i7 4790k - Computer lagging under little/medium load

[sle94]

I've just built my first PC and everything is brand new. However, I'm kinda disappointed and did not expect my i7 cpu to perform badly on my machine.

I had 14 Mozilla tabs open, one of those is a playing YT video. Everything ran smoothly. Then, when I run FIFA 15 or Pillars of Eternity and tried to switch between tabs, it took about 2 seconds to switch and computer seemed sluggish. CPU was at 25% and 47C. I don't have a dedicated GPU.

I watched a video of i7 4790k under extreme load where the guy had like 15 tabs open, 4 4k youtube videos playing, 2 VEGAS video rendering instances, and everything looked decent and smooth.

The i7 in the said video and my own are both not OC'd btw.
I have 8GB RAM btw.
It'd be great to hear your opinions on why there is such a difference.

 

[Pr3di]

Give us your full specs.

Just to throw this out there, I`m considering the RAM or storage to be the issue (unless you have a decent SSD with more than 25% free space).

 

[loki1944]

What's your CPU usage with FIFA, 25% or is it higher with that game? And your RAM usage? IIRC FIFA 15 is very CPU intensive.

 

[sle94]

Sorry, here is my full specs:

Computer: MSI MS-7922
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K (Haswell-DT Refresh, C0)
4000 MHz (40.00x100.0) @ 800 MHz (8.00x100.0)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition (MS-7922)
Chipset: Intel Z97
Memory: 8192 MBytes @ 933 MHz, 10.0-11-10-30
- 4096 MB PC14900 DDR3 SDRAM - Kingston KHX1866C10D3/4G
- 4096 MB PC14900 DDR3 SDRAM - Kingston KHX1866C10D3/4G
Graphics: Intel Haswell-DT GT2 - Integrated Graphics Controller [Micro-Star International]
Intel HD Graphics 4600, 1024 MB
Drive: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 120GB, 117.2 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Drive: WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0, 976.8 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Sound: Intel 9-series Chipset - High Definition Audio Controller [A0]
Network: RealTek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC
OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (x64) Build 9600

I just tested it again. I ran FIFA, Dragonball Xenoverse, and Pillars of Eternity at the same time with 5 mozilla tabs.
Notepad, word, general key inputting was very slow, each key took ~500ms to show up on screen.
I'm sure this is not normal for 4790k

 

[Ninjawithagun]

Using the integrated graphics within the 4790K results in the sharing of the main memory for both the OS level processing AND video processing. Buy yourself a dedicated GPU and all your problems will be solved! Even a cheap GTX750Ti will do the trick as it has it's own dedicated DDR5 VRAM that will off load the main memory from being used for video processing.

 

[sle94]

What's your CPU usage with FIFA, 25% or is it higher with that game? And your RAM usage? IIRC FIFA 15 is very CPU intensive.

CPU usage for FIFA 15 is no more than 12%.
What I don't understand is, with the magnitude of stutter CPU should have been at at least 90% but it was only 25-30%

 

[loki1944]

What is your RAM usage when this is happening? For example; me with a dozen chrome tabs open and some monitoring programs I hit around 7GB of RAM usage, with no tabs open I'm around 4-5GB. Do you have a dedicated GPU? I believe chrome uses the gpu also which could be hitting you harder if you only have integrated graphics.

 

[sle94]

As some of you guys have suggested the onboard GPU might be the problem I did the test again. This time no games were run. 20 mozilla tabs, 4 Visual Studio with one compiling, Blender, Word, PDF Foxit, VMWare,... just a bunch of software I have on my computer. CPU was at 100% and RAM usage was 7GB/8GB. The thing is, key input was no more stuttering and letters came out almost normally. So I guess you guys were right. Buying a dedicated GPU now. Thanks guys.

 

[Pr3di]

I think it`s on your RAM. It seems to be underclocked: Memory: 8192 MBytes @ 933 MHz, 10.0-11-10-30
Try to set it at 1600Mhz or even 1866, and tell us the results then.

However, as already recommended, the fact that you also run your games off the Integrated HD 4600 will put additional pressure on the CPU.
Adding a cheaper GPU will improve your experience by quite a margin.

 

[loki1944]

I think it`s on your RAM. It seems to be underclocked: Memory: 8192 MBytes @ 933 MHz, 10.0-11-10-30
Try to set it at 1600Mhz or even 1866, and tell us the results then.

However, as already recommended, the fact that you also run your games off the Integrated HD 4600 will put additional pressure on the CPU.
Adding a cheaper GPU will improve your experience by quite a margin.

No, I think it's right 933 Mhz x2=1866Mhz. Same way CPU-Z would show it, you have to multiply the shown DRAM frequency by 2.

 

[barto]

The issue is the graphics. Of course, the more windows/programs you open, the more RAM you're going to use but are you really going to be compiling code while viewing 20 tabs while running a VM while playing a game? No.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/FIFA-15-Benchmarked.127273.0.html

 

[sle94]

The issue is the graphics. Of course, the more windows/programs you open, the more RAM you're going to use but are you really going to be compiling code while viewing 20 tabs while running a VM while playing a game? No.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/FIFA-15-Benchmarked.127273.0.html

Haha...you are right...I have to admit I'm a little too obsessed with CPUs' processing power.