I think my CPU is "broken"

I recently built a good system, and now I am underwhelmed at how it performs.

I used an AMD X2 6400+, Asus M2N-E mobo, 4 gigs of 800Mhz G-Skill RAM, an nvidia 9800 GTX, and a (I think it's good) 550watt power supply with very good amperage on all the rails. My cooling is pretty good, mobo never goes above 27c, can keep my overclocked GPU (810 core clock and 1900 shader =O ) down to 40c, but CPU used to idle at 30c however after installing the new Wrath of the Lich King Warcraft expansion it idles 35-40c.

In Half Life 2, I can get 60 FPS constant (have an LCD tv so that's it's cap) with max settings and my graphics card pushing high 16x AA at 1360 x 768 resolution. However in WoW with max settings, I struggle for 40. I am noticing my system slowly getting bogged down by stuff, and it is losing it's new power shine. Is it possible for me to have a bad CPU, where it works but doesn't perform to it's fullest? I thought this system should be able to really do some nice gaming , and smoke World of Warcraft, I see people with worse systems doing better than me.

So, in summary, the performance of WoW and general system functions are making me believe my computer is getting worse by the day, and any methods to test it out would be appreciated. I used 3dmark 06 recently, and on default settings only peaked at a 12,000 score. 8.5k with the test settings maxed. I thought I should be getting better =( I spent some good money and time on this system and can't afford to replace anything so if anyone could help me troubleshoot that would rock! I have Rivatuner, Speedfan, Everest, ect. so I can get voltages and any info anyone needs.

Edit: I forgot to say the most important part- my OS! I'm using 32 bit Vista.

gokuson123 einstein4pre has a point about the heat issue,also the power supply you are using how many + 12 volt rails does it have and what are the amps.the 9800 gtx uses 2- 6 pin pci connectors.also what brand is it.

gokuson123 how do you have the psu plugged up to video card,because from what I can see the psu does not have any 6 pin pci connectors on it,so I'm guessing you have some kind of cable that came with the video card in which you are hooking up to it?











GIGABYTE p35 ds3l-- e8400 wolfdale-- 4 GIG RAM g.skill 800 -- xfx 9800gtx 512-- OCZ 700 POWER SUPPLY---NZXT Apollo BLUE NP Blue SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower---acer 2216 wide screenl---logitech 3000 keyboard and mouse--- vista 32 bit

I'm not an add-on fan....WoW gives us everything we need to play the game. It jumps form 60 to 30 FPS quite often depending on the zone.

My GPU has 2 splitters, one for each 6-pin, which connects to 4 separate cables on the PSU.

Well I use a Toshiba HD TV 32 inch for a monitor so I cant see above 60...or will it still show above 60 in the game FPS counter? Btw nice case joel..I have the same one =) Right now my GPU temp is 30c...I think it was too cold cuz when I boot it up my monitor jumps up and down then turns off and on for a bit. yay winter! CPU is idling at 26c right now, mobo is 19c. Wish it was like this in summer. ugh. but yea, I have SP1. I bought an OEM Vista with Sp1 on it, and if it didn't Windows Update would have gotten it for me.

ugh now whenever I boot up, for about 5 minutes, my screen bounces up and down and sometimes turns off. WTF! Anyone else able to provide some assistance on the first issue I had, btw?