[SOLVED] A Real Headscratcher

[Shenennigans]

I'm generally pretty good at troubleshooting computers, but this one has me stumped.

I recently built my new gaming computer and it runs great... after I restart it. I turn it off at night, when I turn it back on it runs horribly. Browsers lag, games run low FPS etc. If I then restart the computer, runs perfectly. This is pretty consistent too, I'd say 80% of startups require an immediate restart before the computer works right (making it even harder to troubleshoot, since sometimes it doesn't happen at all). Nothing stands out in the Event Viewer, no hard crashes or anything like that, fully updated drivers and such. Can't quite track down what is causing this. Even typing this post, it is buffering 2-3 words as I type it.

What differences are there in the way Windows starts from powered off compared to a restart?

Doesn't seem hardware related, but the specs if anyone thinks it will help:
Ryzen 5 3600
RTX 2070 Super
MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus mobo (updated BIOS)
Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB 3600
Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 500GB (Windows drive)
Seagate 2TB HDD
Windows 10 Home

 

[COLGeek]

You scanned for malware/viruses recently? What apps are you using for malware/virus protection?

If you fire up Task Manager right after starting the system, what apps are consuming the most memory/CPU cycles?

 

[Shenennigans]

Scanned yesterday (just Windows defender, haven't used a separate software for that in years and years). Never had malware problems just browsing intelligently and managing what apps are running/seeing if anything is being... fishy. I regularly reinstall Windows anyway.

Startup looks pretty benign in Task Manager. Windows Indexer goes kinda crazy at first, Razer software is a hog (really not a fan of their software, but what ya gonna do?), NVidia nonsense of course, biggest offender is browsers starting up where I left off. I'm working now (I work from home on the same system), but I'll do a safe boot to get rid of all that later and see if that helps, but even if it does that won't put me much closer to figuring this out. Just seems strange, the software I use now I used on my last build, nothing new and the whole system is <1 month old.

Thanks for quick reply btw

 

[COLGeek]

Scan the system with Malwarebytes.

Are you overclocking anything (CPU, GPU, memory)?

The browser comment you made is interesting. What browsers are you using? If you clear their history/caches/temp files, does this behavior stop upon restart?

 

[Shenennigans]

Nothing currently overclocked (I had the CPU up to 4.2 but took it back due to heat issues, better cooler needed lol). I do have the XMP profile for the RAM to run at 3600, but haven't adjusted it at all. I use FF (primary) and Chrome browsers, I'll clear it out and try a boot after work. I do have a bunch of tabs open on it though, but with FF they don't load until you click them, but I do suspect that's why it takes a bunch of memory right at startup.

I know you probably meant "on boot", but just for clarity, this always clears on restart. If I shut the computer down completely then power it on again, that's when this happens.

 

[dudio]

Also make sure Windows is fully updated and not downloading or preparing anything on start ups. Also, with my Razer mouse, I did not install their bloatware.. I let Windows install the driver and mouse is fine. With nVidia, I only installed the driver and phys-x by doing advanced options.. I had no need for Experience, HD Audio, or 3D.

 

[Shenennigans]

Also make sure Windows is fully updated and not downloading or preparing anything on start ups. Also, with my Razer mouse, I did not install their bloatware.. I let Windows install the driver and mouse is fine. With nVidia, I only installed the driver and phys-x by doing advanced options.. I had no need for Experience, HD Audio, or 3D.

Yeah the mouse works fine, but the keyboard gaming keys/macros don't seem to work without the bloatware unfortunately. I should go back and only install the necessary stuff from NVidia though. These "game-ready" driver updates every day get old real quick.

 

[Colif]

What differences are there in the way Windows starts from powered off compared to a restart?

fast startup is the difference between normal startup & a restart. If the controller works fine after a restart, its going to be a driver that wasn't written for fast startup.

If you boot off ssd, or faster, turn it off, you don't need it. It is mainly there to speed up people with hdd - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html

that is a work around, actual fix is update drivers.

 

[Shenennigans]

fast startup is the difference between normal startup & a restart. If the controller works fine after a restart, its going to be a driver that wasn't written for fast startup.

If you boot off ssd, or faster, turn it off, you don't need it. It is mainly there to speed up people with hdd - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-turn-off-fast-startup-windows-10-a.html

that is a work around, actual fix is update drivers.

That's what I was looking for there. I haven't tested to verify yet, but I feel like this will fix my issue already. I knew it wasn't malware or anything like that as the only difference was whether it was a restart or not. I'll do that and check back after work. Drivers are all up to date though, one of the first things I checked for.

 

[Colif]

download and run Driverview - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html

All it does is looks at drivers installed; it won't install any

When you run it, go into view tab and set it to hide all Microsoft drivers, will make list shorter.

Now its up to you, you can look through the drivers and try to find old drivers, or you can take a screenshot from (and including)Driver name to (and including)Creation date.

upload it to an image sharing website and show link here

All I would do is look at driver versions (or dates if you lucky to have any) to see what might have newer versions.

Often there are no dates, so need to check driver versions