Lag issues while gaming

[VVG007]

Hi all.

I have a Q6600 factory clock speed of 2.4 Ghz, 2*2GB DDR2 RAM,
Saffire HD 4850 512 Graphics card. seagate 1 TB HDD.
MSI platinium (forgot the model),

Now the problem is All my games have a slight lag at certain interval of times. I believe the CPU is hitting 100%.
to elaborate.. I start the game.. game runs smooth, then a slight lag or sluttering for a few seconds like 2 or 3 sec.
then again smooth game play for another 15 - 30sec ( or more seconds ) , afterwhich this annoying lag reoccurs for another 2 or 3 sec.
this keeps on going.

I have windows 7 64bit, (system reserved or some similar logical drive got created after i installed windows 7 64 bit)
I run Avira anti virus,which i update regularly,whenever its available.
graphics card has latest drivers.
also i updated my bios to latest.

i experience lag when i play Alan wake (PC), COD MW3, Assassins creed revelations. (these are the games i play now), these games expience this lag issue even in the lowest settings.

I believe my rig is capable of running these games at least in lowest settings since i get smooth game play for at least a min or so.

Please let me know what would be the issue.
the hard disk is like a year old now , would it be bad sectors causing this performace hit and causing 100% for my CPU.
Or is it something related to my GPU.

please advice on what actions I can take.
Thanks in Advance.

VVG.

 

[king smp]

if possible to overclock the Q6600 to 3ghz (easy for a Q6600)
that might help
but at low settings at stock Q6600 I dont think it should lag

maybe update your video card drivers to latest from AMD if not done?

 

[loneninja]

Are you monitoring your FPS while you play? Does it drop way down when you see this lag than jump back up?

Have you checked your temperatures on CPU and GPU? It's possible this is caused by throttling from over heating, very likely if you've never dusted out the inside of your case.

 

[sonexpc]

Download the processor explorer from microsoft
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653

Exam which program use most of CPU while you play the game...

Post your result back here..