Game stuttering and errors; should I replace my video card or HDD?

Whenever I've played a game on my computer recently, there has been a pretty frequent stuttering issue. Usually, I notice the choppiness in similar areas of levels. In Mirror's Edge, for example, the game stutters every time I enter a specific hallway. Other games, like Bioshock, won't even start. When I tried playing the Bulletstorm demo, my computer crashed with a BSOD. One of the BSOD errrors was 0x0000005 (memory access violation) and another was 0x0000008. Quite a few other errors are listed in Event Viewer, including a Kernel-EventTracing error (0xc000000D). Many of the error messages say that the system "could not find the file path specified".
I've taken as many measures as I could to resolve this issue. My computer has passed all RAM and HDD tests I've tried. I've reinstalled Windows, and tried using a different PSU (both PSUs have more than enough watts/amperes for my PC), motherboard, CPU, and RAM, but in any case, every game I play still either crashes or stutters severely. I don't have a spare video card, so I can't replace the currently installed card without going through the RMA process, which will likely take at least 2-3 weeks. Do you think I should RMA my graphics card? I've had terrible luck with video cards so far. I've already had my graphics card replaced twice for artifacting. However, I'm reluctant to send out the card because in this situation, the problems don't seem to be as obviously symptomatic of a damaged video card as they were when I was seeing video artifacts. I've also considered purchasing another hard drive, although as I've said, hard drive testing programs haven't detected any HDD errors. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

 

What card and driver version are you running and what are your other system specs? your symptoms sound more like RAM issues. How have you tested your memory?

 

to quote him

"I've taken as many measures as I could to resolve this issue. My computer has passed all RAM and HDD tests I've tried."

 

My advice would be to try and get hold of a spare Gfx card and try that, as its the only thing you havn't tried, surely you must have a friend nearby who could possibly lend you his for a bit?

Personally i would say it's your hard drive with everything you have said, i have them issues and i have a WD Raptor, games stuter all time for me so i think my hard drive is dying as my specs are easily acceptable for the games i play..

 

I did read that but given that this is the users first post I have no way of ascertaining user ability and competency so I would have liked more info on what those tests were? in other words it has passed all tried but i dont know what those test were or how many were done. The symptoms sound like memory or driver issues but may be GPU or HD too. In short, need more info:confused

 

I wish I did, but to be honest, even if I knew someone with spare GFX card, he would probably be reluctant to lend me a card, seeing that all of my graphics cards have somehow been irreparably damaged.
My current operating system is Windows 7. I haven't installed a service pack yet. The computer is a home build, and the motherboard is a Biostar A880G+. I have installed all necessary drivers, including the chipset drivers.
As for specifics on the HDD tests, I've used HDTune, Diskchk, the Hitachi hard drive fitness test, and system file check. No errors were found by any of these programs. Also, Memtest86 detected no errors through 3 or 4 passes.

 

OK so you clearly know a good amount and those are the test I would have suggested (assuming you have a Hitachi Disk)

I am asuming that you have also tried updating to the latest GPU driver? What about Chipset Drivers? Im inclined to agree with the GPU line a the minute.

If you are constantly torching GPUs have you tested what power you have coming from your PSU on the PCIe Power cable? maybe that it is too high and trashing your cards or it is possible that it is not high enough and you GPU cant draw enough power hence the suttering (Although I would expect that to cause BSODs)

 

Yeah, I've tried fully updating GPU drivers. I've also tried to roll back drivers and install previous 10.X drivers. The chipset drivers and motherboard BIOS are up to date as well.
Oddly, whenever I've tried shutting down my computer over the past few days, it hasn't worked through Windows. Clicking shut down in the start menu makes the computer transition to a "logging off" screen, where it completely stalls. I could only turn off the computer by holding down the power button on the case.

 

As for testing the PCI-Express power, I don't believe have the tools I would need for that.

 

try running chkdsk /f /r from command prompt (it takes a while to run) and ccleaner.

sounds like you have os issues.

 

CCleaner found and fixed over 120 registry issues. I tried to run chkdsk, but when I right click cmd, Windows Explorer crashes.

 

what do you mean right click cmd?

just go start > run > type cmd. What make and model is your hd?

 

So, when you right clicked cmd (to run as administrator) explorer crashes? All the time, or just that once?

 

It's happening every time that I right click cmd to run as administrator.

 

All right, I just created an admin account so that I could use cmd without right clicking and running as administrator. Then when I tried switching back to the original account, only the mouse cursor appeared on the screen.

