Lag spikes, freezing / unfreezing slow performance in Windows 10 NEW PC!

[yemmyow]

So I am having issues with my brand new PC rig custom build. Here are the specs.
- i7 6600k 4-core processor 4.0GHz
- 16GB DDR4 RAM 3200mhz
- Gigabye ZA170x Gaming 5 motherboard
- Nvidia Geforce 1060 3GB
- 128GB SSD - windows installation directory
- 500GB 2.5 HDD - all games, programs, non essential windows files

The problem that keeps arising is that I am getting lag spikes & freezing at random moments. One minute it's running super speedy, the next I see the blue spinning circle and programs become "not responding" and basically un usable. I checked my device manager drivers and there are no !exclamations or missing drivers for any of the hardware.

I've experienced this problem already and I did a reformat only to experience the same issue again. I thought that it was the fact that I was using cracked windows 10 pro, but this time i decided not to activate windows and have run into the same problem.

I did however try to open up Geforce experience this morning and it crashed and would not open at all. So I uninstalled and reinstalled my graphics drivers but that didn't fix the problem. I'm super confused and don't know what to do at this point because it's a brand new rig. I can't keep reformatting all the time just to use it for a day or so then run into the same problem.

 

[SgtScream]

Does this only happen while gaming? I'd suggest temporarily unplugging your HDD and test to see if the issue persists. I realize you have games/etc installed on that drive, but it would be a valid test.

 

[SgtScream]

You should also be running your games on the ssd, preferable the same drive that houses your operating system. You can test this by installing one of your games on the ssd.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

You should also be running your games on the ssd, preferable the same drive that houses your operating system. You can test this by installing one of your games on the ssd.

Bad advice as the SSD is only 128GB, installing games on it would very quickly fill it up, that's why SSD users install an HDD for games/applications separate from the OS, they should run fine in that configuration provided everything's okay elsewhere.

 

[SgtScream]

You should also be running your games on the ssd, preferable the same drive that houses your operating system. You can test this by installing one of your games on the ssd.

Bad advice as the SSD is only 128GB, installing games on it would very quickly fill it up, that's why SSD users install an HDD for games/applications separate from the OS, they should run fine in that configuration provided everything's okay elsewhere.

It's not bad advice as I said to try it for testing/troubleshooting proposes. I didn't say he had to install all of his games on his boot drive. I only stated one. It's a known fact "they should run fine in that configuration provided everything's okay elsewhere", however that isn't the case otherwise the OP wouldn't be posting on Tom's Hardware forum. I'm suspicious of the HDD (It might be old.) because the OP said he gets random stuttering, which tells me this might be when the hard drive is loading game data from the disc to memory.

 

[RARRAF]

what PSU do you have make and model

 

[yemmyow]

It is bad advice on the HDD part because I was saying that the problem lies not only during gaming, but also with the OS. The OS is installed on my SSD... that's why i didn't respond. MY PSU is a 600W EVGA B1, brand new off Amazon.

I was able to sort of fix the issue by switching my memory into the 2 - 4 slots instead of the 1 - 3. I also updated my bios version and ran a malwarebytes scan which deleted 1 item.