Well, I just got done building a new Comp Rig. And I am having the weirdest problem. Every 30 - 50 seconds i will get a lag/fps spike for about a second or two. This spike drops my FPS down to about 2-3 fps. It is so annoying. I have tried two different video drivers so far, same problem. I have flashed my Bios to the newest version, same problem. Even if i am Overclocking or not, same problem. My computer is very well equipped to handle games and applications, and can generally keep my FPS WELL ABOVE 30-40 fps. But for some reason i am having this problem. It is very noticeable in games, but it will happen sometimes in loading screens, and even on my Desktop. These are my specs, any suggestions will be appreciated.
 
E6600 Conroe
 
2 GB Mushkin DDR2 eXtreme Performance RAM (DDR800)
 
P5N32-E SLI 680i Mobo
 
ATI X1950XTX Vid Card ( currently w/ newest drivers)
 
1 Raptor X 150 Gig HD
 
Creative X-fi Fatality Pro Sound Card
 
Antec 2.0 TruePower 500 watt PS

for one, no need to shout.
 
  secondly, what are your temps, always a good place to start.  a defrag can also do wonders.
 
  also, does it happen in safe mode?
 
   mkae sure everything is stock clocked and try your system with only one stick of ram.

Sorry for the shouting, im frustrated....
 
My GPU temp is at 53c idle, Cpu at 31-33 C idle
 
Have not tried safe mode yet, and i will defrag shortly
 
I have run memtest with no flaws....do i really need to run with one stick of ram then ?
 
thank you

if memtest is fine then probably not.  ram can cause all sorts of problems though so that is why i suggested it.  
 
  what is you usage on memory and cpu like when it happens?
 
 
  have you run it with task manager open and looked at the performance tab?

I am not sure.... and im not sure how to tell..... also.... since i have built this rig ( like 2 days ago) i have noticed that it runs very sluggishly...espescially on desktop. Almost freezing....but not completely freezing ( so that i dont have to restart or shutdown)  This setup seems slower than my DDR400 Amd 4800 setup, which just cant be right. something is wrongggg

Defragging as we speak....lowering my clocks, then will run a game with task manager open. to see my cpu/ram loads.

it could be a faulty PSU i had that exact same problem with that and i found out it was the PSU over heating

can you do me a favour?
 
pull out your sound card, and use the on-board sound. See if that does anything.

Thank you for all the suggestions guys, Keep them coming! i will try them all until this problem gets fixed!

this was a major problem for a lot of people who got half-life2, there where many solutions offered in the forums by other users. The main problems were, if i remember correctly;-
 
1) people did not fully uninstall previous graphics card drivers, and instead just downloaded and installed new drivers over the top of old ones.
 
2) the same with sound card drivers. Also make sure onboard sound is disabled.  
 
3) memory textures. Even kick ass high end ninja card have problems with some high textures, ie- the card pauses for a second to load in a new previously unviewed texture. If you can play the game with medium or low graphics settings ok,then thats what it is, (or a problem with your graphics card)
 
4) make sure your motherboard is upto date from the manufacturers web site.
 
5) what game is it?
 
6) see if your virtual memory is high enough.
 
7) tell me what else is running in the background, even small programs like torrent stuff and virus checkers can have a knock on effect.
 
8) check the steam/half-life 2 forums, and see if there are other suggestions there. as many problems can be fixed with the advice there.
 
9) keep us here upto date with what you've tried so we can keep helping. and tell us if you fix it, what it was.

my mobo is up to date, just flashed my bios like an hour ago, the game(s) are MTW 2, Counter Strike, and also the VId stress test in Company Of Heroes. ( these are the only games installed on my comp, so i am sure i would have this problem with any game i install)
 
There is virtually nothing running in the background, no antivirus nothing. only thing up is ATI CCC and audio control panel.

although new, probably best get a firewall and AV on there just in case.
 
  BTw, when running idle with the task manager up is there any activity?

yes, minimal activity, maybe 2- 5 %

I am going to try alot of things now, Defrag is almost done..... then i will pull my sound card/ disable onboard audio/ reinstall vid drivers. When i am finished with these tests or have found a soultion i will post again, any more suggestions will be appreciated

You may want to try downloading a program like PCWizard or SiSoftware Sandra 07 to do a quick test of your CPU, Memory, and HD bandwidths just to make sure nothing is operating abnormally.  This is a fresh install of Windows, correct?  Is your Memory usage in task manager 200MB or lower?  A defrag probably won't help if you just installed Windows.  You may have to just reformat and start over is you can't isolate any hardware failures.
 
Kinda ironic, but the computer I am typing on right now (which is not the comp in my sig) is doing the exact thing you are describing, freezing up periodically while doing nothing.  However, in my case, I know why.  It has tons of virus software (and probably viruses) running in the background and is an old P4.

Try disabling NCQ on your Raptor hard drive. NCQ is made for servers, because it can handle multiple requests from mulitple users at a time. But, in a single-user environment, they can actually reduce performance.
 
To disable NCQ, go to your device manager, find your SATA controller, right click, go to Properties, and disable Command Queuing.
 
You could also try modded video drivers. Download Omega's Radeon drivers from omegadrivers.net, remove your current ones through the uninstall wizard, DriverCleaner them, and install the modded drivers. I love them, can't wait for Omega to release the ones based on Cat 7.4, they'll be out soon.
 
Oh, and you are using Windows XP, right? If you're using Vista....this may be how it goes.

Thank you once again for all the suggestions....so far this is what i have tried....all has been unsuccessful so far
 
1 defragmented drive ( did it even though this is a fresh xp install)
 
2 Removed X-fi audio card
 
games still drop to 2-3 fps every 30 seconds or so
 
i will try more things and keep you all posted

Also I  am having trouble disabling the  NCQ....can i do it in Bios ? Device manager is not showing me that option...thanks

well, i have now tried omega drivers....to no avail. I dont know what else to do, i dont think this could be a power supply issue, but one poster said that it could be..... My sound card has been removed, i have defragged, i have run pcwizard, memtest....i dont know what else to try. I still get random freeze ups in games every 30 seconds. I'm getting tired of this.

Well, I am pretty much out of ideas, does intel have a special set of drivers/dual core enhancers you need to download?  Do you need the windows dual core hotfix?  My AMD needed these, but I'm afraid I don't know much about the new intel processors.