want to say it's something to do with the ram, or you are running the CPU in dual channel... I'm still running 0ld school, P4 3.00E 478 Chip w/1mb cache, 2x1gb corsair value ram. But when I enable hyper threading (old school dual core) it clocks my CPU as 2x1.5ghz P4's. Oddly enough... Your probably sounds like what my PC did when I enabled the Hyper-Threading, really lagged my PC out, but seemed normal in no-load performance.

What motherboard do you have? Maybe try yanking out the 2 512mb's sticks... Like Nascar, sometimes you gotta go slower, to be faster... It's just weird!

Let us/me know what you gather with my idea...

Did this system ever work properly?

Have you tested the PSU with a voltage tester?

Have you run the manufacturers diagnostic on the hard drive?

Have you tried a different graphics card?

I would suspect the graphics card first off.

No reason not to upgrade to the 8800 series.

The prices are really good at this point in time.

Originally Posted by jephree

I would suspect the graphics card first off.

Me too! Assuming the PSU meets all the demands placed on it.

Oh, and assuming you are NOT running low of free disk space on the boot drive and you have your PF set correctly.

Originally Posted by Stomp

I still want to say it's something to do with the ram, or you are running the CPU in dual channel...

Hmmm - there's is no such thing as "running the CPU in dual channel" - so not sure what you mean here. Dual-channel mode refers to how the RAM is accessed across the bus, not how the CPU is running. It is the memory controller's function to regulate data flow between the CPU and RAM. Now granted, the memory controller is located on the CPU die for some CPUs, but it is not really a part of the central processing unit itself. It is still the motherboard's chipset which determines the motherboard's capabilities, and reports to the memory controller (wherever that may be located) the RAM configuration. It is then a function of the motherboard and RAM to operate in dual-channel mode, not the CPU.

I agree that you must ensure the RAM modules are in the correct slots to enable dual-channel (check the motherboard manual) but even in single channel, with 3Gb of RAM, I would not expect to see the symptoms described here. Easy to test though - pull the 512s and make sure the 1Gb modules are in the correct slot to enable dual-channel. Some motherboards say to use slots 1 & 3 for the first pair of RAM modules, then 2 & 4 for the second pair. Others say to use 1 & 2, then 3 & 4 - so again, read the manual. Note that no harm is done if not correct - it will just revert to single-channel mode - or not recognize the RAM.

Hey guys thanks for the reply's. Its not the ram. I must have forgot to post that I have tried each stick of ram independanty and by pairs and the problem still occurs. So it does it wether in dual channel with only 2 sticks or single channel with only 1 stick.

I was afraid it would be my graphics card. I just paid 200 for that 7900GS like a year ago? Ohh well, those 8800's sure do look promising. Are they still 24 pipes?

Disk space usage is very little due to the fresh install of the OS. I formatted the drive before I installed the OS.

This board has really great cooling from the Mosfetts throught the Northbridge so I dont think there is a problem with that. Even has a nice little fan that blows over em. I keep it dusted out and my temps always look good.

This system USED to run fine. Not sure when this problem started to occur beucase well, windows sometimes acts stupid anyways so thought maybe it just needed restarted. Seams its getting REALLY frequent now so It must have been something "Dieing". I guess the GC is the next thing to replace.. (Uggh). Guess my wifes DELL could use the 7900GS if it turns out that isnt bad..

Most folks using alternative cooling overclock. If you are, don't - at least not until this is resolved.

I happen to like Antec PSUs - but sadly, their reputation for excellent supplies was tarnished when their PSUs (including NEOs) failed to meet expectations - they have since restored good quality control, but you may have one of the offenders. I second jephree's suggestion to check the PSU voltages (under proper load) - or swap in a known good PSU for testing.

I keep a FrozenCPU Ultimate PSU Tester in my travel tool bag. It is not as good as a qualified technician testing the power supply unit (PSU) under a "true" (realistic) load with an oscilloscope, but close. The advantage of this model is that it has an LCD readout of the voltage. With an actual voltage readout, you can better detect a "failing" PSU, or one barely within specified tolerances. Lesser models use LEDs to indicate the voltage is just within some "range". These are less informative, considerably cheaper, but still useful for detecting PSUs that have already "failed". Newegg has several testers to choose from. All these testers contain a "dummy load" to fool the PSU into thinking it is connected to a motherboard, and therefore allows the PSU to power on, if able, without being attached to a motherboard - great for testing fans, but again, not a true load. Alternatively, you can swap out the PSU with a known good one that meets the computer's power requirements.

If your current PSU is not meeting the demands now, it surely won't with a more power-hungry graphics card.

Is there anyway to test it with a regular multimeter? I have a really nice one but it just measures voltage UNLOADED.

My voltages have always read a little low when I look at the ASUS tool but it used to work fine. Now, I have been running a stable overclock for a long time. I have cut back to all stock voltages and stock clocks but the problem is still here. So either the PSU is failing under load (Which it didnt use to) or the graphics card is going bad. Dang computers.. Always somethin. Even when you take care of em they still aggrevate ya!

Is there anyway to test it with a regular multimeter? I have a really nice one but it just measures voltage UNLOADED.

The problem is to do it right, the main PSU connector must be connected to the motherboard, with the motherboard powered up an running. Then you must insert a highly conductive probe deep onto the heart of many live circuit, jam the probe into the connector and hope nothing shorts out, or your hand slips and you slice though a dozen circuit traces on the motherboard.

My voltages have always read a little low when I look at the ASUS

Well - electronics don't normally get better with age - I would swap in a new PSU, or take it to a shop.