Computer Stuttering

[Nodnarb]

I built a new computer a little ways back and I have run into some problems with the computer stuttering every few seconds (little pauses or freezes on both the audio and video, then it resumes running normally). It seems to happen when watching videos, listening to music, or playing games. It is very frustrating as I am not computer illiterate (though I am far from advanced), but I just cannot figure out what the problem is. Another odd thing is that the stuttering will usually subside after playing certain games for a while, but I have noticed it seems to come back after I use my CD drive. I'll list the specs below, please let me know if you need any additional information. I would appreciate any help y'all could offer.

Specs:

• WD Caviar Hard Drive - 1TB
• WD Caviar Hard Drive - 500GB
• HT Omega Striker 7.1 Sound Card
• XFX GX285NZDFF GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 Video Card
• Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
• G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 x 2 (I have heard having all the slots occupied can result in problems. Thoughts?)
• PC Power & Cooling 750W Power Supply
• Vista 64-bit SP2, XP 32-bit SP2, Ubuntu Operating Systems (stuttering occurs in all of them)
• Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
• SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F
• GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard (has onboard sound, could there be a conflict between it and my third party sound card?)

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Try taking out 3 of the 6 ram sticks you've got installed if you think that could be the problem, though personally I don't think it's going to help. Give it a shot anyway though.

Apart from that, just do all the obvious things e.g. check your temps, run memtest, defrag, check for any errors in device manager, etc.

 

[Nodnarb]

Try taking out 3 of the 6 ram sticks you've got installed if you think that could be the problem, though personally I don't think it's going to help. Give it a shot anyway though.

Apart from that, just do all the obvious things e.g. check your temps, run memtest, defrag, check for any errors in device manager, etc.

Thank you for your suggestions S0ULphIRE. I will try pulling some of the RAM (as well as the HT Omega) once I get to the point where I'm opening the case. Everything I've used to check the temps came out alright, I have defraged, no errors in device manager, and I have looked for malware. I will try running a memtest in a little bit and report back if anything funny happens.