Let me start by saying i think i've exhausted all possible solutions besides buying a whole new mobo, cpu, and ram. I play three games WoW, and more recently Call of Duty 4, and TF2. I'm pretty sure the problem I am currently having has been happening for a while, but its not as noticeable in WoW. When I hop on any FPS its very difficult to play with. My computer will run fine for 10-20 mins after start up, around 70 FPS in TF2 and COD4 at max setting. Then all of the sudden I can watch the graphics get super choppy. It becomes unplayable and I just get frustrated. My computer specs are currently...

AMD Dual Core 1.8Ghz
2 GB Kingston Ram DDR2 (i believe its DDR2)
GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB (BRAND NEW, literally 3 days old)
Abit KN8 SLI motherboard
80gb western digital 7200rpm SATA HD
ULTRA 750W X2-Connect Power Supply ( http://www.xoxide.com/ultra-750w-x2-ps.html ) (something similar to this but its a 550W, the fan is making a weird clanking noise)
28" Viewsonic LCD Monitor

I have made several attempts to fix this problem. Three days ago I had a GeForce 7600GT 256MB PCI-E graphics card in my computer and was experiencing the same problem. The logical solution to me is that I had a bad graphics card. Many friends told me that Geforce x600 series is a below par card. Some of the steps that I've tried to take to fix my problem after putting the new one in and experiencing the same problems were.....
- Installing different versions of graphics drivers
- Making sure that my computer wasn't overheating (which it is not, i've been monitoring the temps)
- Running tests on the ram to see if it was faulty
- Installing all possible Windos XP updates
- Making sure the power supply is giving all the parts adequate power
- Trying diffrerent resolutions and graphics setting in game
- Ran Virus and Spyware Scans

I'm really not sure what else there is I can do at this point. Im beginning to think that it could possibly be the motherboard. That is pretty much the only thing that I could see it being at this point

Your help is greatly appreciated, I am willing to Paypal or Moneyorder the cash to you. You can contact me at berger104@gmail.com. Thanks!

your processor is under powered. you need at lest a 2.00ghz processor in my opinon. maybe not if your running xp but definatly if you have vista. its not your graphics card. you might be having a problem with your psu. but i think its your processor. what os do you run?

i think after reading your post agin that your psu is broken. they are not supposed to clank.

yea, psu clanking is not a good sign. Try a different psu. The cpu is slow but it shouldn't all of a sudden slow down to 10fps when it was doing 70 before. Make sure your hdd is not full too, check page file memory too, it should be around 1-2gb.

what are you checking your temps with?

If the psu is overheating due to a stuck fan, it could be sending unstable voltages to everything in the system.

Well, I have much experience with your powersupply and I can tell you that your graphics card after some time is eating too much power for that particular supply. The problem with it is that it is a dual rail powersupply. Now, that may not be the only problem with your rig either. You need to overclock that processor without a doubt. What model is your processor? It really makes a difference on what you can do as far as overclocking. Games tend to like a high clock speed. They don't per se require a rocketship of a graphics card all the time, however, much of the grahpics performance is contingent upon a nice processor speed. I changed my powersupply to a single rail PSU. Mine in particular is a silencer 750, although corsairs VX series is a single rail design. The problem is that when you hit 3d gaming on any of those games it is trying to suck too much from the 20 amp rail and it is under powering. I don't think it is this alone though. It could also be loss of connectivity in the modular wires. Always a good idea to get a hardwired powersupply and with a single rail. See, if you go to pcpowerandcoolings website it will explain some powersupply myths. My silence replacing my ultra 550watt x2 never makes noise and it provides solid power. My opteron dual core is at 2.8 and clocking along wonderfully. I have an old x1900xt which will play all those games fine.

What I would try for a quick fix is go in your ultra box and fish out another 6/ pin connector for your graphics card and try that, you might have fried the first one. I would look into getting a single rails PSU and overclocking your cpu.

My thoughts exactly. It might not be stuck. But if its "clanking," then the fan speed is probably slower than it's supposed to be therefore lowering you're airflow considerably. That in turn will lessen airflow through your PSU causing heat up, inconsistent voltages, and possible damage to your other components.

Also, how's the airflow in your case? You need at least two 120mm fans (1 intake, 1 exhaust). I know you said you were monitoring your temps. But Northbridge temps are not standard in every temperature monitoring program. You need to find out what they are. If they're over 40-45* C, after you've been gaming for a while, then that could be your problem.

Hope that helps!!!

Please do not double post.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] es-problem

Do you have the AMD dual core optimizer installed? Its a bit of a long shot but you can get some odd problems without it.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processor [...] 06,00.html

shadow just pwned you...

either way now you owe a hundred for double posting =P

Clanking noise and computer not synonymous.

The CPU is dual core so its really a 3.6

thats not how it works silly.

Definitely kidding yourself there, you have an AMD 64 3800X2 I guess... the 3800 speed rating gives you a pretty good idea of where you are. Nothing can give you 50/50 load balancing across the 2 cores even 90% of the time or do it efficiently especially games... yes 2 is better than 1 but not anywhere near twice as good. My 4200X2 clocked at 2.59ghz (socket 939) with 2gb OCZ DDR400 & an 8800GTS 512 runs COD4 effortlessly at 1600x1200 with the eye candy turned up so you should not have too much trouble in finding settings that will run it smooth.

As I said before if you do not have the AMD dual core optimizer installed you will have problems with some games it is an essential install & is not in any Windows XP update I know of.