Question Computer Becoming Very SLOW

Jul 17, 2019
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Hello!

My wife and I are trying to extend the life of her PC before we buy a new one completely. Right now we're starting to have a lot of issues with it. I'm looking for help on what components can be upgraded (And what we should upgrade them to) and if there's anything I should do software/OS-wise. We're trying to stay on a tight budget so looking for somewhat inexpensive upgrades. Looking for any and all advice on things we could do to improve the system. We just upgraded the graphics card (and updated drivers for it)

Computer is used for:
Gaming - Overwatch
Paying bills and Email
Dual Screen Remote Desktop for working from Home

Issues:
Programs open very slowly
While playing overwatch we face many issues -
----- Game Gets Glitchy at times
----- We have moments when the game is unplayable and our only solution is to restart the whole computer
----- CPU Runs at 100% but I've been told that that is normal for this game...


Windows 10 64 Bit
Motherboard: MSI 2AE0
CPU: AMD A10-5700 HD Graphics
RAM: 8GB (1 Stick)
Graphics Card: GTX 1050 (2GB)
PSU: 500w
 

PC Tailor

Illustrious
Ambassador
Welcome to the forums my friend!

CPU Runs at 100% but I've been told that that is normal for this game...
That's only normal if the CPU is the bottleneck. It's a low end CPU, so it's normal for YOUR system, but not normal for the game per se. And from my awareness, there's nothing you can do for upgrading your CPU with that board.

You've just upgraded GPU, and any further upgrade wouldn't be warranted with the A10.

Also, just be wary if you have a cheap / poor quality PSU, that will be the first thing to cut the life of the PC short.

Have you considered upgrading to an SSD?
You'll also want to make sure your windows settings are set to high performance.

There isn't a huge deal you can do, other that checking what component % usage are and temperatures when you are encountering stuttering/freezing. No software can fix a physical limitation.
 
Jul 17, 2019
3
0
10
Welcome to the forums my friend!


That's only normal if the CPU is the bottleneck. It's a low end CPU, so it's normal for YOUR system, but not normal for the game per se. And from my awareness, there's nothing you can do for upgrading your CPU with that board.

You've just upgraded GPU, and any further upgrade wouldn't be warranted with the A10.

Also, just be wary if you have a cheap / poor quality PSU, that will be the first thing to cut the life of the PC short.

Have you considered upgrading to an SSD?
You'll also want to make sure your windows settings are set to high performance.

There isn't a huge deal you can do, other that checking what component % usage are and temperatures when you are encountering stuttering/freezing. No software can fix a physical limitation.

Thanks for the reply PC Tailor!

I've looked into the CPU AMD A10-5800k, but I'm just not sure if that would make any difference. However, it is in our price range. The current CPU is not having any issues in terms of temperature.

We are looking at SSD and is likely to be the next upgrade we make.

What do you mean by windows settings to high performance?

Is it a big deal that there is only 1 stick of RAM? I built my computer 7 years ago and haven't done much inside of a computer since then but when I built mine I was sure to get 4 sticks of 4GB each...I just don't remember why lol.

I believe the PSU is a good one. Thank you again for your help!
 

PC Tailor

Illustrious
Ambassador
What do you mean by windows settings to high performance?
Start > type 'Choose a Power Plan' > Select 'High Performance'
It regears your hardware to opt for better performance over energy saving.

Is it a big deal that there is only 1 stick of RAM?
Yes it typically is nowadays.
1x4GB RAM = 4 cars in one lane of traffic. All having to go one after another, so the whole transfer takes longer.
2x4GB RAM = 4 cars in two lanes of traffic. So data transfer is quicker as there is more bandwidth to travel down.

But you ideally wouldn't want to mix RAM, as compatibility is only guaranteed in the form sold (same packs).

Do you know the exact make and model PSU?

Also you want to ensure you've run a disk cleanup and defrag on your storage unit.
 
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Other things to try:

Immediately backup any important data. It's a 7 year old drive and may be starting to fail. This may contribute to longer access times if the drive is attempting to read and error correct. Check the S.M.A.R.T. data. This isn't 100%, but can give you a general idea on drive health.

Using a third party drive defragmentation program may be helpful if you can consolidate the MFT. The file table grows over time and can become quite unwieldy. All of that cruft has to sorted through when doing lookups on the drive. This is one reason a drive format and reinstall of windows can help restore some lost performance.

The easiest thing on the memory controller is running ram in dual-channel with 2 sticks. As PC Tailor indicated, you should buy these in matched pairs for best compatibility. 4 sticks is more work on the memory controller.

You can stop a number of services and programs and windows features so you don't have all that background churn. The listing for that can become quite extensive.

