[SOLVED] New PC build, top of line specs, but laggy system

jasonargoargo

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The problem:

My custom built desktop (Windows 10) lags on even the most rudimentary tasks. I don't think it is an internet connection issue (speedtests on my WiFi's fibre optic internet speed clock me at around 132 Mpbs/90 Mbps download/upload times). There are times when even my mouse cursor will freeze for seconds or moments. I have one of the beefiest GPUs and CPUs on the market, so I know it's not a processing problem. After having seen similar issues raised by others here, I believe my problem either lies in a faulty PSU (the battery itself being faulty, or giving too much power to the mobo) or something else to do with my mobo, but I wanted to be sure before I went out and purchased / replaced more equipment.

Research I've done:

The Task Manager power usage for System are almost always "Very High". Further research into exactly what Microsoft means by that is elusive. I've had my new PC setup for only about a month and the first few weeks didn't have these problem, suggesting it could be a driver issue. Everything was bought new except the PSU (couldn't find a new one online). I did a few updates to the mobo including a chipset driver update, audio, and other things, but not everything since the Gigabyte rep told me I don't need to update everything (from this link). When I had built and connected computer parts, I remember having trouble with the ATX and ATX 12v on my mobo, as I had only connected the ATX pins with the PSU before I realized my mobo needed more power (since the RGB lights weren't working when the power was turned on and, more significantly, the BIOS wasn't coming up). After adding another 8-pin "CPU 1" connector from my PSU to the mobo, the computer worked.

I believe any other typical question can be answered with the specs and information from HWMonitor and CPU-Z, below:

My specs:
  • Mobo: Aorus x570 Xtreme (version 1.0)
  • PSU: EVGA 750 GQ
  • CPU: Ryzen 3900x
  • GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
  • CPU Fan: Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
  • Three additional smaller cooling fans as part of the tower
My HWMonitor screenshot and my CPU-Z results.

Thank you so much for you help and I will be refreshing this page frequently to answer any further questions.
 
Solution
Okay, so my version of Windows 10 Pro is 10.0.18363, I'm not sure what 2004 is referring to?

My version of BIOS is the latest one, F20a. I assume the 'a' means Alpha?

For memory, I only am using two M.2 SSDs. The Aorus x570 Xtreme only has two spaces for them - M2A and M2B - and they are both installed.

Your memory is the RAM. If it doesn't have 2 sticks of RAM the computer will not function. The "a" means it's the wrong bios for your motherboard. You need a final version that is bug-free. The memory are the two sticks that say 3200mhz. They should be in the 2nd and 4th slot. Check your motherboard manual and look for slot A2 and B2. Finally, if you installed Windows 10 Pro from a cd you are going to have serious problems...

Juan_Bijero

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Jan 22, 2016
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I would suggest that you post a pics of the inside of your build so that we can see that everything is installed properly. Questions: 1) What version of Windows -2004? or something earlier? What is the version of the bios? With Gigabyte motherboards, the final non-beta bios will not have an alpha at the end. Stay away from betas! in what memory slots have you put your memory into? They should be in slots A2 and B2 (which is the 2nd and 4th slot - This is likely the cause of lag.
 

jasonargoargo

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Jul 1, 2020
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I would suggest that you post a pics of the inside of your build so that we can see that everything is installed properly. Questions: 1) What version of Windows -2004? or something earlier? What is the version of the bios? With Gigabyte motherboards, the final non-beta bios will not have an alpha at the end. Stay away from betas! in what memory slots have you put your memory into? They should be in slots A2 and B2 (which is the 2nd and 4th slot - This is likely the cause of lag.

Okay, so my version of Windows 10 Pro is 10.0.18363, I'm not sure what 2004 is referring to?

My version of BIOS is the latest one, F20a. I assume the 'a' means Alpha?

For memory, I only am using two M.2 SSDs. The Aorus x570 Xtreme only has two spaces for them - M2A and M2B - and they are both installed.
 
Last edited:

jasonargoargo

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Your chipset drivers for AMD Ryzen 9 3900X should come from AMD's website and not your motherboard cd or the Gigabyte website. you will also want to download Ryzen Master from AMD directly.

