Problem running games

[sarro]

Hi,
My frames in games (SoF2, CS:S, Cod2) have been dropping drastically and even freezing while playing. I've asked a ton of friends about what it might be and most seems to suggest everything from overheating, a failing PSU, to bad memory.

So the most annoying thing is that my regular frames in the games I play will go from a constant fps to about 5-15 at certain times (no matter if theres any explosions, fire fights etc) and the game will basically be unplayable. This is periodic and seems to happen every 10 minutes, so it doesnt seem like a "random" thing.

Aside from the possibility of overheating, could this be because of a dying processor, bad power supply, or anything else?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

---
sys info:

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/7950/sysinfost5.jpg

-(CPU 1) AMD Athlon? XP 2600+ (256KB L2 Cache, Socket A) @ 2088MHz (166MHz FSB)
-(Motherboard) http://www.abit.com.tw/ NF7II series(Nvidia nForce-MCP2S), version v0.1
-(Video controller 1) RADEON 9700 PRO (Omega 2.6.12) (Processor: RADEON 9700 PRO AGP (0x4E44)), 128MB, 1280x1024x32, 85Hz, driver version: 6.14.10.6512 (Video controller 2) RADEON 9700 PRO Secondary (Omega 2.6.12) (Processor: RADEON 9700 PRO AGP (0x4E44)), 128MB, driver version: 6.14.10.6512
-(Network adapters) 1394 Net Adapter, RAS Async Adapter, WAN Miniport (L2TP), WAN Miniport (PPTP), WAN Miniport (PPPOE), Direct Parallel, WAN Miniport (IP), Packet Scheduler Miniport, Linksys Wireless-G USB Network Adapter, Packet Scheduler Miniport, NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking Adapter, Packet Scheduler Miniport, IC Plus IP100 10/100 Fast Ethernet Adapter, Packet Scheduler Miniport
-(Operating system) Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (SP2), version 5.1.2600 (41 processes running, 590.88MB free RAM, installed 9w 3d 20h 16m 30s ago, 44m 44s uptime, 6d 2h 47m 54s uptime record)
-Memory = 1Gb (512x2) OCZ Plat.Rev2
-PSU: Antec 430True

+recently reformatted and running up to date virusscanning software

 

[sarro]

bump

 

[cprince]

It sounds more like an overheating issue since you said that it's periodic.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Sounds like a background process.

Does this slowdown happen in online and offline play?

 

[sarro]

Originally posted by: cprince
It sounds more like an overheating issue since you said that it's periodic.

It seems to happen at consistent intervals though (like every 10min) and was happening even in the winter when my temps were much lower.

Sounds like a background process.

Does this slowdown happen in online and offline play?

Yes, it happens even in offline play--like watching a demo.
I've already checked my processes with HijackThis and everything is fine. It was doing this even after a fresh reformat and all kinds of video drivers tried (and correctly installed).

It seems like a hardware problem to me, but noone can figure it out.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Try playing an offline game with your virus scanner and firewall completely disabled (turn them back on afterwards of course) and physically disconnected from the internet.