audio stuttering problem in games

[1515panopticon]

Ok first...
Windows XP SP2
AMD Athlon 2800+
768 mb ram
C-Media Onboard audio
Radeon 9550

I have a sound stuttering problem in games...some games dont stutter and some do... I've had thise problem for about 6 months and I've tried everything i can possibly think of.
I've tried different sound/video cards, updated all drivers, bought a new processor and motherboard, changed priority of codecs, disabled codecs, lowered hardware acceleration level, etc.
I came to the conclusion that it was a motherboard issue, so I purchased a brand new motherboard and processor and I still have the same problem. It's interfering with fps, like when a certain sound plays the fps drops. also some games just stutter the whole way through and cause crappy fps.
I recently purchased FarCry and the sound was skipping, so I went into audio options and turned on compatible mode (this option bypasses your sound drivers and uses the games) and the sound didnt stutter anymore. So now I'm thinking its a driver problem, but I dont know exactly what. I'm thinking it might be an old driver or something in there but i cant find any.

This has been driving me nuts, I've spent day after day trying different things to fix this and nothing seems to work. HELP!

 

[Crusader]

Yea its must be something do with the drivers then. Unless as i noticed you havent tried changing speakers. But anyway right click on my computer and go into hardware/device manergers. Then it will list all ur devices/hardware. Click on sound,video and game controllers. You can go to the manufacturer of ur sound cards site and download the drivers there.
Hope it helps.

 

[1515panopticon]

thanks crusader... but i've tried different speakers and downloaded the latest drivers, i had a different sound card in before i got the new motherboard and i still had the same problem,

 

[Mr. Switch]

Did you reformat? It could be a problem with windows, and if you haven't reformatted in a long time, you might want to.

It might be harsh, but a nice reformat usually fixes my software problms.

 

[Crysalis]

Run virus/spyware checks. Also, when your in the game, Alt-Tab to the desktop and CTRL-ALT-DEL to get to the processes screen. Sort the processes by the user name and see what is taking up the most RAM... the game will be the highest, but check to see whats under that. Something is eating resources. Check to see how much RAM is being used while IN the game. Also, check processor usage.

 

[EricB]

try turning your hardware acceleration down