Periodic lag in games

[Bar0n]

I'm pretty sure this probably isn't just related to playing games, but it's definitely prevalent and obvious when gaming.

I experience brief periods of lag while playing games. Whether it's something silly like Minecraft, or an oldie like Tiberium Wars, or a modern game like one of the recent CoDs, it is a persistent issue.

I will have smooth framerates for about 5 minutes, then lag for roughly 20 seconds. It's not like new data is being loaded. In Tiberium Wars I would be looking at one specific section of the map, units stationary, when all of a sudden the clouds start moving jaggedly and the animations start lagging. Give it 15-20 seconds, and everything is smooth again. This process repeats itself constantly.

I have run memtest86, no problems found. I'm pretty (okay kind of) sure it's not an overheating problem.

Any ideas what the problem could be? My basic specs are as follows: AMD Phenom X4 3.2 GHz, 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, ATi HD5770 GPU.

 

[Pansyfaust]

This used to happen to me on an old Pentium D setup I had a while ago. I would be playing like COD 4 and instead of every 5 minutes it would be about 15 seconds between lag spikes. Figured it out that my cpu was on the fritz...replaced back then with a shiny new e2160 8)

 

[Jimmeh]

What model motherboard do you have? If its got an AMD chipset a quick driver update may sort it out.

 

[Bar0n]

What model motherboard do you have? If its got an AMD chipset a quick driver update may sort it out.

It's an Asus M4N68T. I'll check for a driver update. It used to be fine though.

I hope it's not the CPU. Don't have the cash for an upgrade right now.

 

[ichigo]

I had that problem with my laptop while gaming for extended hours.

I went and bought a cooling fan and never had the fps problem again in games as long as it is cooled.

So you might also have an overheating problem and clean your pc too so theres no more dust.

Oh both my acers did it after a few years of running and both had same end result usimg the same procedure.

Its not software related that I have seen.