Computer Sound is Choppy

[Seekster]

I know this isnt a technical help site but ive tried those sites before and either nobody helps me or they start to help me and then dont respond anymore so I figured I would try and get help here and see how it works out.

I didnt used to have problems with ingame sounds but since May whenever I play games on my computer (Spore, Halo, Mount&Blade, Second Life are ones I have attempted to play recently and encountered this problem) the sound is choppy or sometimes seems to skip.

Ive tried the usual fixes like checking for virus, trojans,spyware, etc., defragmenting my harddrives, checking for a new sound card driver, and dxdiag, but either I didnt do something right in those or they didnt help fix my problem.

Among the things ive considered is that the problem might be related to a cpu spike when running a game but I have never been able to find evidence to support that other than a hunch.

Specs: (Based on System Spec utility)

Windows XP sp 3
1521 MB RAM
Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2400 @ 1.83GHz
Sound Card: SigmaTel Audio
Display Adapters: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (Omega 3.8.442)

Earlier this year I had some problems running Empire: Total War but I think that may have been more due to a faulty copy of the game (the text was blurry and the sound was distorted but in a different way than my current problem). I am planning on getting Sims 3 soon so Im hoping to have the sound issue worked out when I get that game.

 

[Seekster]

No ideas I guess?

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

I don't know a whole lot about the sigmatel company, but sound cards are pretty cheap. I still recommend creative. That being said, if this doesn't fit in with your budget then try removing the sound card (if it isn't integrated) from the PCI slot and moving it to a different one. Sometimes the contacts just don't make a good connection after enough time passes. Moving the card to a different one can make the connection work again and may clear this up for you.

 

[Seekster]

I don't know a whole lot about the sigmatel company, but sound cards are pretty cheap. I still recommend creative. That being said, if this doesn't fit in with your budget then try removing the sound card (if it isn't integrated) from the PCI slot and moving it to a different one. Sometimes the contacts just don't make a good connection after enough time passes. Moving the card to a different one can make the connection work again and may clear this up for you.

Move the soundcard from one PCI slot to another, how would I go about doing that so I dont make a mistake?

 

[BaronAsh]

Maybe it's your audio devices. (i.e. speakers) Try an alternative device.

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

Move the soundcard from one PCI slot to another, how would I go about doing that so I dont make a mistake?

Ummm, there's not really a wrong way to go about it. PCI slots all look the same, they're the white ones on your motherboard. DON'T EVER PULL ONE OUT WHILE THE COMPUTER IS ON. However, if you're using integrated audio then this solution won't work.

 

[Seekster]

Oh im on a laptop, I dont think I can do that with a laptop.

 

[the_dancy_vagrant]

Oh im on a laptop

Well there's your problem right there

If it's still under warranty then take it in and see if there's a solution. Other than that, I'd say you're pretty much humped on this one. A lot of laptops use an integrated solution that uses the CPU to handle the audio processing. This works well from a space saving point of view, but because the sound is being handled by your processor you can end up with skipping and lagging problems with sound/music when you're doing something that's already processor intensive like playing a game.

 

[Seekster]

Shit! So it is due to cpu usage then? Why did it suddenly start messing up and it didnt used to do that even when I was playing a game?

 

[superbleeder12]

total uninstall and reinstall of drivers.

ensure that the driver files are completely removed from the system.

if its due to cpu spikes, does the system get hot? have you checked for infections? what kind of background applications are you running? have you done a physical cleaning with compressed air?

I actually had spikes like that for a while with this laptop... then they just... stopped.

 

[goatzilla8463]

Buy new speakers?

 

[sirdanrhodes]

Might sound drastic, but when this problem arose in Windows XP, it seemed to disappear hours later when I thought "Fuck it" and went to try Windows 7. Either blitz your drivers, or just back up everything and format.

 

[Seekster]

First off let me just say I sincerely appreciate all the help here. Seriously this is more help than I got off any tech site forums.

Ok now I probably should have mentioned this earlier but the laptop is a macbook pro but I have it so it will run Windows XP and it has done so for several years without any major issues with a few exceptions. I have noticed the computer make some odd sounds over the years but MacBook Pros are notorious for doing that from what I hear. I called someone about the louder sounds a few years ago but Applecare told me my harddrive was about to die...it would appear they were wrong as its still going. The sounds come and go randomly and lately it has been relatively quiet even when im playing a game.

Superbleeder I do think now that the problem with the sound is likely caused by CPU Usage and I would like to explore ways of freeing up more cpu space. How would I check my background programs and how can I tell which ones I can close and which ones are vital for the system?

Oh and I may have mentioned this already but between Windows Live Onecare, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, my system is not only free of viruses, spyware, trojans, etc (At least as far as repeated testing using those programs indicates) but I would say it has been sterilized of them. However I am currently using Free Windows Registry Repair and it seems to do the job fixing registry errors but I cant really confirm much and I was curious if anyone could suggest a better free Registry fixing software utility?

 

[Laughing Man]

It isn't due to CPU usage spikes. You'll get people saying that the CPU is being battered to run the soundcard but unless you're doing some serious audio processing, which since you're ona laptop, more than likely using the laptops in build speaker, you won't be. The CPU is also dual core so for most of the games you've listed there the computer would have a whole other core to stick sound processing on but let's end this here.

It is most certainly not due to the CPU becoming limited. If it was due to CPU limitation then choppy sound would be the least of your worries because you'd be more concerned with just how badly whatever it was you were doing was grinding along like a slide show.

