Hi everyone,

I know this problem comes up often, but I'm hoping I can find someone with a very similar situation who was able to fix this! I have a brand new build (i5 3570 CPU, ATI R7900 GPU, 8GB RAM, etc) that should be able to blow RTW out of the water. I get an odd sort of stutter, where semi-often in battle (at least 3-4 times a minute, many times more) the FPS will drop from 60 to around 24-30 for a split second and then go back up to 60. This is usually accompanied by a jump in the audio. It occurs on the campaign map too, but less frequently.

I've tried all settings from maxing everything, using recommended, and minimizing everything, but the stuttering remains (with little to no impact on FPS). I should also note that it appears to be worst in Alexander for some reason). Also of note is this is a STEAM install, not sure if that would matter/help.
I've tried disabling my audio drivers, and I know that sometimes core affinity is to blame with older games, so I've set Alexander, RTW, BI to one core, but I still get the stuttering. My drivers are all up to date, and I feel like maybe Catalyst Control Center may be a culprit. I'm hoping someone with a similar build can lend some insight on how to fix this, because I would hate to think of never playing RTW smoothly again! PS I can post DXDIAG if needed. Thanks in advance!