Unique FPS Issue

[Shmoseph]

There is no TL;DR Sorry kids I have a crazy problem that seems totally obscure and unsolvable.
If you don't read the whole post and just tell me to buy an i7 I'll lose faith in humanity super much tons a lot.

Before I begin, here's some information about my computer.

64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate
AMD Phenom x4 945 3.0 Mhz
GTX 970
ASUS MSA99FX PRO R2.0
RAM Patriot 8 gbs
HDxxxxxx I forget it spins tho

The rest of my information is in the screenshots below.

So I have this completely unique never-before-heard-of problem which is super terrible
and due to its exclusivity and rarity I have come to tell you how helpless I am.

So my computer plays really hard games to run really, really well. GTA V? No problem Keep it to medium/high settings no biggie. Fallout 4 same deal 60FPS and medium/high, suffer a little on high settings.
METRO 2033/ CRYSIS / WARHMAMMER: Vermintide / Dota 2/ All are in the same medium/high/ sometimes even Ultra settings no problem category.
So then I load up some games that shouldn't* be so difficult to run i.e. Kerbal Space Program, Starbound, Space Engineers, Heroes of the Storm, Hurtworld, specifically Early Access games of any kind
and my framerate drops every 5-10 seconds in unplayable short bursts making things like combat impossible.

SO this next info is the most important guys. Everything USED to be fine with these games. All games. Any games. Around a year ago the fans on my old 560ti broke, and then the card overheated and around this time I started having my FPs issues.

The 560 ti still worked great, I just turned up my case fans for extra cooling. It ran hot, but wouldn't overheat. So I continued using it.

Until just recently when I bought my gtx 970. I was like yeah boi lets game. So I swept my computer of old drivers in safe mode, did a clean install, downloaded current drivers,
restarted, freaked out cuz fans weren't spinning (this is apparently normal on a gtx970), and booted up GTA v of course!

GTA v looked way better I was real nice an happy boy I tell ya. Great temperatures from my GPU, CPU, Mobo, and everything was real nice fam.

Then I booted up some of the unity games and Steam Early Access games that were giving me trouble before.
Guess what? Same stuttering unplayable behavior. Boy the gtx 970 really knows how to make 14 FPS loook good.

So Sherlock Holmes pops his head in my window and shouts "Maybe it wasn't your GPU Laddie boy!".
So I was like wow get off my lawn but deep down I knew he was right.

So I reinstalled drivers, rolled back drivers, checked for viruses/ too many processes, re seated all hardware, emptied some space on my hard drive, and many other things!
Still the problem persisted.

So I also realize my CPU is outdated. So I bought a mid-level FX series Processor and popped her in. Still didn't fix the problem. So I returned it and will try an FX 8350 soon( a slightly higher variant that the 6300)

So my Question is? What could possibly be causing these ridiculous FPS drops in the games listed above when considering my rig will play GTA V and other prettier games on high settings with minimal issues.

 

[11sphere92]

I have GTX 970 as well, and i have an issue on Fifa 15 / 16

I've no problem playing assassin creed on ultra settings, and total war as well.

I think GTX 970 have problem on several games, or it might be CPU failure idk.

Cause i already change RAM like 5 times. I even changed the RAM Brand.
Try another motherboard, and change to a new GTX 970.

 

[rohitbaran]

Which psu? Also, have you monitored your CPU and GPU temperatures?

 

[IceBergs]

I guess the only thing really left to change before you take apart your build is to get a new CPU.

I highly suggest getting the 8320 instead. It's cheaper and almost the exact same as the 8350. And with a little love it'll run past the the 8320s stock speed of 3.50 GHz to 4.0 GHz even with stock cooling. With a after market cooler you could get to 4.9GHz to 5.3GHz easy.

Good luck

 

[Shmoseph]

For clarification all of my CPU, GPU, and Mobo temps are all in a healthy range.

Okay yeah just writing this out and doing more research I think it is my CPU. The 6300 I tried wasn't enough of an upgrade. I will overclock an 8320 (TY for suggestion, this seems to be best) and I'll re-post here If that solves the problem. I just thought that as soon as I got off the Penthon and into the FX processor series that I would see an huge improvement. It seems not?

If THAT doesn't work I am going to get a new hard drive... something that's not 7 years old. I'm thinking like a 100Gb SSD just to put the few games I play on there and use the HDD for storgae.

If THAT doesn't work I am getting a new mobo and switching to Intel.

If THAT doesn't work its for sure some power issue from dust exposure or something and I don't have any tools or know-how to test that stuff.

I'll let you guys know. Cheers.