A day or two ago my sound started popping and stuttering, any sounds from any source or output, I tried cd's, mp3's, I also tried using my onboard sound thinking maybe my soundcard was going out.. but to no avail.

my system specs.
Intel P4 2.4
Biostar P4M80-M4 mainboard
1.5 g ram
Xfx GeForce 7900GS videocard


I just recently upgraded my videocard.. but this problem started a few days afterwards.

I really hope it's not my Mobo as I dont have the money for a new one.. as well as finding a socket 478 with AGP graphics slot will be a pain to find.

Thanx in advance for any help

since its from any source i would say its the power supply...

are you playing CDs through the little grey audio cable or are you using the digital extraction method? (look in the cd drives properties)

btw, you neglected to mention your OS

forgot to mention it could also be the videocard stealing bandwidth....

look for the 'pci latency tool' and set your video card to the same latency as the soundcard...

Oh.. my OS is Windows XP, pci latence tool, where can I find that?

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=951

thanx Mephitus. but it doesnt show my videocard on it. but it does show CPU to AGP controller. but I dont wanna start messin with things I dont know about.

change the cpu to agp controller to 64 then .... if its not already 64 (if its less then leave it alone)... (worst that can happen with that is that value is that the video -might- get a little sluggish)


....dunno why your videocard didnt sho tho O.o ....

can you post a screenshot of the program?

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d164/Bah.../PCILatency.jpg

This post has been edited by Bahlzeron: Jan 18 2008, 02:03 PM

ok... for future reference (since not many know this) if you have a mobo with a VIA chipset get an ATI card.... nVidia and VIA dont like each other.... (sometimes they get along sometimes they dont...)

also VIA -sometimes- doesnt like PCI versions of Creative Labs cards (any card)...

all these symptoms with modern day boards always seem to be windows related (maybe its an argument between VIA and windows and not the hardware itself... i dunno)... you wouldnt be having these problems in linux.....



ok.... enough of the rambling (i just woke up from a nap) and now down to the potential fix for this problem....

go here; http://www.georgebreese.com/net/software/

and scroll down to the "PCI Latency Patch for VIA chipsets"

download/install it.... (you will need to reboot)

Note: it says it wont install on windows SP2 machines but ive tested this and it does...

dont worry about it hurting your machine or causing it not to boot (ive never had any problems out of it)... just cross your fingers and hope it solves the jittery sound problems...

killer, thanks alot.. I'll post back with the results. I didnt know that about VIA chipsets, most of what I've owned has been VIA, but I'll be sure to try something different in the future.
How are Nvidia motherboard chipsets?





Edit: it states that it is incompatible with my southbridge (VT8237)
quote "Specifically, this version does not identify VIA's newer VT8237 correctly, and might patch the chipset incorrectly as a result. Please use CPU-Z to confirm the model of southbridge in your new computer."

or have you tested it to work properly with said chipset? Also there's a patch for the Soundblaster and Audigy series cards just above the chipset one. I'll wait for your input as I really have no idea as to what I'm doing and don't want to do something out of stupidity that I'll smack myself for later..lol


Thanks a ton for the help

This post has been edited by Bahlzeron: Jan 19 2008, 04:30 AM

If does end up being my mobo is a steming pile, how does this look for a board?

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Moth...ID=en-us0000114


I'm interested in going to Linux.. but I'm a gamer and there's not much game support in linux

This post has been edited by Bahlzeron: Jan 19 2008, 06:13 AM

apparently the via patch is now showing its age... try the creative patch....


your mobo isnt a steaming pile (im posting this from a via)... its windows thats the steaming pile (im also running linux on that via )

if later down the road you plan to switch to linux use the mobo you are using now to run it and setup another machine for windows.... (thats what i did... i have my serious get-things-done linux box and my "wintendo" for playing with things... the server runs linux too (see my avatar? ) but that setup is not typical... its completely console mode so the video card is only ever used for the text console)


the AGP controller on the mobo in the link you provided is SiS.... it would work better but still not quite perfect.... (and speed has been an issue with SiS in the past but thats not to say that they havent improved)



the best chipset i personally have found to use with windows is {insert drumroll} intel....

tho many have claimed nVidias nForce chipsets are good (and many have had just as many problems too) .... kind of ironic.... but thats the closest you will get without going intel...


but keep the VIA board... it will make a fine linux box one day...

creative patch says cant find value (or somethin similar) so it wont work with my particular soundcard.

This could just be a no-brainer .... but have you tried a different set of SPEAKERS to see if that's where the problem is?


If your computer's speakers are going out, then of course anything you attempt to play, no matter the source, will have the same problems... I would try changing the speakers before doing any internal changes.

I tried the speakers already.. unfortunately it's not a matter of bad speakers (that would be such an easier fix)


I also checked the IRQ (idea from another similar thread here: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/sound-bleep-t183936.html)

different soundcard but similar problem.. but unfortunately that didn't offer any help either.

any other ideas? I'm getting to about wits end.