Garden Warfare PC: frame and audio stutter in between smooth gameplay

The game plays smoothly at around 45 fps on my desktop, but every few seconds, it stutters (not sure that's the right word), repeating the same frames and audio that were playing at that moment, effectively freezing my game for a few seconds before resuming normal gameplay. This happens with great consistency and even on the main menu, before a game has even started. 

My system specs are as follows:

VIDEO: GTX 960

RAM: 4 gb of ram

PROCESSOR: Athlon II X2 270 at 3.4 Ghz

MOTHERBOARD: MSI 760GM-P23 (FX)

I am aware that my processor is below my Video Card specs as I am in the middle of an upgrade, but while that should keep my framerate below optimum, it shouldn't be causing this issue.

I am connected via Ethernet to a fast and stable internet that has never given me problems with online games.

To fix the problem I tried lowering the resolution of the game from 1080p to 720p, and reducing video quality from optimum to high and then to medium and low. I got the same problem with similar frequency on all presets.

The only thing that comes to mind that I didn't try was run the game under Administrator privileges, but I don't know if that may help (not in a position to try it right this moment).

I hope there's an easy fix for this issue, that's something dumb on my end that is easy to point out. If the problem is my processor, I'll need to wait a bit until a get a new one.

Cheers!