new build small issues

[kentuckyser]

I just built a new PC and I'm having a small problem, it's not major but it's very annoying.

Specs:

Intel D975XBX2 (Bad Axe 2) Mobo
C2D E6600
4 GB G.Skill DDR2 PC800 Ram
eVGA 8800GTX Superclocked
Seagate 320GB HD - Sata II
Lite-On SATA Opticals
NZXT Zero Case
Thermalright Ultra-120 CPU Cooler
Windows XP/SP2

Ok, I built this machine 2 weeks ago. When I installed Windows I had all 4 GB of RAM installed....Windows loaded and installed fine (I heard it's better to install Windows with 2 GB of RAM then install the other 2 GB after Windows install)...but it worked fine.

I loaded Unreal Tournament 2004 and set all display settings to high, and on 1680x1050 resolution (I have (2) 22" monitors). With those settings, Unreal would lock the entire PC up during a single player game. If you turn the resolution down to 1280x1024, the game doesn't lock up but it lags a little bit. I thought the C2D and the 8800GTX would be able to handle UT2004 no problem on high settings?

Also, I have noticed a "lag" in my mouse every 60 seconds or so. If I open up Task Manager, I notice an increase in CPU usage up to around 20% when the mouse "lag" happens. If I'm playing music from Pandora, the music will skip much like a scratch CD skips.

The only programs running in the background are the Intel onboard audio, NVidia control panel, wireless card program, Windows Defender, and UltraMon (dual monitor program). My PF Usage is only around 200 MB at idle. I haven't even installed my Anti-Virus yet.

What could be lagging this computer every so often? Should I defrag or reinstall Windows with 2GB of RAM? I'm not sure if the intermittent "lag" is causing UT2004 to lag as well?

PS: Core Temp 0.95 says both cores at idle stay around 23-24°C, and at load I haven't ever seen them rise above 32°C with a 120mm Scythe fan mounted directly on the Ultra-120.

[minsonngo]

Do you have the newest drivers loaded for your hardware?


It also would not hurt to download memtest from memtest.org and run the diagnostic on the memory. Make sure you leave only ONE stick installed at a time to be able to run the test on each stick seperately. You may have a faulty stick of memory.