Mouse and audio problems hours into gaming

[Simbo6]

Hi, I've had this PC for almost a year now and for the most part everything seems fine, however there does seems to be an issue that comes up after a longer gaming session. After about 4 hours+ of gaming the audio will cut out, start going choppy, or do a high pitched squeal and the mouse will start to lag. Also if iCue is running at the time the fan LEDs will be throw out of sync and become choppy too.

I've had this happen during Alyx, God of War, Shadow of Mordor, Cyberpunk and The Talos Principale but it's hard to replicate/troubleshoot as it requires a longer gaming session than I normally do so I've just put up with it. On a few occasions the mouse has continued to lag on the desktop after coming out of the game and after restarting the PC but then it just seems sort itself out after a while. I did get my first BSOD today when things started to go funny during Alyx (stop code: driver IRQL not less or equal, what failed: USBXHCI.SYS) although I'm unsure if this is related to my main issue or just bad timing. Any help would be appreciated.

Case CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900K (3.2GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-F GAMING WIFI (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) -
ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card 10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive 500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R,
3200MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive 2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R,
3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Braided Power Supply Cables CORSAIR Premium Individually Sleeved PSU Cable Kit Pro - Black
Processor Cooling CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE LCD Display RGB CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans 3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card NOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT
PORTS

 

[SpyderTracks]

I'd suggest the cooler isn't suitable for the CPU, have you checked thermals while under load? I'm betting the CPU is overheating, that thing runs like a furnace, needs at least a 360mm radiator and a premium pump.

 

[Simbo6]

Thanks for your help. I haven't seen it go past 80C but I will certainly keep an eye out. Any recommendation on what would be good for checking temps and stressing the system? I've been using HWMonitor and downloaded HWiNFO64 today to see if the temps were any different but more or less the same. Would you generally looks at the core package temp or at the individual cores? If it is a temperature issue that's a bit annoying, given that I got a warning when I chose my power supply to say I was probably going overboard with 1000W but nothing was mentioned that the cooling selected may not be sufficient for the CPU.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for your help. I haven't seen it go past 80C but I will certainly keep an eye out. Any recommendation on what would be good for checking temps and stressing the system? I've been using HWMonitor and downloaded HWiNFO64 today to see if the temps were any different but more or less the same. Would you generally looks at the core package temp or at the individual cores? If it is a temperature issue that's a bit annoying, given that I got a warning when I chose my power supply to say I was probably going overboard with 1000W but nothing was mentioned that the cooling selected may not be sufficient for the CPU.

You need to look for the thermal throttling flag and core temps in HWInfo with a stress test of prime95 or cinebench which are known 100% loads for at least 10 minutes

If it hits 90c, that’s effectively overheating as it will lock out boost clocks. If it get over about 97, then it’s reaching terminal levels.

 

[Ekans2011]

Thanks for your help. I haven't seen it go past 80C but I will certainly keep an eye out. Any recommendation on what would be good for checking temps and stressing the system? I've been using HWMonitor and downloaded HWiNFO64 today to see if the temps were any different but more or less the same. Would you generally looks at the core package temp or at the individual cores? If it is a temperature issue that's a bit annoying, given that I got a warning when I chose my power supply to say I was probably going overboard with 1000W but nothing was mentioned that the cooling selected may not be sufficient for the CPU.

Actually, 1000W would have been more appropriate for a 3080; never trust the configurator. It simply makes a rough calculation without taking into accounts transient loads, spikes etc. Anyway, going overkill with PSU is not really a problem.

Running a CPU with an insufficient cooling is, in my opinion, out of mind.

 

[Simbo6]

You need to look for the thermal throttling flag and core temps in HWInfo with a stress test of prime95 or cinebench which are known 100% loads for at least 10 minutes

If it hits 90c, that’s effectively overheating as it will lock out boost clocks. If it get over about 97, then it’s reaching terminal levels.

Using cinebench it does thermal throttle and can get up to 100C so it looks like I need to upgrade cooling. I'm still not sure if that is the underlying issue though as the PC exhibits strange behaviour before getting anywhere near that. Yesterday I played Alyx for about 2 hours after work and it started playing up with a max temp of 81C. The headset starts not being found and/or one of the sensors, I've played it before for much longer without issue. Also outside of gaming when watching something like Netflix or Youtube I will get random loud static blasts, these can normally be fixed by pausing and unpausing whatever you are watching but sometimtes need to remove the cable and put it back. This happens with no other programs on in the background but only when the audio cable is plugged into the PC rather than my monitor. It's kind of feeling like it's anything plugged into the PC regardless if it's an audio cable or usb but I don't know if that would indicate an issue with the motherboard or not.

 

[Simbo6]

Actually, 1000W would have been more appropriate for a 3080; never trust the configurator. It simply makes a rough calculation without taking into accounts transient loads, spikes etc. Anyway, going overkill with PSU is not really a problem.

Running a CPU with an insufficient cooling is, in my opinion, out of mind.

I got PCS to build the thing cause I'm far from an expert. Had I known you could fry an egg on my CPU under load I would have asked for more cooling.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Using cinebench it does thermal throttle and can get up to 100C so it looks like I need to upgrade cooling. I'm still not sure if that is the underlying issue though as the PC exhibits strange behaviour before getting anywhere near that. Yesterday I played Alyx for about 2 hours after work and it started playing up with a max temp of 81C. The headset starts not being found and/or one of the sensors, I've played it before for much longer without issue. Also outside of gaming when watching something like Netflix or Youtube I will get random loud static blasts, these can normally be fixed by pausing and unpausing whatever you are watching but sometimtes need to remove the cable and put it back. This happens with no other programs on in the background but only when the audio cable is plugged into the PC rather than my monitor. It's kind of feeling like it's anything plugged into the PC regardless if it's an audio cable or usb but I don't know if that would indicate an issue with the motherboard or not.

With troubleshooting, you have to make sure first the hardware is all compatible, then you can rule out software to find the route cause, but until the cooling is up to par, it's a variable that fits the symptoms so can't be ruled out.

But that cooler isn't sufficient for that processor.

 

[Simbo6]

Do you have any recommendations on what cooler would work well with my CPU? I can't lie, I got the H100i ELITE for the display and looks but I was under the impression it was a premium pump also.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Do you have any recommendations on what cooler would work well with my CPU? I can't lie, I got the H100i ELITE for the display and looks but I was under the impression it was a premium pump also.

It needs a 360mm radiator as a minimum, so H150i

You specced a really decent case which will fit it in the roof easily.