Everything running smooth until I load a game then computer starts chugging and wont stop

Mar 14, 2018
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I have a fresh windows installation (7 64-bit)
My most recent hardware change is I installed Asus Strix Soar Soundcard.
And I have no idea wtf is going on. Please help!

I7 4790k
Asus Z97-a Mobo
Nvidia Gtx 970
16gigs ram
Asus strix soar 7.1 soundcard
750w Psu evga

So Everything runs fine. I can play Surviving Mars and I have no issues. But then when I load Arma 3 something like switches and everything starts slowing down instantly. Noticeable lag when i'm just dragging windows around the desktop. In an actual server I'm getting like 5fps SUPER choppy, and I'm used to 60-70. Heres where it gets weird I can shut down Arma 3... computer will remain choppy and laggy until I restart. Windows will even notice and tell me to change my windows theme to free up resources even while nothing is really running. No CPU load spikes in resource monitor, no memory being used up. I have the most recent Nvidia driver. Nothing strange while watching resource monitor whilst loading Arma.

W T F is going on here?

Arma 3 was previously loaded on my SSD, which I just reinstalled on my main drive thinking maybe my SSD was kicking the bucket. No fixy.