My system isn't working well & I need help please.

Custom Built PC by a local computer tech 1 year ago.

Motherboard - M2A-VM, ASUS, AMD 690G chipset, AM2, 64bit onboard Realtek sound.
CPU - AMD Phenom 9500 x4, 2.25ghz, 64bit
Power Supply - LS Ultra 600W
GPU - Asus 9800GTX+ 512mb GDDR3, PCIe 2.0
RAM - Kingston Hyper-x gaming ram, 5-5-5-15, DDR2, 800, 4GB, 2 sticks each being 2GB.
OS - Windows 7, 64bit home premium
Hard Drive - 150GB, 7200RPM, 3.5, ATA; 50GB free space"That is all I know about the hard drive."
Standard keyboard & laser mouse w/ cord, standard speakers.
Dell 21.5" monitor 1600x900, widescreen, 16:9 (native)
High speed Cable internet 1.5mb connection, suddenlink.


Okay I think that is everything needed maybe? If you need anything else just ask I will try to figure it out but I am not expert when it comes to PCs.

My problem is I bought this PC for gaming but it isn't working out well with all the games I play. Take lord of the rings online for instance my graphics are setup be configured by the game, I just allow it to set the right graphics for my system specs and the game its not set to max settings but my game still lags and runs slow. I am getting on avg about 20-25FPS in the wild when in a city it drops to around 5-10fps or it just freezes up at random for like 1 sec it also does this when in combat. A game called Company of Heroes, I have to run on the VERY lowest settings everything like shadows has to be completely turned off. What gets me is I have the game Dirt 2 which is a very graphical game lots of eye candy, I can run it completely maxed out with AA set to x16 without one glitch or lag/lock up what so ever, so basically some games I lag like crazy then some games which is rare I run pretty smooth.

What should I replace if anything at all? What could be causing this problem? Is my system just something that really isn't setup for gaming? Any input or feedback of any kind from someone who has been around the block would be really helpful! Thanks.

I was gonna ask you to try a normal game. The fact that you've run dirt 2 just fine makes me think that the problem is your internet your network or something along those lines. They all depend on being able to communicate to the game server to get what's happening in the world. Dirt 2, obviously, is all happening on your system only.

Your system is pretty good.

You'd have to do tests of some kind to tell. Run LAN games, if those work it's the router and/or cable modem. Or just the internet connection. There's alot of places that could be the point of failure that's the problem you're looking for, you just need to sort it out.

You might test your connection:
http://www.speedtest.net/