Stuttering audio (games only)
SolvedH0enheim Posted messages 1458 Registration date Status Membre Last intervention -
Hello,
For some time now, the audio has been choppy whenever I play a video game. By that, I mean that the audio works normally for 0.5 seconds, then goes silent for another half a second, then turns back on, etc., as if someone is repeatedly pressing the mute button on my PC. At first, all it took was to restart the computer and the audio would return to normal; however, now it has become systematic and it quickly becomes very unpleasant (and for gaming immersion, I've seen better).
The characteristics of the problem are as follows: I am on a Lenovo running Windows 10, Game Mode is disabled, and the problem does not depend on the output device (headphones or speakers, it makes no difference). I should note that this only happens when I'm playing (YouTube works completely fine), and more specifically when I'm "in the heat" of the game (for instance, in LoL, the audio during champion selection is fine, but when the actual match starts, I get "Well- rift- summoner-"). I haven't tried much so far, as most solutions don't seem to apply, or are quite drastic (like changing the graphics card), which is why I'm posting here.
Thank you very much in advance for your help!
6 réponses
Hello Alphasaft,
A few hypotheses with the little information you provide about your setup (just Lenovo? running Windows)
Laptop then!? Unless it's a gaming Lenovo worth over 1500 - 2000€
I think it may not be equipped well enough (a good CPU & GPU)
or maybe your CPU or GPU (or both) heat up so quickly that they reduce their frequency, causing stuttering.
For the example of LoL in champion selection... where we hear the voices... at that moment, your PC resources are not heavily utilized (CPU & GPU)
The same goes for YouTube, it's not a good comparison (but at least we know that your audio driver is fine)
You can download and run this benchmark test > UserDiag < at the end of the test, take the link and paste it in your reply
We’ll be able to see your PC's components, & whether the CPU/GPU are overheating or not.
It's definitely a laptop, here is the result of the quick diagnostics:
https://userdiag.com/id/4RuujgKOSh
I also thought about a performance issue (the hardware clearly not being to blame and the problems occurring during resource-intensive games), but my knowledge of how a PC works ended there.
I was wondering, however, why the audio is now glitching when everything was working perfectly well for several weeks after I installed the game before the problem appeared, and also, if it's just a performance issue, why the game itself (aside from the audio) runs very well, with no framerate issues or anything like that.
By the way, another thing that intrigues me is that I tried to mute the game sound (in this case Genshin), go on YouTube, and play the soundtrack in parallel... a soundtrack that works perfectly. But if it were a performance issue (or a heating CPU), why would the PC be able to run the external sound and the game at the same time, but not the game sound and the game?
Good news. According to your UserDiag (everything is fine) even very well.
Moreover, you don't have a GPU but an IGPU (that is, the graphics part integrated into your Ryzen CPU)
Now, upon analyzing a bit, I can tell you that your Ryzen is not being used at 100% or even 80%
Your power mode is set to normal, a Performance mode could help (but be careful, it drains the battery)
According to the report, your CPU is being used between 1.33GHz & 2.07GHz, whereas the normal baseline is 2.1GHz & 4GHz.
It’s as if you were in power-saving mode.
Normally, you should reach 75°C-max 80°C (at idle without too much worry) but here it is limited.
For sound itself: Try lowering the sample rate, by default it is in 24bits 48000hz -
You can lower it to 16bits 48000hz as shown on my screen below... or 44000hz to test
For the rest, I invite you to check for updates (just in case) chipset/graphics Radeon/sound/etc...
On the official Lenovo site, there is an update for the audio driver, its level is critical (thus important) and it dates from April > HERE is the link for your PC's Realtek driver...
Personally, I use the TLD (TousLesDrivers.com) site, quite handy, they also provide a small software to detect your hardware and display the latest available updates.
To summarize, check for updates, tinker a bit with the power plan in Windows but beware, it will be more energy-consuming.
I updated my audio device and set my PC to Performance mode, but it hasn't changed anything. The sampling frequency is already set to 16 bits 48kHz, but even if I wanted to change it, the dropdown list is grayed out and unresponsive.
I still have doubts about the speakers' responsibility, since the audio output from my headset (plugged into my PC) has exactly the same problem, which, once again, strictly concerns only games (not even the sound played simultaneously with the games).
Thank you for your patience!
You're welcome,
I'm a bit embarrassed that I can't help you more..
In any case, the solution from my point of view is there. But you say your device is grayed out? (that means it's not being used then)
Some have been able to fix these sound cuts while the game was running smoothly just by changing the sampling rate.
If 16 bits doesn't change anything, try the max 24 bits at 192000 Hz and validate.
If your headset is connected via USB, it goes through its own device.
And check which device the sound is using and that's where you need to change the sampling rate.
For example: when you're not using the headset, the sound comes out through the laptop speaker. Look in the audio (sound) device
to see which device the green meter moves.
When you start a video on YT or music.
For me, my headset is connected via a jack to my PC and not USB / If it were USB, it wouldn't have been the speaker.
One last little thing, install or reinstall DirectX.
@Edit: In games, there is also an option tab > SOUND or audio. Also try some settings there.
I don't know what happened, I have no idea how I did it, but as you were telling me to change the sampling rate, I clicked around a bit and, without really meaning to, I uninstalled the Realtek audio driver. The thing was like "hey, I can't play sound anymore," it analyzed the problems (honestly, I feel like it's black magic at work), the sound restarted but fixed!
A big thank you for all the time you spent on it, have a great day (or evening)!
You're welcome ; )
We can thank Windows (which takes care of reinstalling the drivers), maybe a right-click on the sound icon
and then "troubleshoot sound problems"... would have been enough! Who knows - the uncertainties of computing ^ ^.
In any case, I'm glad your problem has been resolved.
Thank you, and have a good evening/night.