PC stutters while playing games

[NemesisNCX]

So, I have recently upgraded my PC and ever since I have I'v been encountering some issues. I'll post my previous/new system specs at the end. But basically this is how it goes:

After 5-15 minutes of playing a game (Such as Rome 2, Watch Dogs or Planetside 2), I start hearing weird sound distortion/stuttering every few seconds and soon after that my entire system starts to stutter. I was playing with FRAPS earlier and it tells me my system drops down to 1 FPS. Not just the game as it happens on the desktop as well even if I minimize the game. It's not a issue where my specs are to bad to run the game smoothly as I manage to run most of my games with 60fps. It's just after that 5-15min mark-ish where it begins. Anyway, I try to close the game im playing with the task manager, which is hard to do alone with 1fps and my cursor disappearing and the only way of getting it back is through a system restart, but after the game is closed my fps rises back to normal levels.

So that's basically the issue. As far as I know it's not my system overheating as I manage to keep my temperatures at good levels. It varies form game to game but generally my CPU stays below 50*c and my GPU below 65*c. Unless these aren't good temperature levels and this is causing the problem, so while we're at it could someone tell me optimal temperatures for gaming.

So now onto my specs.
Previous RIG:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
8GB 1600MHz
MSI 870-C45 Motherboard
GTX 660
750W PSU

New RIG (I only upgraded the CPU, Mobo and RAM)

Intel i7 4770 3.4GHz
8GB 1866MHz Corsair Vengeance
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 Motherboard
GTX 660
750W PSU

As far as I know, Iv installed all the required drivers correctly as everything seems to be working so I'm not sure what the problem is and if anybody does please, help 🙁

Thanks in advance

 

[Videographer]

Is it a virus scanner or malware related?

 

[NemesisNCX]

Is it a virus scanner or malware related?

I use Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes for protection but after doing 2 scans it comes up clean.

 

[Jim90]

There may be issues with other factors such as your monitor resolution and game settings. Watch Dogs, for example, was known to bring high spec PC's to their knees! I'd think that a complicated Rome 2 scene could do the same.

To check this, do a bit of Googling on reviews for these games (and any others you might want to add) and pay particular attention to the benchmarks.
Additionally, many GFX card manufacturers have monitoring tools. Install one of these, set up logging, then check the logs for possible issues e.g. GFX memory running very low (e.g. Watch Dogs).
This might very quickly give you your answer or at least rule this out.

 

[NemesisNCX]

There may be issues with other factors such as your monitor resolution and game settings. Watch Dogs, for example, was known to bring high spec PC's to their knees! I'd think that a complicated Rome 2 scene could do the same.

To check this, do a bit of Googling on reviews for these games (and any others you might want to add) and pay particular attention to the benchmarks.
Additionally, many GFX card manufacturers have monitoring tools. Install one of these, set up logging, then check the logs for possible issues e.g. GFX memory running very low (e.g. Watch Dogs).
This might very quickly give you your answer or at least rule this out.

As for the resolution usually play full-screen 1920x1080 but this varies. Sometimes I switch to 1600x900 windowed for demanding games like Watch_Dogs as it actually gains me a few frames. For the record I never push my system to play MAX settings if it cant handle keeping the fps around 60. If I see it drop down I always either turn down the graphics and/or resolution though with the new rig it hasn't really been an issue aside from Watch_Dogs.

I didn't have time to test this on other games yet but I could try downloading less demanding ones and see how it goes.

Update: I ran all games at windowed 1600x900 for temperature monitoring. Even tried turning up a few settings to compensate for the lower resolution to get as accurate of a reading as possible, but like I said my CPU/GPU stay fairly stable.

CPU - <50*c
GPU - <65*c

 

[Jim90]

At these resolutions I wouldn't think there would be GFX memory issues etc, however, examining a log from the GFX card could still prove useful.

Do you experience similar system slowdowns when not playing games?

 

[NemesisNCX]

At these resolutions I wouldn't think there would be GFX memory issues etc, however, examining a log from the GFX card could still prove useful.

Do you experience similar system slowdowns when not playing games?

I'll try the log thing. As for the slowdowns, they only happen while gaming. My PC is running very smoothly if im browsing the web or anything like that.