Intermittent FPS Drops - Hardware & Software

Hi. Since I re-installed Windows XP I am getting intermittent fps drops in all my games. I have tried the obvious things like updating my GPU drivers, they were up to date anyway by I re-downloaded them and re-installed. I've tried re-installing Half Life Plus the additional series, yet I'm still getting this problem. The games will run fine, around 50/60 FPS. Then every now and then the FPS will drop to like 4 or 5 for about 30 seconds then it will be fine again. I don't have anything intensive running in the background. I've checked the temps. of the CPU, GPU and MOBO they seem fine apart from the GPU which is around 69/70C. This is my system setup at the moment as I have a few upgrades on order. Windows XP Home 32bit - Upgrading to Pro 64bit AMD Athlon XP Daul-Core x64 4200+ 2Gb DDR400 RAM - Upgrading to 4Gb nVidia 6800 GS 512MB - Upgrading to 9800GT 1Gb HDD SATA 120GB Primary HDD IDE 80GB Secondary HDD SATA 150GB Secondary Abit AT8 32x Crossfire Mobo. All games have ran fine in the past until now. Any ideas what's causing this?

Have you checked the cpu usage when the fps drops? Does the hard drive flash a lot when the fps drops?

Just tested that. HDD doesn't seem to be flashing a lot and the CPU using when I minimized with HL2 running was only about 2 - 3 percent, this was during the FPS drop. [editline]08:42PM[/editline] Ok. I just noticed that my GPU is actually getting too 100C+ and the CPU is at over 65C under load(while playing HL2). I'm guessing the over heating is causing it. The ambient temp in the room is quite warm as I have a heater on. I've opened up the side and have a floor fan blowing into the tower to help cool. Would over heating causing slow downs?

Yeah the GPU will underclock itself in order for it to keep from overheating. When was the last time you cleaned out your PC? Sometimes dust can really hinder the ability of heatsinks to dissipate heat and in extreme situation (where dust coats the interior of the PC) the Fans can be slown down in rpm.

Quite a while ago. I'll go into town tomorrow and get a few things to clean out my PC. I think the thermal grease could do with re-newing on the CPU anyway. I'm also looking into a better CPU and GPU cooler, I've only got the stock heat-sinks.

[QUOTE=Seb Sinclair;17166248]Quite a while ago. I'll go into town tomorrow and get a few things to clean out my PC. I think the thermal grease could do with re-newing on the CPU anyway. I'm also looking into a better CPU and GPU cooler, I've only got the stock heat-sinks.[/QUOTE] When cleaning out a PC, try not to vaccum it, as it may damage some of the parts on the mobo. The best option for cleaning inside you case is using short bursts of compressed air. If you have to use a vaccum, put it on a lower setting and with a small filter if possible.

I've done some research and I've discovered that my case isn't great for cooling, I have a Coolermaster Elite. I'm bidding on a NZXT Hush(now known as HU001) case which seems very good. Could anyone recommend a case which has good cooling?

[QUOTE=Seb Sinclair;17176885]I've done some research and I've discovered that my case isn't great for cooling, I have a Coolermaster Elite. I'm bidding on a NZXT Hush(now known as HU001) case which seems very good. Could anyone recommend a case which has good cooling?[/QUOTE] Any Antec case, preferably the 900, or 300 if you can't afford it. Get the Illusion 300 if you don't want to pay extra for more fans.