stuttering Strange micro-stuttering issue after hours of PC use [NOT overheating]. I'm almost there, help me nail it down!

[Fulcon]

Problem Description: My entire system stutters every other second. Not just the display, it seemingly disturbs all inputs too. I took a video to demonstrate the problem using Blurbuster's "TestUFO" tool. - GIF - Imgur.  This happens seemingly randomly, but typically after a few hours of use, even if the computer is idle. The system goes back to normal after a restart, but it's horrible when it happens during a ranked game, or if I'm in a particular workflow, and it's disrupted.

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Specs: Ryzen 5 2600X | GTX 1060 6GB (Zotac, bought it about 4 years ago) | Corsair TXM 750W Gold (A bit newer, probably 2 years old) | 2x8GB Patriot Viper 3200MHz RAM (running with D.O.C.P/X.M.P disabled at 2666MHz) | ASUS B450 Prime-Plus ATX motherboard | Crucial MX500 SATA 2.5" SSD (500GB, with OS installation) | Generic Toshiba 1TB HDD 

BIOS Version: The latest, I updated it yesterday.

Software Running when the problem occurs?: This is a fresh installation of Windows 10 (this issue was occurring on the previous installation too, leading me to believe it is a hardware or firmware problem). Typically, I have League of Legends running and Microsoft Edge. But I've seen this issue occur in other games like BIOMUTANT. Sometimes, I don't even have a game open.

Error Messages?: None. Literally none. Nothing even in Event Viewer (which makes this annoying to troubleshoot). Since the system doesn't crash, there are no log dumps. The only errors I get around the time when the stuttering begins are generic DCOM errors. Could it be a registry error? I doubt it, since the problem persists over multiple Windows 10 installations.

Steps I've taken personally to troubleshoot this [in no particular order]: 

• Updating Graphics, Chipset, and Audio Drivers (Currently updating LAN drivers). Should I update anything else?
• Formatting both my SSD and HDD, and re-installing Windows 10.
• Running CrystalDiskInfo, as well as Crucial Storage Executive, both showed that my drives were perfectly healthy.
• Updating BIOS.
• Disabling XMP/DOCP.
• Bought a whole new 16GB kit of RAM, no luck.
• Checked system temps, CPU and GPU temps are fine, is there anything else I must check?
• Running Latency Tests using LatencyMon, the highest reported DPC routine execution time was 774 nanoseconds (ntoskrnl.exe - NT Kernel System, Microsoft Corporation), apparently not a perfect time, but by no means concerning.

Current Suspects:

• USB Bluetooth Adapter and other USB devices potentially causing issues?
• Ethernet cable?
• Power delivery, either through the mains cable plugged into the power supply, the motherboard's power delivery [can I test this somehow? It should be noted that I am using sleeved cable extensions], or a fault in the PSU itself.

 

Any help in nailing this down would be appreciated, I feel like I'm getting close to a solution!

 

 

 

 

[W3BV1P3R]

Hmm, you could try some offline games to see if you get some stuttering, if that comes out the same way it'll eliminate anything network. The only thing besides that is maybe the GPU or a faulty connection somewhere

[Fulcon]

14 hours ago, W3BV1P3R said:

Hmm, you could try some offline games to see if you get some stuttering, if that comes out the same way it'll eliminate anything network. The only thing besides that is maybe the GPU or a faulty connection somewhere

I downloaded some free game that used local saves [totally offline]. Left it to idle for about 4 hours and it began stuttering.

 

It's probably something really simple like some USB device malfunctioning.

HOPEFULLY it's not a faulty GPU.

[Fulcon]

I should mention that I downloaded the game, unplugged the Ethernet cable, then restarted my PC.

 

The next thing I'm going to do is probably wait for it to happen again, then unplug devices one-by-one, then start suspending processes one-by-one.

Will update the thread if it somehow works.

Starting a new job soon, I'll probably just fork out the money for a new Motherboard and PSU if all else fails.

[SamClan]

How high is your RAM usage? 

Tried to use the other ram slots? 

Have you plugged your ram into the right ram slots. Ram in dual channel? (CPU-z ->memory )

 

 

A wild guess is motherboard, why? I don't like the b450 encountered two faulty ones lately, with weird problems, Exchanges mobo and everything worked again. 

 

Good luck with the hunt 

[Fulcon]

1 hour ago, SamClan said:

How high is your RAM usage? 

Tried to use the other ram slots? 

Have you plugged your ram into the right ram slots. Ram in dual channel? (CPU-z ->memory )

 

 

A wild guess is motherboard, why? I don't like the b450 encountered two faulty ones lately, with weird problems, Exchanges mobo and everything worked again. 

 

Good luck with the hunt 

Ah, I forgot to mention that I did this in the original post. Oops. Thank you for your response, regardless.

[Fulcon]

I found the problem.

 

It was a video cable. A VIDEO CABLE. Some faulty HDMI cable that was making my ENTIRE SYSTEM FREEZE.

Never underestimate the power of a faulty cable, folks.