Hello there ComputerHelpForum-people!

Im somewhat of a hardcore gamer, I tend to play quite a lot, but ever since a couple of years ago, I have had this strange issue.
I thought that I'd first of all post my computer specs:
Asus P6T Deluxe X58
Intel Core i7 2.66GHz
Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX with a Thermaltake heatsink and fan on it for extra cooling, as it was overheating with it's stock cooler.
3 x 1GB Corsair PC3-12800 RAM
And old 320GB HDD and a newer 180GB SATA drive
I can't remember what PSU im using, but it's 580W, and it's just as new as the motherboard and CPU.
Im running a dualview setup with two monitors, and old 19", and a new 24" Samsung 245b.

Basicly the previous computer I had worked okay fine. Sure it was getting a bit slow on it's old age, but it was a fairly powerful computer. The only problem was that you could play, and suddenly the FPS would drop to a 5-15fps for no reason. This is most noticable when I play WoW. In bigger places, when I look out, I have 10-20 frames, but if I just look down sliiightly, it pops up to 60, which is max with the screen im using.
Now you think that it's just because it's a vast open space, and that's why it's lagging, even though im sure that my computer should be powerful enough to pull it, as I know people with far weaker computers, doing better FPS than me.
But then strange thing is, that is does it in smaller games aswell. Like Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 4, Trine. Stuff like that, which is should be able to run with no problems. I can play with 60fps and no problems, and suddenly: BAM! 10-20fps.. I can then play around and sometimes it pops back up all of the sudden. Doesn't really make any sense. I have monitored GPU and CPU temperatures and load while it does this, and it shouldn't really do it. Lots of memory left, my CPU only uses like.. 5%, and my GPU is at the same levels as before it did it.
I then changed my computer to the specs it has now, where the only thing that survived from the old computer, was the HDD's and the GPU. My personal guess is that it's the GPU that is dying on me, it is faily old, and it's the only thing not changed. I have tried closing down all background processes, which doesn't help. I have tried formatting my computer, which doesn't help. So in the end, im just damn tired of everything. I bought a new computer because I wanted to play the better games really well, but this nonsense makes it not-enjoyable. I really hope you can help me. I will answer any questions as fast as possible, in case you have any.

Thanks in advance
-Mahin

Hi, I would like to add I have EXACTLY the same problem, but i have different specs,

e7400 (OC to 3.4ghz through mobo)
asus p5kpl-CM
ocz 1x2gb 1066 ddr2 reaper edition
sapphire 4830 512mb
seagate 500gb
audigy 2 zs
coolermaster extreme power 430w
windows xp sp3

I have tried drivers provided with the graphics card and also the official ones from ATi with no luck.
Now before scrutinizing on my PSU, I believe my system is TOTALLY stable, I could run Dead Space at full resolution and 60fps. I also firmly believed Dead Space is as demanding a game as a game like COD 4. I have only tested 2 games so far and the differences are drastic!
In COD 4, I put everything on low settings and resolution at 640x480. Guess what? the fps would dip as low as 15-20 FPS and the movements stutter, and this happens right after I load the mission (so its not a temperature issue). This is downright impossible as I am sure even my P4 with 6800gt can get higher fps than that in that resolution. I suspect its a driver issue somewhere or something is bothering it when the game is running.

Main culprits i suspect,

sound card interference
ocz ram not compatible with game
processor OC

It wouldn't be a radeon issue as I ran dead space smooth like butter. I would appreciate any help or suggestions with drivers!

This post has been edited by hak: Jul 3 2009, 08:49 PM

After testing 4 games, I conclude,

Dead Space (full settings no lag)
C&C 3 uprising (full settings no lag)
COD 4 (fps glitch)
COD 5 (same engine, same FPS problem)

Hopefully its only COD engine being the culprit. I will test other games tomorrow! Anyone else having this problem?!?!?! feedback pls thanks

Im not sure it's the same problem I had with my old computer.
I was running an E6600 (Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz) processor OC'ed to 3.2 and later only to 3GHz.
It was running like this on a stock fan for a rather long time, temperatures steadily on around 75 during heavy load. I later found out that they should rather operate in the 40-60 range.
At some point, my CPU was so dead, (Never got a reason, but I suspect the overclock), that I couldn't run games very well, but as you say, it was strange lag.
Games like COD4 ran fine at an earlier point in time, but in the end, it would lag horribly, and I would have the exact same FPS even if I dropped it down to Ultra Low lettings, which puzzled me.