Question Optimization advice on outdated system?

[takearushfan82]

Hi everyone.
I have a system with Windows 10 Pro that used to run far better than it currently does. I tried wiping everything out and a clean install but it's still slower than it used to be.
I'm not sure if maybe clearing out dust will help or perhaps a new case fan or cpu cooler but nonetheless I'd like to post my specs, list what kinds of things drive me nuts and hopefully you can advise on what will help speed things up a bit.
My biggest peeves are when opening a browser takes 15 seconds. I can understand it taking a while to open Photoshop but Chrome?! I also hate when a file is being moved and it takes a couple seconds for the file's icon to change from blank to its true display. I hate when you go to move or close out a window and it hangs for 30 seconds, etc.
What the heck are the most important components or combination or components to improve upon in order to resolve these issues?
Here's the link to my specs. Mind you I just upgraded the PSU yesterday so the listed one doesn't apply anymore.
In general I just wish it were a bit more "snappy" with less lag, freezing and such. I'm not looking for it to run NASA or anything. It's just too tortoise-like now when it didn't used to be.
Thanks for your time and patience.
My specs

 

[takearushfan82]

Also, I did diagnostic tests on the RAM, CPU, etc and there aren't any issues there.

 

[Lafong]

When did you last run Disk Cleanup?

How much space occupied on the hard drive?

Have you done any hardware tests, particularly on the hard drive.

 

[BFG-9000]

If the heatsink is not obviously clogged with dust I would suggest a monitoring utility to track how hot the CPU is getting in use.

Also, I suggest running a benchmark on the HDD which may be dying. I had a Seagate that slowed to a crawl and it even passed the SeaTools tests (which Seagate claims it needs to fail to issue a RMA) but a RMA was issued immediately when I described the problem. So they know this is an issue but want to avoid too many RMAs so just made their tool completely insensitive to it.

 

[hotaru.hino]

An SSD will be the single biggest upgrade you can do to this system to make it feel snappy.

 

[Bob.B]

Hi everyone.
I have a system with Windows 10 Pro that used to run far better than it currently does. I tried wiping everything out and a clean install but it's still slower than it used to be.
I'm not sure if maybe clearing out dust will help or perhaps a new case fan or cpu cooler but nonetheless I'd like to post my specs, list what kinds of things drive me nuts and hopefully you can advise on what will help speed things up a bit.
My biggest peeves are when opening a browser takes 15 seconds. I can understand it taking a while to open Photoshop but Chrome?! I also hate when a file is being moved and it takes a couple seconds for the file's icon to change from blank to its true display. I hate when you go to move or close out a window and it hangs for 30 seconds, etc.
What the heck are the most important components or combination or components to improve upon in order to resolve these issues?
Here's the link to my specs. Mind you I just upgraded the PSU yesterday so the listed one doesn't apply anymore.
In general I just wish it were a bit more "snappy" with less lag, freezing and such. I'm not looking for it to run NASA or anything. It's just too tortoise-like now when it didn't used to be.
Thanks for your time and patience.
My specs

Give the innards a good cleaning heat sinks and fans extra clean.....test.

Get the proper bios and drivers.....test.

Post a screenshot from crystaldiskinfo.

 

[takearushfan82]

When did you last run Disk Cleanup?

How much space occupied on the hard drive?

Have you done any hardware tests, particularly on the hard drive.

I just ran disk cleanup about an hour ago.
I'm doing a windows update so I can't check the space at the moment but it's no more than however much a clean install of Win 10 pro takes up.
I haven't done tests on the drive. What kind do you recommend?

 

[takearushfan82]

If the heatsink is not obviously clogged with dust I would suggest a monitoring utility to track how hot the CPU is getting in use.

Also, I suggest running a benchmark on the HDD which may be dying. I had a Seagate that slowed to a crawl and it even passed the SeaTools tests (which Seagate claims it needs to fail to issue a RMA) but a RMA was issued immediately when I described the problem. So they know this is an issue but want to avoid too many RMAs so just made their tool completely insensitive to it.

