Stuttering in almost all games

[Double_A]

Almost every game I try to run stutters.

I tried Skyrim, Spec Ops The Line, Orcs Must Die etc.

In Skyrim and Spec Ops The Line the games freezes every 3 to 5 seconds. I get the stuttering even with older games like Max Payne 2 and Psychonauts.

All of these games ran fine (without stuttering) a few months ago and I have not changed hardware.

NBA 2K12, The Walking Dead and Batman Arkham City the frequency of the lag is a lot less and mostly playable, strange considering Arkham City and Spec Ops The Line run on the same engine.

The drivers are up to date. I have lowered the graphics and the resolution to the lowest they go, still get the freezing every few seconds. One thing I have noticed is my CPU idles (the CPU load goes to 0%) during the freezing/stuttering.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My System Specs
OS Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200
Motherboard MSI G71-MIB1016-J24
Memory 2 GB DDR2
Graphics Card GeForce 9400 GT
Monitor AOC 1943W
Native Resolution 1366*768

 

[simon12]

The CPU could be overheating check what temps it reaches using HWMonitor.

 

[Double_A]

The CPU could be overheating check what temps it reaches using HWMonitor.

The CPU gets to around 65 to 70 degree Celsius while gaming. Maybe it is the temperature because this problem arrived in the summer. How do I improve the cooling?

 

[Hawkeye22]

Buy a can of compressed air and blow the dust out of the CPU cooler. It won't hurt to blast the dust off the rest of your components in their either. Also, make sure all vents are free of dust.

If this doesn't drop the temperature much, then you may need to remove the heatsink and reapply it using new thermal paste.

 

[Double_A]

Buy a can of compressed air and blow the dust out of the CPU cooler. It won't hurt to blast the dust off the rest of your components in their either. Also, make sure all vents are free of dust.

If this doesn't drop the temperature much, then you may need to remove the heatsink and reapply it using new thermal paste.

Can I use a vacuum cleaner to blow?

 

[Double_A]

On more question, can unbalanced core utilization cause this kind of issue? I noticed one core was taking 80% load while the other was only around 45%.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Can I use a vacuum cleaner to blow?

I've heard reports of this not being a good idea - static or something. I don't use a vacuum because some just have a little too much power and it has a wide nozzle so you can't really direct air flow well.

You can get compressed air for fairly cheap and they are also good for blowing the dust out of your keyboards too.