Need help. Stuttering, CPU related.

Sorry if this is not the right forum.

My specs (At the office, cant remember the exact specs. ) :
CPU : Core i-7 870
GPU : Zotac GTX 570, Driver Ver. 290.53 (beta)
Ram : 6 GB Corsair (4 GB + 2 GB)
Mobo : Gigabyte P55 series
PSU : 700 W
OS : Win 7 Pro 64 bit
Resolution : 1680x1050

Recently, I had upgraded my GPU to a GTX 570 and I've had no problems since. Previously I had an 8800GT (1 gb). After the GPU upgrade, I ran Skyrim, Crysis, Deus Ex, etc. with ease, no performance/temp issues. Recently, my case fan stopped working so I had it removed and replaced it with a smaller one for the time being, till I get the exact size. It was 120 mm I think. For a while, everything was fine but now, almost every game stutters horribly after the first few minutes of gaming and I cant play without turning VSYNC on. I know for sure its not lag and not due to low FPS. Fraps shows the frames well over 60 (in Skyrim for instance, outdoors) but the stutter is way too much. I tried another less demanding game, DC Universe Online and lo.....stutter again after a few minutes of play. I turned VSYNC on in all the games and now its perfect. I do get a bit of mouse input lag in FPS games like Skyrim, Crysis, etc. Need suggestions for some way to either reduce input lag with VSYNC on or to eliminate stutter.

One thing to note....my GPU temps are always under 80 degrees but my CPU reaches 99!! O___O (well, at least 2 or 3 cores, the rest about 96-97 degrees). This didn't happen a couple months ago. I got the CPU/heatsink/fan cleaned too but no use. The games run normally. Should I be worried?


TLDR: I cant play games without turning VSYNC on. Need suggestions for alternatives or some way to reduce mouse input lag with VSYNC on.

Yes you should be worried. Spend 30 bucks or i think now its 25 for a cooler master hyper 212.

Well, tbh, I had someone do it (I'm not very experienced in all this and didnt want to risk it). I dont think he removed the paste. He did hold the CPU in his hand and brushed it a bit....

amuffin is your best answer. grab a hyper 212 which comes with thermal paste. make sure you clean and old thermal paste off the cpu and put it on. my advice is until you have at least reseated your current heatsink with new paste i would not be using that pc.

@someone2 : I dont know what cpu throttle is but yes, the air coming out of the case was hot.

I'll check out where the hyper 212 is available in my country...

Load default settings in bios, or update bios ,check any cables has lose connection @the time of changing fan so check al cables

New development guys.....apparently it was my GPU. I opened the case and ran Skyrim for a bit. Touched the CPU heatsink, it was just fine. When I touched the back of my card, it was very hot. Couldn't keep my fingers on for more than a couple of seconds. I had ruled out my GPU coz it was new....guess I was wrong. Need to get it replaced now. So, was the 99 degrees from the CPU showing as a result of the heat out of the card?

I normally use HWMonitor and sometimes GPUZ. About the fan, it was a standard 120mm one which had stopped working. I replaced it with a 80 mm (or whatever the next smaller size is) for the time being.

Both HWMonitor and GPUZ show the GPU not being more than 80 degrees when on load (I mostly use Skyrim to test, the autumn outdoor area). However, when I touch the back of the card, it was super hot. CPU heatsink wasn't hot at all but HWmonitor showed it more than 90 degrees.

I'll try another monitoring utility just to be sure. Any recommendations? And thanks to all for helping out so far!

The temps are the same even with speedfan. The card still went hot as hell so I'm getting it replaced. Thanks for the help guys!