Cannot Figure out why Firefox is miserably slow..?

[Velcroboy]

Lately my Firefox browser (38.0.5) has been horribly slow...worse than AOL-Dial-Up days.

My computer is roughly 6 months old and has top notch hardware...

ASRock Z97 Extreme6/ac
Intel Core i7-4790k
MSI GTX ti n660 PE 2GD5/oc
Samsung XP941 M.2 NGFF (PCIe 2.0 x4) running Windows 7
GSkill Trident X 16gb (8gbx2) DDR3
Ultra LSP750 750-Watt PSU
LG BH10LS30 Optical Media 10x Internal Blu-ray Disc Rewriter
Fractal Design Define R
Creative Inspire P7800 90 Watts 7.1 Speaker

As you can see I have plenty of memory and CPU capacity. I have my OS and the browser running off the super fast Ultra M.2 drive. All other programs run very smooth.

I have scoured my computer for spyware/adware. I couldn't find anything.

I have tried clearing cache and expanding available cache.

I do have a couple Add-ons,

Adblock Plus
McAfee Web advisor
Speed Dial

I have not tried disabling any of these. However, I have the exact same scenario running on my 5-year-old laptop with a 1.50 ghz CPU and 4 GB RAM and Windows 7 64-bit. Everything runs fine, with multiple tabs open and other programs running. In fact it is 10x faster than my PC...?

Any help/advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Alabalcho]

Is it Firefox-only? Have you tried other browsers (built-in IE, Chrome)?

 

[Velcroboy]

Is it Firefox-only? Have you tried other browsers (built-in IE, Chrome)?

I have not. I suppose I should. Although as a long-term solution, I would prefer to get Firefox working as it should, opposed to switching to a different browser. When it works I like it very much. I have been a Firefox user for as long as I can remember and I have it fine-tuned to my preferences. That said, I have heard good things about Chrome but I am not a fan of IE.

Either way, you're right. I should try the others for the sake of comparison. I am away from home tonight but will try this in the morning and get back to you.

 

[Velcroboy]

So, I just spent about half an hour on IE and it is just as slow. I don't have Chrome installed but I have a feeling it won't be different.

I have minimal programs/processes running in the background. My CPU runs around 4-6%. My memory usage is around 3.2 GB. I run a disk Defrag every other week. I run all other maintenance on my comp monthly at least, including dust maintenance on the inside. temperatures all around are quite cool. I don't know if there is something I am overlooking...?

 

[Alabalcho]

Is it Firefox-only? Have you tried other browsers (built-in IE, Chrome)?

So, I just spent about half an hour on IE and it is just as slow. I don't have Chrome installed but I have a feeling it won't be different.

... which probably means that there is something wrong with
- your computer' network adapter (wired or wireless)
- or your router
- or your connection with the ISP
- or your ISP is busted

I would address these question in that order. Borrow a laptop from a friend, and connect it in the same manner as you are testing. If you are connected over WiFi, you can also try with smartphone / tablet. Keep working up the chain until you figure out what is wrong.

 

[madmatt30]

try this in firefox mate
type about:config in address bar
accept the warning

find this entry
layers.offmainthreadcomposition.enabled

doudble click to change it to user set - false ( by default it will be on true)

close window,close firefox,reopen - see if it makes a difference - it did for me.

 

[Aristotelian]

Could be an issue with McAfee. I have always had bad luck with commerical virus software slowing things down. Could be some setting to scan your web traffic in real time which would explain why it is just happening online.

 

[Velcroboy]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I turned the hardware acceleration off. It's been a day and a half and things have improved significantly. I'm not sure if that means there is a conflict with my GPU driver (up to date) and FF or what, but if it works I'm happy.

If the problems return I will update and try these other solutions.

If anyone has knowledge as to why the GPU is causing the problem, do tell. Perhaps this is just a band-aid and there is a more permanent fix?

 

[Velcroboy]

Could be an issue with McAfee. I have always had bad luck with commerical virus software slowing things down. Could be some setting to scan your web traffic in real time which would explain why it is just happening online.

The McAfee add-on has caused some minor problems in the past but never caused this much of a slow-down. It's been really brutal. I tried another solution and posted it below. Seems to be working so far.

 

[johnf_96]

I followed this guide here.
It helped making Firefox much better, but it is still a bit slower than chromium.