(Homebuilt) Why does my computer not perform as well as expected with the installed hardware?

[zan21]

I built my first PC earlier this year hoping to get into PC gaming. I expected with the components I put in to have the computer run nearly flawlessly, at least for a little while. I can play games (bf3) but only until the GPU heats up.

Hardware:
i5-3570K Ivy (didn't overclock over the stock 3.8)
MSI B75A-G43 LGA 1155
Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB)
GeForce GTX 560 (Used when purchased, possibly overclocked? didn't/don't know how to check)
CMPSU-750TX 750W
I also have a older HDD with 120G. I already had a 1tb external and didn't think I'd need to but a new HDD.
Windows 7 64

I've been having minor issues ever since I built it. And although it's not a huge deal, I feel like it should be running smoothly. First off, programs are constantly not responding. About 2-3 every hour. The computer takes about 10-15 minutes after showing the desktop before you can do anything (I checked what's actually running on startup and disabled steam/origin and other "unnecessities"). It's slow browsing on the internet (and downloading off the internet) compared to my laptop(about 4 yrs old) used at the same time. The computer seems to update every time I turn it off. usually around 27 updates. Not that this is huge, but I purchased an inexpensive mouse on NewEgg a few days ago and it won't poll smoothly at 1000 Mhz but it will on my laptop. It's also a little laggy in game at 500mhz. I have microsoft security essentials and have ran scans and it says there aren't any problems.

Please let me know if I can provide more information and thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Drew010]

How old is your HDD? That could be the cause of your entire system taking forever to load and being just plain slow in general (I'm assuming your OS is on the old 120GB drive)

 

[sadams04]

I would also question the HD and its speed. Those older drives (sata1 probably) might be giving you 60 MB/s... On top of that it would be worth it to put the memory through its paces. http://www.memtest86.com/ => Download and burn (64 bit) => boot to the disk and make at least three passes.

 

[zan21]

How old is your HDD? That could be the cause of your entire system taking forever to load and being just plain slow in general (I'm assuming your OS is on the old 120GB drive)

It came out of a Dell Dimension 9150. And yes I have the OS on there. But I had win7 on the dimension and the system ran more smoothly than it does now (Although I couldn't play games on the dimension).

 

[ittimjones]

1st, you don't want to use an external HDD as ur system drive, if youre doing that, that's prlm number 1.
2nd, how old are your system drives? Anything that isn't at least SATA II (3Gbps) is too slow.
3rd, that GPU won't play games like BF3 at the best of settings. it's more of a mid grade GPU, but it's plenty to do anything other than games...

Check to make sure that your case is providing enough ventilation to cool the components. install GPU temp and CPU temp to test ur system temps. neither the GPU nor the CPu should be getting near 70C with the load you are putting on it. (but they will prly touch those temps during gaming, which is normal)

 

[Drew010]

Wow that is one old HDD...Well to start off you should defragment it, It's running on 2005 tech, whereas the rest of your computer is 2011, which could have some compatibility issues.

 

[USAFRet]

How old is your HDD? That could be the cause of your entire system taking forever to load and being just plain slow in general (I'm assuming your OS is on the old 120GB drive)

It came out of a Dell Dimension 9150. And yes I have the OS on there. But I had win7 on the dimension and the system ran more smoothly than it does now (Although I couldn't play games on the dimension).

Did you reinstall the OS, or just transplant the drive with the original OS still intact?

 

[zan21]

Wow that is one old HDD...Well to start off you should defragment it, It's running on 2005 tech, whereas the rest of your computer is 2011, which could have some compatibility issues.

I have defragmented it. So you would suggest purchading a newer drive? Since I use the external for the majority of data storage (movies/music) Would I be better off purchasing an SSD for just the programs and os?

 

[zan21]

How old is your HDD? That could be the cause of your entire system taking forever to load and being just plain slow in general (I'm assuming your OS is on the old 120GB drive)

It came out of a Dell Dimension 9150. And yes I have the OS on there. But I had win7 on the dimension and the system ran more smoothly than it does now (Although I couldn't play games on the dimension).

Did you reinstall the OS, or just transplant the drive with the original OS still intact?

Reinstalled

 

[TidusJames]

when you say your GPU heats up, what do you mean, what temps are you getting?

and i would look into your CPU temps as well, overheating would downclock it, and cause major studdering and slow downs.
Also, the 560 is an older mid budget card, not being able to handle the more recent games at max settings without help.

 

[zan21]

1st, you don't want to use an external HDD as ur system drive, if youre doing that, that's prlm number 1.
2nd, how old are your system drives? Anything that isn't at least SATA II (3Gbps) is too slow.
3rd, that GPU won't play games like BF3 at the best of settings. it's more of a mid grade GPU, but it's plenty to do anything other than games...

Check to make sure that your case is providing enough ventilation to cool the components. install GPU temp and CPU temp to test ur system temps. neither the GPU nor the CPu should be getting near 70C with the load you are putting on it. (but they will prly touch those temps during gaming, which is normal)

I use the 120 gb drive as my system and just store music and music on the external. I have been playing bf3 on medium? does this mean that the graphics card was overcklocked? I have looked at the CPU temp using CPU-Z and it's around 30 using normal computer functions and barely under 70 when gaming. I don't have anything to check the GPU temp.

 

[zan21]

when you say your GPU heats up, what do you mean, what temps are you getting?

and i would look into your CPU temps as well, overheating would downclock it, and cause major studdering and slow downs.
Also, the 560 is an older mid budget card, not being able to handle the more recent games at max settings without help.

I don't have a program to monitor GPU temp, I just meant that once it's going for a while when I said heating up. The CPU stays at 30 when using normal operations and almost hits 70 when gaming at medium settings.

 

[bjaminnyc]

Your computer should be extremely fast with 3570k. Just to reiterate the above posters. Your Porsche Turbo has a flat tire. Even a cheap modern platter drive will provide a discernible difference in performance, a SATAIII SDD will be night and day. If your current drive is in perfect health it is still an ill suited match for the remainder of your components.

 

[TidusJames]

This will provide temps and usage for your GPU
http://addgadgets.com/gpu_meter/


EDIT:

This will provide more information on the HD in question.
http://www.hdsentinel.com/

 

[zan21]

Your computer should be extremely fast with 3570k. Just to reiterate the above posters. Your Porsche Turbo has a flat tire. Even a cheap modern platter drive will provide a discernible difference in performance, a SATAIII SDD will be night and day. If your current drive is in perfect health it is still an ill suited match for the remainder of your components.

As mentioned above, Would it be better investing in an 128 ssd or a larger current hdd if I will continue to use the external for larger files like movies and music?

 

[zan21]

Thanks everyone for your help! I will run the RAM test and the HDD test when I get the chance to use my computer this evening.

 

[bjaminnyc]

Start with the SSD. It is in my opinion the biggest leap in appreciable performance for your computing experience.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Yeah, you shouldn't be using that drive. I generally upgrade that just for performance and end up getting more space.

If you're happy with how much space you have and a cheap 128 gb ssd would suffice, that's exactly what I would do. SSD's even make old sata I capable-only computers respond faster.

Otherwise a 1TB black WD would do nicely.