Video & Game playback is skipping.

JohnK

I’ve got what I would consider to be a fairly good pc (self build, spec below) but ever since I got it last December the video playback and game play have been skipping and its really bugging the **** out of me.

For movies, it doesn’t matter what format the movie is, dvd, vcd, avi, wmv, divx, asf, rm, etc. and it doesn’t matter if its played from the HD or from a CD it still skips. Those same movies play with no skipping or other problems on other computers.

When it skips the picture freezes for about a second or so and the sound stops but then both jump forward the duration of the freeze to catch up to where they should be. The exact same thing happens with games. It’ll be playing along grand one minute then it freezes for a second but then jumps forward a little as if nothing happened. Sound playback from audio cd's & mp3 have never given any problems

I’ve tried installing the latest drivers for the graphics card and sound card but no luck. Also I’ve done about 3 complete format and reinstalls of Windows XP but the problem keeps coming back.

Additionally, while it may be unrelated, quite a few times the picture and sound will de-sync and other times the sound just goes nuts. Sometimes this can be sorted by pausing and restarting the movie, sometimes I need to close and reopen the program and other times I’ve had to restart the computer to stop the problem.

PC Spec:
HD1: 120gb Maxtor (OS)
HD2: 200gb Maxtor
RAM: 512mb Corsair DDR XMS3200
DVD: Pioneer DVD-117
CD WRITER: Sony 52X
SOUND CARD: Creative Audigy 2
VIDEO CARD: Crucial Radeon 9700 Pro
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2000+
MOBO: Epox 8K5A3+

This is really starting to piss me off because I’ve spent a lot of money on this pc and its just not living up to expectations. Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

joto

Is DMA active for HD? Look in device manager & under properties for HD there is a box with DMA beside it. make sure it's ticked.

JohnK

My IDE info is:

Primary IDE
Device 0: Ultra DMA Mode 5	 (HD1)
Device 1: Not Applicable

Secondary IDE
Device 0: PIO Mode		 (DVD)
Device 1: Multi-Word DMA Mode 2	 (CD-Writer)

All are set to use DMA Transfer Mode if Available

str8_away

Have you tried update your bios?
If it happens on both HD and CD then I don't think it is your DMA.

CombatCow

I would bet money on it being a sound card problem,i had a similar problem in work last week,i no u said u try'd the latest drivers but try taking the sound card out and try a film,or game( video sequence ),and see if it still happens.Maybe try getting slightly older SC drivers or maybe the thing is just busted ?

Good Luck

CombatCow

Additionally, while it may be unrelated, quite a few times the picture and sound will de-sync and other times the sound just goes nuts. Sometimes this can be sorted by pausing and restarting the movie, sometimes I need to close and reopen the program and other times I’ve had to restart the computer to stop the problem.

Btw thats usually a very good sign that it is the SoundCard.

JohnK

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try the bios update over the weekend.

@Combatcow: I can see where your comming from and i will test it (mobo has onboard sorund sound) but if it is only the sound card, would the picture be skipping too?

CombatCow

From expierance yes the sound would affect the video's,movies & such.make sure the onboard sound if turned off ( if ur using the audigy 2 ) it can be done from the bios and in some cases jumpers on the mobo.should be in the mobo manual if u got it.
Best of luck.

CombatCow