Hi, I was referred to you guys for help, and I hope you can help me.

I am running this system, a rig I built myself:

Intel Core i7 920
EVGA X58 Motherboard
OCZ Platinum 4GB RAM
Corsair TX850 850w PSU
BFG GTX 295 Video Card
Western Digital Cavier 500GB HD


It's a system I built myself which I haven't had problems with. I was able to run Crysis on Ultra High at a steady 40-50fps. Just as a standard for comparison to the problem..

One day when I booted up, I noticed a sudden lack in speed. Games were running abnormally slow, and I can hardly get 5-10fps in Crysis now. This was not a gradual decline, but rather some sort of sudden event.

The days before this happened, I had downloaded several file converters, which lead me to believe I was under the effects of a virus. I have Spyware Doctor and AVG running always while I am on my computer, and do scans everyday. They were both coming up blank - and I've always trusted Spyware Doctor.

Combofix was recommended to me, but it doesn't work with 64bit Vista, which is what I am running.

So, my questions are, do you have any ideas as to what the problem may be/how I can fix it? I placed this in the general software section, but it could be a hardware problem, though I doubt it. Could also be windows update drivers causing conflicts among my CPU, which is the component which seems to be suffering the most.

However, another question I have is, with my OEM version of Vista, would I be able to do a format and then re-install...is there a limit to how many times I can re-install it on the same machine?

I'm fairly experienced with computers, so I should be able to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks a ton in advance,
Nick

Hi Nick have you tried a system restore to before the problem happend?

Yes I have and the problem persists.

If you think it maybe malware or virus related I'd follow instruction here http://www.pchelpforum.com/new-hijac...e-posting.html and post back at hijackthis section of PCHF so security staff can look at it for you to be sure it is clean