Stuttering single GPU system, which component to switch out first?

[sawtheDEVIL]

In the past two weeks, I did a beefy upgrade to my rig. Now I have experienced stutter (want to say micro, since it's very quick and consistent, but I'm no expert) and frame drops throughout the games I've tested - Borderlands 2, Crysis 3, Metro LL, and Dishonored.

So through trial and error and an absolute minimum window's re-install on a different SSD in addition to ram testing, I think I've narrowed the problem to either the CPU, MB, or GPU. BTW, I've tested it with and without updated drivers/bios.

One variable, is that the GPU worked fine in my previous system.(I also carried over the PSU) So my hunch is that it's an issue with the MB or CPU. The problem is I don't have another GPU to switch in to test, so I can't eliminate it since the Chip/board doesn't support integrated video.

So my question is, which would you replace first in hopes of fixing the problem - the MB, CPU, or GPU?

Or perhaps,I'm missing something obvious although I have done a lot of reading over the last week. It has been a real bummer. My first PC ran very smooth for gaming; can't say the same about this one despite a two fold increase in expenditure.

System:
Windows 8.1
I7 5930k
MSI MPOWER X99S
EVGA 980 Classified
EVGA 750G2

 

[HEXiT]

what hz are you running your screen at? have you tried switching it to display port.

in nvidia drivers have you disabled the game profiles and just tried running the games on default driver settings?.

sometimes what nvida recommend on there game profiles isnt the best config for your card so can lead to framing issues.
also check your drivers render ahead limit adding 1 or subtracting 1 from the default can often help.

 

[sawtheDEVIL]

Thanks for the reply!

The monitor is a 60hz Sony HDTV. I've tested many vsync settings, using in game and NVIDIA's global settings, without a change. Geforce Experience is not installed, so I don't know if Nvidia's game profiles wold be relevant. I have also manipulated pre-rendered frames.

So from your answer, do you imply that I should remained focused on the GPU? Is it possible that CPU or MB could be a problem?