How fix my stuttering screen

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I run Windows 7 SP1 on a 64-bit laptop.  In the past couple of weeks my screen will randomly stutter. For example, while running Chrome, and starting my Hotmail account (which I think is running under Outlook.com??), while logging in, the screen will stutter rapidly like an old-time silent movie.

I would appreciate any suggestions as to how to fix this annoyance.

Thanks,

Dick-Y

 

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Does it only happen in Chrome, or in other programs too?

Have you done anything to change your video driver lately, or maybe turned off hardware acceleration in Chrome?

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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What kind of laptop is it? If it’s a Surface, they have had some stuttering issues such as you describe. And I’m not sure if they have ever come up with a good solution for it.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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I turned hardware acceleration off.  When I used to run IE11, there was an “advanced” setting that people recommended be set to “use software rendering”, so I thought I should turn hardware acceleration off in Chrome.

I’ve just turned it back on, and relaunched.

I’ll report back in a day or so to hopefully say my PC doesn’t stutter anymore.

 

Thank you for those suggestions Ascaris.

Dick-Y

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No joy.  I made the change and rebooted.  When I brought up Chrome, I went to a site I frequent and logged in.  My screen went wild with very rapid stuttering.

I looked at the Chrome task manager and this site had 4 sub frames listed under it.

I don’t know if that matters; but turning on hardware acceleration didn’t fix the problem.

BTW, I haven’t knowingly done anything to my video driver.

Dick-Y

 

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Is there any other thing that happens when it stutters?  Slowing down, fan speeding up, CPU utilization going up?

Is it only with Chrome or does it happen with other programs?

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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satrow

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Is Kernel CPU activity increasing? <5% is okay, 8-10% 'laggy', often dragging a window/icon across the Desktop will show stutter, >12% pretty awful, everything is slow.

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Ascaris

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Jim:

I have a Dell Inspiron 3520 model 5559.

 

Dick-Y

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Here’s hoping it is not a hardware problem. Have you cleaned any dust build-up out of your laptop lately and have you noticed any shuddering behavior when closing the lid?

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I haven’t noticed any shuddering behavior when closing the lid; and I haven’t cleaned any dust out of my laptop.  Where/how would I do that?

Thank you,

Dick-Y

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Does the display shimmer or become corrupt when you are not using Chrome for browsing? Probably Chrome may no longer be compatible with the video driver.

Dust may not be the root problem now, but it can be later causing overheating of components.

You would have to remove the battery and bottom cover on the laptop, here is the owner’s manual. If you have never done this before or feel uncomfortable with attempting to clean it, get some local help.

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I cleaned the dust out of my PC; and after putting the battery back in and booting up, I thought I was all set.

I was, for about a half hour, and the stuttering started up again.

So, my PC still gives me no joy.

Dick-Y

 

 

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Hmm… works okay for a while, then gets stutter-y?  That’s good to know.  It could be heat related, or else something like a memory leak could be filling the available RAM and bogging things down.

After it begins stuttering, does a quick reboot fix it?  I would open Task Manager and select the Performance tab before it starts happening, then look again at it after it’s happening.  Is it showing RAM full?  CPU utilization maxed? If there is a memory leak in some application, it could be gradually consuming all of your RAM until the system has no choice but to try to use virtual memory (“thrashing”), which slows things down a lot.  If you could get us a screenshot of that while the stuttering is going on, it could help.  Win + Printscreen will save a screenshot to your Pictures folder, and you can just upload that here.

I still don’t know if the issue happens with anything other than Chrome.

I would also suggest installing a program that will let you know the CPU (and GPU, if your unit uses a discrete GPU) temperatures and see what it’s doing when the stuttering starts. There are a lot of programs that can tell you this… any of them will work.  I always used Speedfan myself when I used Windows.  Most of these type of programs will also report the CPU fan speed, which is helpful to know too.

The system will throttle back a CPU (slow it down) when it gets too hot to protect it.  That could be the cause of the stuttering.  Cleaning out the dust didn’t help, but there are other causes for CPU overheating, like the thermal grease getting old (this happened to my Asus F8Sn laptop), or maybe a failed CPU fan.  Laptops can operate for a while with the fan off, but when the CPU has some work to do, the heat builds up fast, and that fan comes on to get rid of the extra heat.  If the fan does not work, you get the throttling to slow things down, and if it still continues to get hotter, it will just shut itself off abruptly.

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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Thanks for sticking with me Ascaris.

It happens with IE11 too.

I’ll monitor GPU-Z this morning.  Right now, after booting up and bringing up Chrome (and Hotmail through Outlook.Com) the CPU temperature is 32.0 C and the GPU temp. is 33.0

I’ll also try to get a print-screen when it next happens.

Interestingly, when I 1st started Hotmail the stuttering happened immediately.

Dick-Y

 

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CPU 33.0 C

GPU 35.0C

 

Dick Y

12:48 PM

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My problem is fixed!  I took my laptop to a local tech. shop and they replaced the paste on the CPU/GPU.  They also verified that the fan was functioning as normal.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions offered as I tried to resolve this issue.

Dick-Y

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I’m glad it’s fixed!

Those temperatures, though, are very good for a laptop.  Laptops run hotter than desktops, as they have a lot less space for cooling systems, but those numbers are not bad even for a desktop.  Still, if it works now, it works, and that was the goal.

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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southieguy

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