Oh, cool. I didn't know Ryzen Master existed. So, the Aorus Gigabyte's BIOS only had one other profile I could switch to (that I am currently using). I'll check this out, too.
 

Juan_Bijero

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Jan 22, 2016
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Okay, so my version of Windows 10 Pro is 10.0.18363, I'm not sure what 2004 is referring to?

My version of BIOS is the latest one, F20a. I assume the 'a' means Alpha?

For memory, I only am using two M.2 SSDs. The Aorus x570 Xtreme only has two spaces for them - M2A and M2B - and they are both installed.

Your memory is the RAM. If it doesn't have 2 sticks of RAM the computer will not function. The "a" means it's the wrong bios for your motherboard. You need a final version that is bug-free. The memory are the two sticks that say 3200mhz. They should be in the 2nd and 4th slot. Check your motherboard manual and look for slot A2 and B2. Finally, if you installed Windows 10 Pro from a cd you are going to have serious problems until all the updates are completed. The current version of Windows 10 Pro should be at least 2004. You can click on this link to download the media creation tool from Microsoft. Window-10-Media-Creation-Tool-Download-page. Beforehand, you can go to settings in Windows 10 and then click on "About" which is located at the bottom left of the window. (If it says 1909 or later there may not be a problem but that said I strongly encourage you to update to version 2004) Once you click "about" you will find the version listed at the bottom of the page under under "Windows Specifications"
 
Solution

jasonargoargo

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Jul 1, 2020
17
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Your memory is the RAM. If it doesn't have 2 sticks of RAM the computer will not function. The "a" means it's the wrong bios for your motherboard. You need a final version that is bug-free. The memory are the two sticks that say 3200mhz. They should be in the 2nd and 4th slot. Check your motherboard manual and look for slot A2 and B2. Finally, if you installed Windows 10 Pro from a cd you are going to have serious problems until all the updates are completed. The current version of Windows 10 Pro should be at least 2004. You can click on this link to download the media creation tool from Microsoft. Window-10-Media-Creation-Tool-Download-page. Beforehand, you can go to settings in Windows 10 and then click on "About" which is located at the bottom left of the window. (If it says 1909 or later there may not be a problem but that said I strongly encourage you to update to version 2004) Once you click "about" you will find the version listed at the bottom of the page under under "Windows Specifications"

My two 16GB memory sticks (the Corsair Vengeance ones) are in A1 and A2, so that's not right. Thank you, I'll add that to the list of things to change.

I booted a fresh Windows 10 install downloaded from that link and onto a thumb drive, then had Windows do its update process after setting up the BIOS for the first time, so that aspect of the setup shouldn't be problematic.

Between the F20a version BIOS and the chipset driver they recommended on their website, it looks like Aorus' support page is missing some key information. I'll flash the BIOS, too, thank you.

I'm currently implementing the changes you suggested and will get back to y'all shortly, thanks.
 

jasonargoargo

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So I've upgraded my BIOS to the latest version (11), restarted, then shut off power, turned PSU off and physically readjusted my two Corsair memory sticks to slots 2 and 4 (the A2 and B2 slots of the x570 mobo), plugged everything back up, and restarted.

During the installation of the AMD drivers, the AMD chipset executable told me I already had the latest version installed. Looking at the AMD folder in my C drive, I went through the list of chipset drivers (PCI, GPIO, PSP, and SMBus) I could see that was true. I ran the AMD Cleanup Utility in Safe Mode but that software doesn't uninstall chipset drivers.

As you can see, certain apps are still running hot. The power usage for System and Chrome (and, when I have it running, OBS Studio) usually still show "Very High".
 

jasonargoargo

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I'd like to give an update to the status of the problem. It's solved!

It seemed like a combination of putting my memory sticks in their proper location on the mobo (A2 and B2 instead of A1 and A2), as well as something that wasn't covered in this thread: switching Chrome's Settings -> Advanced -> System -> "Use Hardware Acceleration When Available" to off. The moment I did that, my streams AND my watching other people's streams instantly became fluid.

Thanks to everyone who contributed and I hope this helps someone else in the future.
 
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