Inspiron 5150...Why does it hate me so???

Hi everyone!

I have an Inspiron 5150 laptop, which is running slow. I already did the spyware check, defrag, etc, but it it hasn't helped.

What happens, is when I try to run a graphically intense program (like a game), it will run really smoothly (27-30 frames per second) for about 5-10 seconds, then it will bog down to around 1-3 frames per second for about 5-10 seconds. It does it as long as I'm in the game. It may do it also while not in a program, but I can't tell. When I open up the task manager, and see the cpu usage chart, it doesn't really spike that much when I'm on the desktop...

I've also tried shutting down all the programs in the backround (using msconfig), and that hasn't helped either.

I've called Dell on this around two times, but they have been unable to help me.

My question is, should I ask for a replacement? I use my computer for a myraid of tasks, some of which involve using graphic intensive programs, and I can't have this happening all the time.

I have all the updated drivers, so that couldn't be it either.

It is a 3.2 gig processor, XP home edition, with the SP2 pack installed, 768mb ram, and the Nvidia Gforce Go5200 hundred graphics card. 74.4 gig hard drive also.

If anyone has a fix for this, I'd love to have it, as it would be easier to just hang on to this computer, instead of asking for a replacement...Like I said before, this problem is unacceptable for me.

Like I also said before, it didn't always do this...it ran great for about 1-2 months, then it started this problem. I have no idea on what caused it, but just in case, I formatted my hard drive, thinking that maybe the problem would go away, but it didn't, which leads me to believe that it is something messed up with the processor itself, or something along those lines.

Thanks!