Games Stuttering/Freezing

Recently my games have been stuttering/freezing. Normally my games would stutter for a second then continue again, been doing it for a while but I've usually just ignored it and played around it. Now its getting worse and freezes for a minute almost and then keeps running.

I've done several stress tests and nothing comes up, I've done a memtest, nvidia stability test, hot tester cpu pro 4 test, burnintest test. Neither of them show anything wrong. I even went as far as going out and spending 30 bucks to replace my RAM.

I've closed all unnecessary and security applications while playing, reverted back to old graphics drivers. Updated everything I can, updated my bios and all.

It happens on all games, re-installed several of them but still nothing.

My temperatures are fine, I underclock my video card to stop it from going near 100 Celsius during this hot weather we're having, CPU and motherboard never go above 50 Celcius.

I'm posting to ask if anyone else has any ideas besides format my computer. I'd be willing to do that but its more of a final/I don't wanna f***ing deal with this anymore option.

Thanks in advance.

 

Btw, my specs are as follows:

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 3070MB DDR2 RAM
Hard Drive: 2 TB Total
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Monitor: BenQ E2200HD 21.5IN 16:9 LCD 2MS 1920X1080 & Samsung SyncMaster 931c
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio output
Speakers/Headphones: Panasonic SA-AK220 Minisystem
Keyboard: Cicero Multimedia Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech Mx510
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
Motherboard: Asus P5K SE
Power Supply: Antec 500W

 

your gpu shouldn't ever get near 100C
that would be my first guess at your problem, my 8800 starts stuttering around 80 and above then freezes near 90
have you tried adjusting the fan speed to 100%?

 

My 8800 is a GTX, allowed to go up to 100 but normally they don't in room temperature. But since the cooling in my case combined with 30 Celcius weather, going that high is hard to avoid. On a regular basis, I underclock the card to prevent it from hitting 100. I've done some looking around and the 8800GTX gpu critical temperature is around 127 celcius but has been tested to go upwards of 150 celcius. Thats some crazy shit right there if you ever saw it but its true.

I'm thinking its my power supply, running out today to get a more powerful one.

 

Tested up to 150C doesn't mean it's a good idea to run it at that temp for long periods of time. It just means that it won't get killed at that temperature if you shut it off quickly. It absolutely does not mean that the GPU will be able to perform at peak or even quality level! Not to mention, the RAM on the grahics card was most likely not tested for higher than 85C...!

I'd say it's the burning temperatures compared with your under-clocking that is causing your stability problems. Remove the under-clock, and check that your GPU fan and heatsink is completely clean, and that the fan is unobstructed and moves freely. Then set the fan to 100% and see if the temperature stays at acceptable levels.

You didn't list your case on that spec list? If your GPU gets up THAT hot (water boils at 100C...) your ambient case temp will be toasty, to say the least. Taking a closer look at your interior cooling might not be a bad idea, though the fact your mobo and CPU stay below 50C is encouraging.

However, your graphics card needs to cool down, and the sooner the better.

 

I've found that it's just better to tone down the game settings, like turning off anti aliasing rather than just underclocking the gpu. playing cod:waw with 4x AA get my gpu up to near 90 and it freezes alot. I turned off AA and it stays around or under 80 and doesnt stutter. There isn't much difference in the video quality that I can see anyway. I have an 8800GT with the slim fan (bad idea) and i have to turn the fan speed to 100% even while folding with the gpu client too.

 

I just finished Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, which by the way was a great game, just not long enough, only like 8 HRS of game play, which for an unemployed man, just isn't enough :-o
I always have EVGA Precision running in top left corner of screen while playing, and my GPU is always around 75-80C. It even got up to 85C a few times. but it seems to never freeze. Only time I have a prob with it freezing is while under ground, or when I am around alot of fires. I just turned down the AA and texture detail and it fixes it. Try this
http://majorgeeks.com/Game_Booster_d6148.html
It's a handy tool. And I also have the same card as you. What type of games are you playing? are they like FPSers?
Here is link for EVGA http://www.evga.com/precision/
If you leave the fan on auto, the speed will adjust according to the GPU temp.