well its odd really....i enter a server play for a few minutes or so sometimes a couple rounds but whenever i throw a nade a certain way or sometimes when someone shoots me my whole game freezes repeatedly projecting out repeated sound effects over and over. For example: repeated gunshots in a lagging state. could it be my graphic drivers? do i need to update them or should i just trash this whole dam comp

Well, we could help you better if you could please post your system specs here. Updating your graphics drivers is a good start.

Does this problem only occur with CS:S or are other new games also giving you stuttering frame rates?

Having your system specs would greatly help (cpu, ram, gfx card, et c.)

well i have a E Machines T6522 3500+ AMd Athlon 64 processor 200 GB HD 1024 DDR SDRAM and a ATI Radeon X700 Pro graphics card....i dont know what the problem is because i run BattleField 2 just fine..any sites or suggestions on where i can download a new graphic card driver??

ati.com ? download the newest catalyst drivers?

I have an x800gt, and source sometimes lags me pretty hard. BF2 is no problem.

Another set of drivers that I use are from www.omegadrivers.net.

your specs should be able to support HL2 and CS:S without lag at all because you're WAY above the requirements for the game.

Have you looked for errors in your console? I found when I was having major lag issues with CS:S that my router firmware was having major issues with the game, generally repeated communication errors in my console.

I'm currently running nVidia on my rig...7900 GT....so can't speak to the current version of ATi drivers. But my old 9500 pro handled CS:S pretty seemlessly for years, so I doubt it is your hardware. I'd focus on communication.

If you are running a router....try making a direct connection to your broadband (no router) and see if that clears the lag. This may giv you a clue.

It also depends upon your in-game settings. Try turning everything down to the lowest settings and see whether that improves your experience.

If you find it does, then slowly start turning stuff back up, like HDR and upping your resolution.

You could also try defragmenting the hard drive that it's installed on. Shouldn't really affect gameplay but may decrease your load times.