Some things related to background churn and optimize :
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Some things to try to reduce CPU usage:

Reinstall your Nvidia drivers with only the graphics driver, and IF NEEDED, the HDMI sound and PhysX. Do NOT install GeForce Experience or 3D Vision items.. It's supposed to be able to override your settings for "optimized" ones, but optimized on their test hardware, not your hardware. This item also scans your drive for said games, taking up resources. This will also get rid of one source of background video recording. Do not install the 3D driver stuff unless you are specifically using it (like for Oculus Rift or similar)

Make sure to set "favor performance" in your Nvidia settings

Disable Win10's built in background video recorder.

Go into advanced power settings, set performance mode.

Clear your standby memory list/cache, say with something like Intelligent Background List Cleaner

Disable Cloud saves and Synchronization in your Gaming Clients (Steam, Origin, Uplay, etc)

Disable ALL overlays in your gaming clients, Discord, etc

Disable OneDrive if you can live with that.

Turn off storage sense

Go to your settings tab if you haven't already and look at all options under all headers. Turn off functions you don't need.

Delivery Optimization is usually on. Seems to treat your PC as a torrent source for Win updates. Turn it off.

Services to consider disabling: (Some telemetry related, ymmv depending on your particular usage scenarios )

Anything Adobe depending on usage or setting to manual
NVidia telemetry (using autoruns is helpful here also)
Connected User Experiences
Delivery Optimization
dmwappushsvc
DNSClient (esp if running a large HOSTS file. If disabled, will disable Edge and probably the store as well)
Geolocation Service
Microsoft (R) Diagnostics Hub
Microsoft App-V Client
Net Tcp Port Sharing Service
Program Compatibility Assistant
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Shared PC account management
Smart Card
Superfetch (if using an SSD)
User Experience Virtualization
Windows Biometric Service
Windows Search (big hog that runs in the background)

Use Autoruns from Microsoft's Sysinternal Utilities to see what is being autostarted. Many autostart items will NOT be listed conventionally in Startup. See what is being started up and what items specific to your system might be dumpable.

Disable Live tiles that you don't need.
Disable Background functionality for Apps that you don't need or Don't need them doing that.

How invasive is your Antivirus? Many functions you can turn off in "helpful" all in one suites. YMMV of course depending on your usage habits. I run Avast for instance, but ONLY run the Web and File Shield because of my browsing habits/computer usage. Everything you don't need is background churn.

Using a program like W10Privacy to start turning off telemetry churn that windows only gives you SOME options available to turn it off. Programs such as these help so you don't have to go hunting a bunch of stuff in Group Policy Editor or dig in the registry.
Read the choices it offers though, some items you may want to keep on, even among the green items in W10Privacy. Run this one in Admin mode, and give it a bit to present the interface (it scans throughout the system 1st to find current settings before giving you the tweak menus) It only seems like it's locked up at first.

WiFi internet: run system on wired if possible and disable the Wifi on the computer.

Internet traffic shaping software of any kind.? .. uninstall. Takes resources and some are known to memory leak in certain configurations

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Microsoft autoruns: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

W10Privacy: https://www.winprivacy.de/english-home/
 
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8 GB of RAM is quickly becoming marginal for several games, and, my own PC has enough cloud storage services (DropBox, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, P-CLoud, AsusStor) and AV (Kaspersky Free and MBAM on demand) that my own RAM usage is at 5.8 GB with but one Chrome tab open....and as someone already mentioned, you RAM bandwidth is half of normal with one stick...

I'd try another 8 GB RAM stick (16 GB is the new starting point baseline anyway, IMO), and, an SSD if you don't already have one...(Crucial MX500 is very reasonably priced at 500 GB and even 1 TB)

Someone else already mentioned failing drive possibilities, and that's also an excellent possibility. I just worked on a 10 year old Core2Duo laptop (T6600 cpu) that was taking up to 2 minutes to desktop, 15-20 seconds to even open the command prompt...(but as CrystalDiskInfo did show 63 sectors reallocated, I cloned to a Samsung 850, and now it's like a night and day difference....10-15 second boot vs. 2 minutes, etc......
 
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Jul 17, 2019
3
0
10
Start > type 'Choose a Power Plan' > Select 'High Performance'
It regears your hardware to opt for better performance over energy saving.


Yes it typically is nowadays.
1x4GB RAM = 4 cars in one lane of traffic. All having to go one after another, so the whole transfer takes longer.
2x4GB RAM = 4 cars in two lanes of traffic. So data transfer is quicker as there is more bandwidth to travel down.

But you ideally wouldn't want to mix RAM, as compatibility is only guaranteed in the form sold (same packs).

Do you know the exact make and model PSU?

Also you want to ensure you've run a disk cleanup and defrag on your storage unit.

Corsair cx500. Done CCleaner. Will do a defrag as well.

Would it be worth my while to upgrade ram to 2 sticks but still 8 GB or really only worth it if I was going to up it to 16gb?