Yeah i have this issue, some rigs that used to do 170mhs+ eth now only do 167 or 166 multiple reboots i dont get it man
Its fucked up. The only thing I haven't tried is taking the rig all apart and putting it back together again. I guess I could also try booting into linux but I have a ridiculously slow internet connection and I'm too impatient to wait several hours for linux to download...
I don't know where you live but usually in every country there are computer stores which should have Linux CD/DVD-s available for very little dollars(I mean the free versions cause Mandriva for example is expensive). So to remove your last doubt and to boot in Linux why not go out to get a Linux CD/DVD (I suggest UBUNTU or MINT as the best for the mining area).
Nearest store is over an hour drive away :p
I guess I'll just download it while I'm doing something else