Choppy, Sputtering, intermitent gameplay on k9a2, 4870 1gb

Question

I have had some majorly choppy and intermittent gameplay on my k9a2 (bios v1.6) with the 4870 1GB (toxic) and 9950be 125w. I use both catalyst 8.12 and 8.53 (came w/ card) and vista x64. This is a major issue with almost any game and any setting ( high or low, vsync on or off, any filer setting) and it is getting INCREASINGLY WORSE Any Ideas? I could really use the help. I also have some stock (ug!) 800MHz ram with all of this, but I find it hard to believe that is the problem (worked fine in another computer)
My computer runs all games on max (or used to...) at 1440x900 w/ filters but does not run clean! It sputters from a good frame (like say, 40-60 fps (vsync really slows it down!) to a terrible 1 or 2 fps quickly, promoting an "intermittent" lag.
Then, this event occurs every few minutes! (biggest notice- supreme commander and mass effect) The slightest movement produces this annoying "lag" that is usually not benchmarked by fraps but is very noticeable.
Please Help :(
-jedijed

Answer 1

I believe this is a board or video card issue. I have recieved a new (and working) psu (same one replaced from tiger) but have sent back the motherboard and the graphics card (possible that they both shorted).
 For those that like 4870/ati/msi please tell me if this is evident at all in any situation (I need polls, number crunching, ect. I might go to nvidia/asus)
Evidence that ati card is the issue:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU2MiwxMCwsaGVudGh1c2lhc3Q=
                    ". With the 512MB Radeon HD 4870 we encountered some lag or pausing when you complete one task and have the next task loading. We also noticed some lag and pausing when moving into new areas, new buildings, new scenes that were loading into view..." "...however, with the 1GB 4870 these pauses didn’t occur at all, there were smoother transitions through the Stalker world as we would walk or run through it. When we entered new areas, new buildings, or new tasks loaded it was seamless, just the way we’d expect it to be, and thus in that way it helps the gameplay experience positively. It should also be noted the GTX 260 was also smoother in this way, because it too has a large memory capacity"
http://boardreader.com/t/Videocards_ATi/My_HIS_4870_is_running_choppy_like_Is_so_3hz1X62df.html
                  "Basically the card dosen't run smooth in games, and when environments move you can see them go faster, then slower, then faster, then slower, etc."
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/255858-33-jerky-choppy-performance-4870x2
                  "Several games (Mass effect, Sacred 2 demo) give me the same problem. I get very high framerates, but every other second, I get jerky/choppy peformance. For example in both mass effect and sacred 2, whenever I move the character forward, I get smooth movement and next second I get a jerky/choppy effect. It is sort of like a hiccup. LIke for a second everything moves backwards and then forwards."
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTUzMSwzLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
                  "game was encredible choppy at high shaders"
http://www.firingsquad.com/print_article.asp?current_section=Hardware&fs_article_id=2376
                 "although by 2560x1600 performance begins to become too choppy. ..."
www.techspot.com/article/118-crysis-warhead-performance/page3.html
                 "will occasionally experience choppy sequences during intense scenes."
EVEN WOW!!!??? (what the heck?)
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=11829372874&sid=1&pageNo=3
                --4850/4870 low to very low FPS issues
-----> and many more (may post later)
Msi Problems:
Just look at all of the forums/threads that start with "k9-a2 problem(s)"
Motherboard BIOS was terrible (major ram, sata, processer, ect. issues)
http://hothardware.com/cs/forums/t/36816.aspx
"itgs stil a slight bit choppy"
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=12363658740&sid=1&pageNo=1
"MSI K9A2 Plat. motherboard...Unfortunately, I saw only a minor increase in performance but now I get this choppy effect in the game, it looks like my FPS is dropping off but according to the FPS meter, it is running strong. "
EXACTLY MY PROBLEM
VISTA x64 PROBLEM? ---> http://ipbfree.com/home/forums/showthread.php?p=64049
(K9A2 Platinum)
"- Vista was considerable slow on my first system.
- When playing a game, the screen was choppy as if I was looking at an old movie.
- It took quite long to boot (compared to what I'm used to).
- Applications took longer to startup.
- It took ages to copy files to another location.
- Vista seemed unstable as it sometimes froze without a reason.
- Most 3D applications including games and some 2D applications seemed to lag considerably."
HOWEVER, FOR ME SP1 DID NOT SOLVE MOST THESE ISSUES...