Okay, so a monitor for the cpu temp and testing the drive. Which programs are best for that?

 

[takearushfan82]

Give the innards a good cleaning heat sinks and fans extra clean.....test.

Get the proper bios and drivers.....test.

Post a screenshot from crystaldiskinfo.

I didn't think of checking gigabytes website. I'm guessing I should go with their bios and drivers rather than what windows updates to?
I'll post a screenshot when this update is done. It's taking an eternity. I shudder to think what it's doing.

 

[Lafong]

I just ran disk cleanup about an hour ago.
I'm doing a windows update so I can't check the space at the moment but it's no more than however much a clean install of Win 10 pro takes up.
I haven't done tests on the drive. What kind do you recommend?

Seagate has its own set of tools, but there are others. Not sure which of them will work on your Seagate.

Your first post implies deterioration in speed of the entire system...that it used to be faster than now.

That could be a slow disk failure or could be something unrelated to the hard drive. If the drive passes tests, then look elsewhere. Unexplained CPU activity, virus/malware, etc.

 

[takearushfan82]

Seagate has its own set of tools, but there are others. Not sure which of them will work on your Seagate.

Your first post implies deterioration in speed of the entire system...that it used to be faster than now.

That could be a slow disk failure or could be something unrelated to the hard drive. If the drive passes tests, then look elsewhere. Unexplained CPU activity, virus/malware, etc.

I'm eager to test these ideas out but this darn update is taking forever. It's over an hour now and it restarted my PC 4 times already. I hope it's not stuck in a loop.

 

[BFG-9000]

You need anything that can measure MB/s and ideally latency too. CrystalDiskMark is probably the most popular one. ATTO is next (and does not require installation) but sadly does not check for seek times. IOMeter may be a bit more difficult to use.

As for temperature monitoring, Core Temp or Real Temp are slickest if you want to permanently leave the monitor on the taskbar, but for just temporarily checking any general hardware utility will work: HWMonitor, Speedfan, Speccy. It's a shame CPU-Z doesn't have a temp sensor display like GPU-Z does.

 

[Bob.B]

I didn't think of checking gigabytes website. I'm guessing I should go with their bios and drivers rather than what windows updates to?
I'll post a screenshot when this update is done. It's taking an eternity. I shudder to think what it's doing.

Mobo updates I get from the maker.
So far I have not seen a problem with this.
Some folks let windows supply them.
Your call.

 

[takearushfan82]

Seagate has its own set of tools, but there are others. Not sure which of them will work on your Seagate.

Your first post implies deterioration in speed of the entire system...that it used to be faster than now.

That could be a slow disk failure or could be something unrelated to the hard drive. If the drive passes tests, then look elsewhere. Unexplained CPU activity, virus/malware, etc.

Mobo updates I get from the maker.
So far I have not seen a problem with this.
Some folks let windows supply them.
Your call.

I checked RAM, CPU, the drive and everything I could possibly think of. It's starting to run better. I think I might merely need to clean it out physically, as in dusting it. Is it true that such a thing can bog down a PC or is that a myth?

 

[Eximo]

CPUs, GPUs, VRMs, Chipsets, etc all basically self regulate power/heat. If your intakes, fans, and radiators are caked with dust they will run hotter. To stay operational they will run slower.

Not a myth at all. That is why large heatsinks and watercoolers are a thing. The cooler they are the faster CPUs and GPUs particularly, will run.

 

[Bob.B]

I checked RAM, CPU, the drive and everything I could possibly think of. It's starting to run better. I think I might merely need to clean it out physically, as in dusting it. Is it true that such a thing can bog down a PC or is that a myth?

When you get dust and crud buildup on the innards parts start to run warmer than normal.

If the parts get too warm you can get slow downs and other wacky stuff to happen.

Do what I asked above....clean/drivers/CDI.

 

[takearushfan82]

When you get dust and crud buildup on the innards parts start to run warmer than normal.

If the parts get too warm you can get slow downs and other wacky stuff to happen.

Do what I asked above....clean/drivers/CDI.

Okay. I'll try all these things and report back