Infrequent stuttering issue

Hello everyone!

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.6-zen1-2-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=dc00aad2-54ef-4d2f-b8a9-6a805cea5f3c rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
    loglevel=3 ibt=off
  Desktop: GNOME v: 43.2 tk: GTK v: 3.24.36 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM v: 43.0
    Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: B550 Phantom Gaming 4/ac serial: <filter>
    UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: P2.20 date: 02/24/2022
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X socket: AM4 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2
    gen: 3 level: v3 note: check built: 2020-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm)
    family: 0x17 (23) model-id: 0x71 (113) stepping: 0 microcode: 0x8701021
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 12 tpc: 2 threads: 24 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 768 KiB desc: d-12x32 KiB; i-12x32 KiB L2: 6 MiB desc: 12x512 KiB
    L3: 64 MiB desc: 4x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3800 min/max: 2200/4672 boost: enabled
    base/boost: 3800/4650 scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: performance
    volts: 1.1 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 3800 2: 3800 3: 3800 4: 3800
    5: 3800 6: 3800 7: 3800 8: 3800 9: 3800 10: 3800 11: 3800 12: 3800
    13: 3800 14: 3800 15: 3800 16: 3800 17: 3800 18: 3800 19: 3800 20: 3800
    21: 3800 22: 3800 23: 3800 24: 3800 bogomips: 182052
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU106 [GeForce RTX 2070] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 525.78.01 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 525.xx+
    status: current (as of 2022-12) arch: Turing code: TUxxx
    process: TSMC 12nm FF built: 2018-22 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 09:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1f02 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: AVerMedia USB Device type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 6-2:3 chip-ID: 07ca:0570 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  Display: server: X.Org v: 21.1.6 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.7
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: N/A display-ID: :1 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1016x286mm (40.00x11.26")
    s-diag: 1055mm (41.55")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 pos: primary,left res: 1920x1080 hz: 144 dpi: 93
    size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: HDMI-0 pos: right res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 94
    size: 521x293mm (20.51x11.54") diag: 598mm (23.53") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 525.78.01 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX
    2070/PCIe/SSE2 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU106 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 1-3:4 chip-ID: 046d:0a66 pcie:
    gen: 3 class-ID: 0300 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 09:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:10f9 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASRock
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0b:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Logitech [G533 Wireless Headset Dongle] type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
  Device-4: AVerMedia USB Device type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 6-2:3 chip-ID: 07ca:0570 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  Device-5: C-Media USB Audio Device type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 9-4:3 chip-ID: 0d8c:0008
    class-ID: 0300
  Sound API: ALSA v: k6.1.6-zen1-2-zen running: yes
  Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.64 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASRock driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: f000 bus-ID: 07:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp7s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] driver: iwlwifi
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 08:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:24fb class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp8s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless-AC 3168 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-9:5 chip-ID: 8087:0aa7 class-ID: e001
  Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.77 TiB used: 377.06 GiB (13.3%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung
    model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 2B2QEXM7 temp: 48.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:3 model: PCIe SSD size: 1.86 TiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: EDFM00.5 temp: 26.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 206.35 GiB (22.2%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 608 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
    maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 206.35 GiB (22.2%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 206.35 GiB (22.2%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 206.35 GiB (22.2%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 31.26 GiB used: 768 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 62.6 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 59 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 32%
Info:
  Processes: 463 Uptime: 3h 47m wakeups: 0 Memory: 31.26 GiB
  used: 12.29 GiB (39.3%) Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.1 clang: 15.0.7 Packages: pm: pacman
  pkgs: 1512 libs: 493 tools: gnome-software,pamac,paru,yay
  Shell: garuda-inxi (sudo) default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal
  inxi: 3.3.24
Garuda (2.6.14-1):
  System install date:     2022-10-07
  Last full system update: 2023-01-19 ↻
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager mkinitcpio nvidia-dkms
  Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
  Failed units:  

I'm a new Linux user and everything has been working very well for me except one small issue. I am getting random stutters infrequently that I cannot diagnose.

The stutters last only 1 second, and if I am playing a game the framerate drops and also the audio stutters. This also happens when I am not playing games, just browsing the web or listening to a podcast. 99.9% of the time the system is very responsive and runs better than windows ever did. The stutter happens maybe once every 2-3 hours it seems, they are rather infrequent.

I have tried watching the system monitor to see if memory or CPU usage is spiking but I haven't noticed anything strange so far. I thought maybe it could be an issue with one of the disks but I don't know how to determine that.

Since I am new to Linux I am not sure where to start to even begin to figure out what the cause is. So any advice or even basic tips would be very much appreciated. Thanks for the great OS!

Hi there, welcome to the forum!
The one below is a very detailed guide. I hope it will help!

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