[SOLVED] Do i have a virus or just a slow computer?

[Centuriio]

So, i had a very crappy computer that was slow af, like it barely run windows xp , so i upgraded it because i wanted to play some new AAA title games. It's still not good but it can run far cry 5 with low settings (i enjoyed playing it.....weird right? ) but anyway, I expected it to run faster, than it did, because my brother has almost the same setup as me, but his pc runs flawlessly, (mine didn't) so idk if mine has some malware or that's the performance that i should expect from my setup. I ran malwarebytes, it didn't see any malicious programs and i even reinstalled win 10 beforehand, but here's the thing, i don't really like buying games to be honest and i pirate almost all of them, and i visited some sketchy sites because of this. Of course i'm not an idiot so i don't click on every flashing download button i see, but when i first had my computer i did, and i only changed the ram the cpu and the gpu since, but the hard drives not, is it possible that some viruses embedded on it and survived the reinstall?also i had 4 bsod-s with kernel_security_check_failure and else (i dont remember them) in the last 2 weeks. help me

sys specs:
Intel i5 4690k
12 gigs of RAM
Msi h81m-p33 motherboard
Gigabyte gt 1030 GPU
And a 350W power supply

 

[Eximo]

Power supply is a little light, and if it is as old as the board, might be on its way out. Particularly if it wasn't a decent model to begin with.

12GB, so you might have mismatched memory? If you can get a matching pair only, that will be worthwhile. With a GT1030 the games that require more the 8GB of memory are mostly out of reach anyway.

If you haven't re-installed Windows in a while, and now that you know better, probably best to wipe it and try a heavier duty low-level format or anti-rootkit tool. Some viruses can exist in the boot sector and persist after even a Windows install.

 

[digitalgriffin]

So, i had a very crappy computer that was slow af, like it barely run windows xp , so i upgraded it because i wanted to play some new AAA title games. It's still not good but it can run far cry 5 with low settings (i enjoyed playing it.....weird right? ) but anyway, I expected it to run faster, than it did, because my brother has almost the same setup as me, but his pc runs flawlessly, (mine didn't) so idk if mine has some malware or that's the performance that i should expect from my setup. I ran malwarebytes, it didn't see any malicious programs and i even reinstalled win 10 beforehand, but here's the thing, i don't really like buying games to be honest and i pirate almost all of them, and i visited some sketchy sites because of this. Of course i'm not an idiot so i don't click on every flashing download button i see, but when i first had my computer i did, and i only changed the ram the cpu and the gpu since, but the hard drives not, is it possible that some viruses embedded on it and survived the reinstall?also i had 4 bsod-s with kernel_security_check_failure and else (i dont remember them) in the last 2 weeks. help me

sys specs:
Intel i5 4690k
12 gigs of RAM
Msi h81m-p33 motherboard
Gigabyte gt 1030 GPU
And a 350W power supply

Look at my signature
Don't Use Cracked Software!

You could be running crypto and not even know it because crypto is a valid application. Also root kits are hard to detect. When you install something you run as admin and that gives them root access.

I mean honestly: Do you expect a hacker whom steals, and puts hours into cracking a system is going to treat a stranger's system ethically?

BTW: I believe Tom's has a very strict policy against using pirated software. So don't be surprised if you get a brow beating and a thread lock.

 

[Centuriio]

Power supply is a little light, and if it is as old as the board, might be on its way out. Particularly if it wasn't a decent model to begin with.

12GB, so you might have mismatched memory? If you can get a matching pair only, that will be worthwhile. With a GT1030 the games that require more the 8GB of memory are mostly out of reach anyway.

If you haven't re-installed Windows in a while, and now that you know better, probably best to wipe it and try a heavier duty low-level format or anti-rootkit tool. Some viruses can exist in the boot sector and persist after even a Windows install.

No, i have matched ram, i was very cautious about it, when i bought the newer one, it might be the power supply, but i calculated it and i had i think 100Watts extra or so, and a guy said that it would be fine.

 

[Eximo]

I don't disagree with the assessment that a quality 350W supply should be able to run the system. The question is what 350W power supply you have.

A common 350W Liteon might have 12V+ at 12A and 18A for a total of 360W 12V output. Leaving aside the wattage for 5V+ and 3.3V+ that puts it in a good position and can easily be called a 350W power supply.

A bad 350W power supply might have the following: (I'll pick on diablotek's 350W)

It has 12V at 20A, 5V at 15A, and 3.3V at 15A. So on the 12V rail only 240W. Only when you combine the total power of the rails you do get roughly 360W. This is bad. In contemporary terms, this is a 240W power supply as 90%+ of late model hardware take 12V exclusively as an input. The majority for your CPU and GPU. Lower power devices still need 5V and 3.3V but far less than then the 15A specified on this supply. Really it is designed for a different era where stepper motors in floppy drives and hard drives were huge power draws.

Then there is age and temperature. These are statistics for when the system was new under some sort of test conditions. Good companies will do realistic tests at 50C, bad companies will assume room temperature, which is not realistic inside of a computer.

As capacitors age they lose capacity. Over time this slowly reduces the maximum potential output of a power supply. So a 5 year old, low end or mid-grade power supply, might not actually be capable of outputting what it says on the box.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Look at my signature
Don't Use Cracked Software!

You could be running crypto and not even know it because crypto is a valid application. Also root kits are hard to detect. When you install something you run as admin and that gives them root access.

I mean honestly: Do you expect a hacker whom steals, and puts hours into cracking a system is going to treat a stranger's system ethically?

BTW: I believe Tom's has a very strict policy against using pirated software. So don't be surprised if you get a brow beating and a thread lock.

And here comes the lock!

@Centuriio, you would do well to heed the private warning you received.