Terrible framerates after format + updates

[ixelion]

Athlon 64 3500+ AM2
Asus M2V TVM
1GB RAM
8800 GTS
1920x1080

Almost all games, even older ones, will run very well some of the time but will also experience bouts of extreme stuttering and frame rate loss. Games will continually fluctuate between 60FPS and 1-10 FPS, it's annoying as hell.

I know the hardware is old, and I expect low frame rates, but at least consistent frame rates - the fay the fps fluctuates with this computer leads me to believe that there is a problem component - possibly the ram or mainboard? Any ideas?

 

[brallerlaller]

My first thought after reading your post makes me wonder if you're suffering from heat issues?

 

[ixelion]

hmm I haven't thought of that, I will look into the temps.