Video card performance slowly decreasing

[goldtoes]

I built a gaming machine a little less than a year ago with the following:

AMD 64 FX55
MSI K8N Neo4 Mobo
2GB RAM
GeForce 7800GT 256MB
500GB HDD

When I would play Call of Duty 2 online I would get a steady 250-350 FPS without a problem. Now, months later, my FPS drops between 85-125...a huge difference.

I have not changed any internal game settings or any desktop resolution or display settings. My case is cleaned out and free of dust, good cable management, and a great air flow. The LCD thermometer reads like 80 degrees inside the case.

I have tried updating the drivers to no avail. It is not a memory issue because I almost no virtual memory is being used. System has no malware at all.

Is this just because the card is old? I wouldn't think that it would just deteriorate this fast (< year).

I have tried re-seating the card, too.

Any suggestions are appreciated! TIA.

/gold