CPU Randomly Spiking

Hello, this problem that I have been having has been on my mind for almost 2 years. I had an old machine about 2 years ago and randomly while I was playing my FPS went from 60 down to 5 for almost 10-15 seconds, and then it would jump up again for another 2-4 minutes that it would then happen ALL over again. Everything at that point was simply taking longer to do and I didn't think anything of it because at the time I would be getting my current machine so what did it matter if the old one didn't work right. Well, after some time I have the same problem... and I CANNOT have this continue to happen. I run a small, but fun, YouTube channel based upon recorded gaming videos and at this point I am unable to record anything without this same issue happening once again. It has been getting worse and worse at time goes on and I am NOT looking to buy another machine at this point. Simply put, here is what is happening

- During gameplay, my FPS, via Fraps, will show me going from a nice and constant 85-90 down to 15-20 for about 15-20 seconds and then it will reset like nothing ever happened. After about 2-4 minutes it will happen once again. Rinse and repeat at this point.
- During this FPS drop, my CPU will jump to 95-100% usage and I cannot seem to find a reason for it. Weather I am recording or not, but more when I'm recording to my other hard drive, this lag will happen worse than normal.

My specs have NOT changed for about a month before this has been going on, so this isn't something that I simply just installed.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.6GHz (Overclocked)
RAM - 8GB DDR2
GPU - EVGA Nvidia 460 SE
PSU - 800W
HD - I have 3 different hard drives. One of them is JUST for my recorded footage
Motherboard - ASUS something... I don't know the name of it

If anyone has ANYTHING that they might be able to tell me to try, please let me know. I have reformatted all of my spare drives and updated everything as far as drivers are concerned. The only thing I have yet to test is reformatting my MAIN hard drive, but I honestly don't feel like doing that unless I have to. And better yet, would that fix my problem???

Thank you for your time...

Joshgt2 said:

Hello, this problem that I have been having has been on my mind for almost 2 years. I had an old machine about 2 years ago and randomly while I was playing my FPS went from 60 down to 5 for almost 10-15 seconds, and then it would jump up again for another 2-4 minutes that it would then happen ALL over again. Everything at that point was simply taking longer to do and I didn't think anything of it because at the time I would be getting my current machine so what did it matter if the old one didn't work right. Well, after some time I have the same problem... and I CANNOT have this continue to happen. I run a small, but fun, YouTube channel based upon recorded gaming videos and at this point I am unable to record anything without this same issue happening once again. It has been getting worse and worse at time goes on and I am NOT looking to buy another machine at this point. Simply put, here is what is happening

- During gameplay, my FPS, via Fraps, will show me going from a nice and constant 85-90 down to 15-20 for about 15-20 seconds and then it will reset like nothing ever happened. After about 2-4 minutes it will happen once again. Rinse and repeat at this point.
- During this FPS drop, my CPU will jump to 95-100% usage and I cannot seem to find a reason for it. Weather I am recording or not, but more when I'm recording to my other hard drive, this lag will happen worse than normal.

My specs have NOT changed for about a month before this has been going on, so this isn't something that I simply just installed.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.6GHz (Overclocked)
RAM - 8GB DDR2
GPU - EVGA Nvidia 460 SE
PSU - 800W
HD - I have 3 different hard drives. One of them is JUST for my recorded footage
Motherboard - ASUS something... I don't know the name of it

If anyone has ANYTHING that they might be able to tell me to try, please let me know. I have reformatted all of my spare drives and updated everything as far as drivers are concerned. The only thing I have yet to test is reformatting my MAIN hard drive, but I honestly don't feel like doing that unless I have to. And better yet, would that fix my problem???

Thank you for your time...

Could be a latency issue because of a driver (like networking). Use this free download to check. DPC Latency Checker

We might also be able to help more if we had some info on your network setup.

I did the latency test and I was averaging about 280-300us (I don't know how to make the symbol). I personally don't feel it is a network issue at all. I can be doing single player of Crysis 2 and get this issue. Again this is very random that this happens and has only been happening for the past month, again at random.

Would it be best to reformat and see if that works??? My fear is that I'll reformat and then this will happen again in 4-6 months and will be a constant issue. I can't imagine that there isn't a fix to something like that for AMD people. I have noticed that Intel users have a VERY easy fix, but the same tactic does not work for AMD people.

I just reformatted my main hard drive and the problem is still happening... I don't know what to do at this point. I am going to try phyically switching out graphics cards to see if my EVGA 460 SE is the problem... but I can't imagine it is.