My system is as follows: P4 3.2 Prescott HT Asus P4P800-E Deluxe 1GB Corsair ram Asus X800 Pro 256mb (AGP) 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache 480W PSU (22A 12v Rail) SB Live 1024 (value i think) T.T Tsunami case I can run any game at full spec and will run smooth. But sometimes it will stagger and lag really bad, i have the latest drivers etc, it's like the machine is struggling somehow. The cpu hits 72C playing any game, could that be the probelm? i heard the prescotts get hot, but apparantly normal? I'm baffled, do i need more ram or better h/s & fan for cpu? I's using artic silver 5 on my cpu and gpu. The gfx card has the original cooler fitted. Normally get 30fps if im lucky, this cannot be right for a high spec machine can it? Bios settings: fast write: on AGP aperture size: 256 (what is it? who knows?)

That temperature is a little high. P4 systems will usually throttle down the CPU when the temperature gets too high. Take the cover off your PC, and see if the lag goes away. That will tell you if it's an overheating issue...unless of course your room is an oven. :-) "Barbara Streisand hasn't ruined the culture since Yentl."