The Sigmatel Audio you've listed there is more than likely gonna be the standard onboard sound otherwise known as AC97. Now I've encountered choppy sound on two occasions.

The first was was when I was using my old AC97 onboard sound, it was resolved in five minutes by downloading the latest drivers, uninstalling the old ones and then installing the new ones.

The second was with my Creative Soundblaster Gamer, basically the card was going tits up.

Get the drivers updated.

could suggest a better free Registry fixing software utility

What exactly are you trying to fix? In general most registry fixing tools are designed to fix specific flaws with the registry. I.e remove malware, spyware and such, they will hunt specifically for what they are designed to kill and do only that job. You can of course gte registry cleaning programs but the registry is tiny in overall size and removing stuff from it will make very little difference in general terms. If you do want to install something then get CC or Crap cleaner as it's better known. This has a bunch of other tools attached to it as well as a registry cleaner.

 

[Seekster]

It isn't due to CPU usage spikes. You'll get people saying that the CPU is being battered to run the soundcard but unless you're doing some serious audio processing, which since you're ona laptop, more than likely using the laptops in build speaker, you won't be. The CPU is also dual core so for most of the games you've listed there the computer would have a whole other core to stick sound processing on but let's end this here.

It is most certainly not due to the CPU becoming limited. If it was due to CPU limitation then choppy sound would be the least of your worries because you'd be more concerned with just how badly whatever it was you were doing was grinding along like a slide show.

The Sigmatel Audio you've listed there is more than likely gonna be the standard onboard sound otherwise known as AC97. Now I've encountered choppy sound on two occasions.

The first was was when I was using my old AC97 onboard sound, it was resolved in five minutes by downloading the latest drivers, uninstalling the old ones and then installing the new ones.

The second was with my Creative Soundblaster Gamer, basically the card was going tits up.

Get the drivers updated.

could suggest a better free Registry fixing software utility

What exactly are you trying to fix? In general most registry fixing tools are designed to fix specific flaws with the registry. I.e remove malware, spyware and such, they will hunt specifically for what they are designed to kill and do only that job. You can of course gte registry cleaning programs but the registry is tiny in overall size and removing stuff from it will make very little difference in general terms. If you do want to install something then get CC or Crap cleaner as it's better known. This has a bunch of other tools attached to it as well as a registry cleaner.

Ok update my driver. My current driver and version is:

SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC 5.10.5082.0

Ive tried finding more recent versions but all the ones ive found seem to work on vista or for whatever reason they simply will not install. (I think the message I commonly get is something to the effect of this driver is not meant for your computer, or something along those lines.)

Any idea what my problem could be there, I think we may be getting closer to the answer. Ill do some driver hunting on my end but most likely it wont work. I will post here again with the results.

 

[neuromasser]

Maybe you could try different settings in Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices>Advanced Audio Properties ?

 

[Seekster]

Maybe you could try different settings in Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices>Advanced Audio Properties ?

To clarify you mean go into Control Panel > Sound, Speech, and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio Devices (the speaker icon)

Then click the "Audio" tab and click the "Advanced..." under where it says Sound playback.

A window with two tabs appears. The first tab is "Speakers" and the other is "Performance". Speakers arent my problem as the sound issue is there regardless of if im using speakers or not. Under Performance the two Audio playback settings, "Hardware acceleration" and "Sample rate conversion quality" both have the sliders all the way to the right at "Full" and "Best" respectively.

Should I change any of those settings and what should I change them to? Thank you in advance.

 

[superbleeder12]

REGISTRY CLEANERS ARE CREATIONS OF SATANS ANUS, DO NOT USE THEM they tend to break more things than they fix, unless you know what you're doing. second to malware, registry cleaners are the main reasons people bring their pcs into my store (geek squad agent).

if it isn't too much of a hassle, back up all of your important data and just reload the system.

to see what processes are running, you can open the run dialog box and type 'msconfig', go to the startup tab and remove things that are unimportant, like iTunes helper, IM applications, printer tools, etc. A lot of applications, during install, will make themselves run at startup and cause system instability and slowdowns.

does the driver for the audio use its own management application? i.e. realtek hd audio manager? you may want to disable that for a short time and see if you get any improvement.

 

[Seekster]

REGISTRY CLEANERS ARE CREATIONS OF SATANS ANUS, DO NOT USE THEM they tend to break more things than they fix, unless you know what you're doing. second to malware, registry cleaners are the main reasons people bring their pcs into my store (geek squad agent).

if it isn't too much of a hassle, back up all of your important data and just reload the system.

to see what processes are running, you can open the run dialog box and type 'msconfig', go to the startup tab and remove things that are unimportant, like iTunes helper, IM applications, printer tools, etc. A lot of applications, during install, will make themselves run at startup and cause system instability and slowdowns.

does the driver for the audio use its own management application? i.e. realtek hd audio manager? you may want to disable that for a short time and see if you get any improvement.

Ill go back into msconfig but about that management application...the name "realtek" rings a bell so you may have something there. Where exactly would I go to check that? Device Manager?

 

[neuromasser]

Should I change any of those settings and what should I change them to? Thank you in advance.

You could try, but I don't think that it would make a change. I asked you to check that settings because one time sliders were on lowest postion (for unknown reasons) on my pc, which caused sound to be choppy.

I would recommend backup & reinstall of Windows, I did it on my old PC every two months or so, because of weird problems like that one.
Sorry for not helping you :/