 

Then, it looks like that the profile/user that ye were running is having issue. I'd recommend, creating a new account, and use that instead. Once everything is working properly, delete the old user account.

Note, it isn't recommended to run windows as the administrator, just to be on the safe side.

 

Unfortunately, I still have the same problems on the administrator account. There's still a lot of framerate stuttering, and shadows are flickering. In Mass Effect, it seems like much of the textures aren't appearing. I guess I'll find out later if I could even get the computer to shut down on this account without holding down the power button.
*sigh* These problems just seem to be getting worse with time. I would've never believed that it would take this long to find out why my computer hasn't been functioning properly.

 

I think your hardware is probably all fine. I suspect it is OS related. A good format and re-install may help.

 

I have reinstalled since I've noticed these issues, but I haven't formatted the hard drive yet. I'm not sure if formatting would really make any difference.

 

formatting shouldnt make too much difference as it will recreate your registry and windows data. I am supprised that you have so many registry errors though if you have re-installed. Have you ruled out Malware?

Have you tried chkdsk from safe mode?

 

I just tried to start a chkdsk from safe mode. I set chkdsk to run after I restart the computer. Then when I tried loading from safe mode, the computer hanged at the "windows is loading files screen".
After that, I just used chkdsk again from outside of safe mode. The results were: 0 bad file records, 0 EA records, and 205 reparse records.

 

Reparse Records are nothing to worry about. Sounds like it is a combination of screwy OS and possible bad GPU. I would suggest complete format and re-install and test GPU with a spare

 

Well, I'd really like to try formatting the hard drive, but apparently I can't boot my computer from my Windows XP or 7 discs. I tried booting from the 7 disc first. I managed to get to the desktop screen, but nothing loaded from there. After that, I tried booting from my Windows XP disc. That didn't even get to the "Windows is loading files" screen before stalling. I got an error message with a lot of error codes and these... uh... words: "NoCy NoZr IntDis Down Trap".

 

Has anyone seen that error message before? It appears to be a 0000005 exception error.

 

hm... I tried removing the video card and using integrated graphics instead. This time, the Windows XP set up started, but failed because "ql1080.sys is corrupted".
Maybe the hard drive needs to be replaced. I don't know.

 

im now swinging back towards bad psu. taking out your gpu will have lightened the load on your system which may explain why you can get a bit further. failing to boot from your cds is not good. the files cant corrupt as they are on optical media which mean once it has been burned it cant be changed therefore cant corrupt. if your psu is flakey you may find it cant draw enough power to read the files and thus says they are corrupt. The only other thing that springs to mind is possibly overheating (though i doubt it). make sure all your heatsinks are clear from dust. and see if you can swap out your psu.

 

I tried swapping the PSU again. Now Windows XP installation says, "the file ql1240.sys is corrupted". And again, Windows 7 installation goes nowhere.

 

Do you think it's likely that both of my power supplies are damaged just enough to cause precisely the same issues? Or is there possibly a different cause?

 

I would suggest that you start by running Memtest86+ overnight. This is downloaded and burned to CD and can be found here: http://memtest.org/

This program boots and runs from the CD, and is designed to test your RAM. It needs to be run for at least 4 hours to fully test that there are no intermittent problems, but as stated above, the longer you run it for the better.

You could also download and burn the ultimate boot CD from here: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

There are some programs within the CD to test hard drives which may also help you.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I used the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test included with the Ultimate Boot CD, but it couldn't detect my hard drive. :confused

 

Oh, nevermind that. The hard drive is detected when the SATA cable is connected to the first SATA port, but not when it's connected to the others.

 

All right. I ran memtest as well as the Hitachi HDD Fitness tool. Memtest found no errors after 4 hours and 4 passes. The Hitachi HDD Fitness tool also completed successfully with no errors.

 

I managed to get Windows XP installed. Apparently the disk needed to be cleaned a bit. Anyway, after formatting the hard drive, and installing Windows XP, the stuttering still is just as bad as it was before. Maybe I should replace my video card?

 

I tried using the integrated graphics a few minutes ago. Now I can't boot Windows outside of safe mode with the video card or the integrated graphics.

 

Well, thankfully I've been able to get Windows 7 working again. I switched the motherboards, and now I've got Windows 7 installed. The stuttering is still there of course, and I've noticed another strange symptom. In certain programs, when moving the mouse cursor over tabs or menus in Windows 7, the highlighted tab or menu option will blink or flash for a split second... very briefly. It's a very distinct, weird effect, and I'm pretty sure that it shouldn't be happening.