Lag spikes?

[ThisIsTunakTunak]

I get random lag spikes every couple of minutes when I'm playing video games, depending on what I'm doing in the games. The screen freezes for 10-30 seconds, and I was wondering how I could fix it from doing this. This happened ever since I got my new video card.

 

[viper110110]

does the game continue to run and then when you come back you're 30 seconds farther into the game, or does it come back as if time was paused?

and also what does the sound do during the pause?

 

[ganzey]

try updating you video card drivers. what kind of vid card did you have, and what did u upgrade to?

 

[ThisIsTunakTunak]

Well the game that it happens in, and the only game I play, is World of Warcraft. The screen freezes, and in-game people say I'm running in place. The sound stops sometimes, and other times it keeps going until it's just about to stop the lag then it skips.
I have a Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT, and it died not too long ago, so I sent it back for a new one.

 

[diduknowthat]

Do you have a lot of background processes running on your computer?

 

[ThisIsTunakTunak]

Nope. I thought that could be the case so I tried it one time, and it still had the freezes. Can the port for the video card be dirty?