Why would my CPU clock speeds be dropping?

Well, it kicks in when my cpu is being utilized In games or stress tests so I imagine it has more to do with temps than cool n quite since that's the opposite.
As I've said I've disabled cool n quiet in the bios. Please read the post before jumping to conclusions - I've received enough bad advice here from lack of research like what you're saying.

I do think it's the cause of my stuttering as when my cpu is being used it drops the core clock and I doubt my 30% utilized gpu gtx 970 is causing it.

Right so you read my post and decided that I didn't actually do what I said I did. There really is no explanation. Assuming I didn't actually do what I said I did then making a conclusion that it's not the cause of stuttering is the very definition of jumping to conclusions.
Adding useless answers doesn't help people here - it hurts them in the long run. If you tell someone to buy a $350 video card to see great speeds but don't pay attention to their bad cpu - you've just bottlenecked them and wasted their price to performance boost. - which is exactly what happened to me on this forum from posters like yourself. If you get your feelings hurt over someone calling out bad advice/not doing your research, then you need thicker skin/to just stay quiet.
I've done basic research but I work a lot and outsource it to enthusiasts. Your advice is worth nothing with no explanation and conclusions that counter the facts given. Since I posted and your response I had done more about temps. So yes please do stay quiet.

It seems like it's my temps - they reach about 62 then drop suddenly. I just don't get why this cpu is getting so hot without over clocking. My airflow isn't great but not terrible - it almost instantly goes over 60 on a stress test at stock settings.
What is an ideal temp for a cpu under stress?
Would anything else be causing slowdown during intensive cpu activities (mmos, stress tests, etc)

I have an fx8120 - 3.1 ghz apparently these are bad - but so bad it bottlenecks a a gtx 970?
The cpu itself never seems to be under full load - but utilize cores poorly (maxing one then using others, overall never above 60) - then it stutters down for s bit then kicks back on. I believe this is because the clock speeds are getting halved so it can cook but I'm not sure- can someone confirm this hypothesis?
Lastly, would it be worth getting a better cpu cooler : thermal paste, or just upgrading the cpu/mobo. It doesn't seem to be doing my gtx 970 justice per the benchmarks I've seen it run: if so, any suggestions they would stop the stutter/bottleneck or other possibilities? Thanks