[Kasai]

I recently built a new computer and I've noticed that, seemingly randomly, my computer will randomly stall for about 10-20 seconds whenever a game (haven't seen any other programs do it, but I know youtube video's do not cause the problem) enters or exits full screen mode.

I'll initiate full screen, the screen will go black, like it normally would as it enters fullscreen, but then my other monitor goes black and the computer stalls for like 15seconds before continuing into the game. During this time, everything acts really weird. Vent sounds like a scratched record (repeating whatever sound was going on over and over until the stall ends).

Once it's over, everything works completely fine until I have to exit the fullscren.

So far, whenever I have the problem, I can restart my computer and it goes away completely. Though, when it happens it seems that it keeps happening until I restart. I have a feeling that it's driver related, I might try a complete clean installation of them.

I have a XFX 5850

Edit: I just noticed that the record skipping problem I have with vent doesn't happen if I'm playing music that's either on my harddrive or over youtube, it seems to only happen to vent sounds.

 

[emosun]

Well naturally your computer will hang some when exiting and entering full screen apps. I would try some basic software fixes first before going into any hardware troubleshooting. Reinstall drivers , update mobo/chipset drivers , check game patches , ect...

 

[Kasai]

Yeah I just reinstalled the graphics drivers but unfortunately(also fortunately) because it doesn't happen consistently, it might be a few days from now that it comes back.

Honestly I don't think that it's a hardware problem because it's fixed by a restart and because the card works completely fine otherwise.

What's weird though is that it's only random in the sense that it doesn't always happen but once it does, it seems to keep happening until I restart. If it was only once every so often I would call it a normal stall but it seems to be caused by something else.

 

[Kasai]

I'm assuming that there is a time stamp on edits.

Anyway, updated drivers, problem still happened. Gonna grab the latest chipset for my mobo (as I realized I only used what came with the CD when I was installing windows) so that will hopefully help.

Motherboard is
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download M4A87TD EVO

 

[Kasai]

Ugh edit time limit. Sorry about the triple post =/

Anyway, I updated my mobo's chipset so hopefully the problem will be gone.

 

[emosun]

Check your bios version as well , there are several bios updates that pertain to system stability.

 

[Kasai]

My bios are version 1101. If I remember correctly, none of the ones after that were directly regarding stability but if the problem comes back (haven't seen it since I updated chipset) I'll probably update the bios. I suppose I'll do it as a last resort, as generally I don't like updating my bios.

 

[Kasai]

Update. I got the problem again with the new chipset so I'm somewhat at a loss as to what could be causing it. Any ideas?

 

[Kasai]

Ok another update. I realized that it seems the problem is occurring whenever I change the resolution, which would explain why it was happening when I entered or exited full screen mode. If I go into properties and change the resolution bar, the same lag happens.

Edit: It also happens whenever I plug in/remove my second monitor

 

[Kasai]

After reading around online and trying to reproduce the problem, it seems that it's something with explorer.exe stalling when this stuff happens. That being said, it seems like this is more appropriate for the Windows 7 support forum rather than the hardware. Would it be best for this to be moved or should it could just be closed and I could remake the thread there?

 

[mcorton]

Hi kasai, when you go to play, open task manager and them process manager. When it lags, see if your CPU usage is going high. Then see which program is causing the spike. Also how much RAM is your system running and what is the wattage of your power supply? Also, have you tried it on another browser?

 

[Kasai]

I can try the task manager but the problem is that the system freezes up during the stall so I might not be able to see the change.

what do you mean by a different browser? It's not being run though an internet browser if that's what you mean.

I'm running 4 gigs of ram, 750watt power supply (according to HWmonitor, the 12v rails are running at 11.78v).

Edit:
I tried the task manager thing but because the system hangs and the screen goes black, I was unable to see if any one particular program caused a spike.

 

[mcorton]

It's a longshot but try downloading Coretemp and let's see what you cpu temps look like. Core Temp

 

[Kasai]

I actually have core temp running in the background pretty much constantly and my temps are well within range of "normalness." The cpu never goes above 50 under full load.

 

[mcorton]

Can you go to taskmanager/performance manager and post a screenshot of what's running in the background? I'm also talking to my more experienced teammates about how to test your power supply unit.

 

[Kasai]

Is this what you wanted?
http://i51.tinypic.com/211mhrt.png

Also, while I can still edit. I opened up the resource monitor and recreated the problem and there seems to definitely be a spike. Unfortunately I don't know exactly what is causing it because the screen goes black.

 

[mcorton]

You have three processes using 328 MB. They are MSPaint, Steam, one instance of svhost using 124 MB, and explorer using 43. If you don't use these in your games you should set them to manual. Also please do the same for the services tab. (which is really what I wanted.

 

[Kasai]

Ok here's the services tab:

Edit: I realized that I restarted my computer in order to finish an installation and the problem doesn't come back instantly. I'll upload both sets of the services tab when it comes back in order to check for any possible changes

And because it's progressed decently, I'll restate the problem based on what I've concluded.

When I turn my computer on, everything works fine for a while. I can go into desktop screen resolution, change it and no stalls happen whatsoever. I can't say approximately how long this lasts, but so far, at a certain point when I test it, my window's screen resolution stalls the system.

It doesn't have to be in any other program, simply right clicking on the desktop, clicking screen resolution, changing the slider bar and hitting apply causes a stall. It seems that anything that changes resolution at all causes a stall. If I hit Ctrl + Alt + Delete, the slash screen that comes up causes a stall. If I enter a game that goes into full screen, a stall happens. It seems that any time the desktop is changed, the system hangs for 10-30 seconds.

 

[mcorton]

Have you updated the drivers for your video card?

 

[Kasai]

Yeah I have. I uninstalled them, rebooted and then reinstalled the latest version from their website.