Question PC slows down during download and sometimes after downloading

[techprince]

Hi, I have an 8-year-old computer with the following specs:
CPU : AMD FX 6300
MB : Gigabyte 78LMTUSB3 Rev 6 - F2 (Latest BIOS)
RAM : Kingston HyperX 4GB x2 1333MHz DDR3
GPU: MSI RX 480 Gaming X 4G
PSU: Cooler Master MWE 550W V2 Bronze
HDD: Samsung 850 SSD 128GB + WD Blue 1TB
OS : Windows 10 Pro x64

My computer is slowing down significantly during downloads. Sometimes this slowed down state stays for a while. This has started happening only recently. I have a 100Mbps Internet connection. In the task manager, Network activity is showing as 100% while downloading.

So the possible culprits would be:
1) Corrupted drivers
2) RAM
3) Processor
4) HDD
5) Motherboard
6) Virus

So far I have updated Windows, ran chkdsk/sfc, reinstalled Motherboard and GPU drivers, checked RAM via MemTest86/Windows Memory Diagnostic, and checked HDD via Western Digital Dashboard/SeaTools and ran a quick test of Malwarebytes. I will be doing a full scan soon.

I would like to rule out HDD. here are the screenshots of CrystalDiskInfo. Please let me know if my HDD is showing any signs of failing. I will be running a small processor test with Prime95 just to check processor soon.

Thanks.

 

[Misgar]

What source(s) are you downloading files from? Commercial servers or torrents?

How big are the files, in MB or GB?

Are you downloading files on to the 128GB SSD with less than 20% free space?

Are you unzipping or unraring large files as soon as you download them?

What other programs or tasks are running in the background?

At least your 1TB WD Blue is probably CMR if it's a WD10EZRZ or WD10EZEX and not slower a SMR, so you shouldn't have a bottleneck there.
https://products.wdc.com/library/SpecSheet/ENG/product-brief-wd-blue-pc-hdd.pdf

Does your ISP start to throttle your downloads, if you exceed a certain limit (in GB) during peak hours? PlusNet reduced my download speeds to one quarter during peak evening hours, despite their promise of "unlimited" downloads. This started one week after I signed up with PlusNet broadband. I was not impressed.

Are you using a VPN which might restrict bandwidth if they detect very large downloads?

Have you run CHKDSK in read-only mode (no /R or /F switches) on both drives?

Have you used Task Manager to see if any apps have abnormally high CPU usage?

I use an Intel i5-4670K (similar spec to your FX 6300) to download large files without any problems.

 

[techprince]

What source(s) are you downloading files from? Commercial servers or torrents?

Both.

How big are the files, in MB or GB?

Ranging from 800MB-5GB. I only use NTFS partitions so file size limit will not be applicable here.

Are you downloading files on to the 128GB SSD with less than 20% free space?

No, I am downloading on SATA HDD, it has 668GB of free space.

Are you unzipping or unraring large files as soon as you download them?

No, all uncompressed files.

What other programs or tasks are running in the background?

Other than default Microsoft processes, AMD Radeon Software, Realtek HD Audio Manager, Microsoft Teams, One Drive, APC PowerChute (UPS Software).

At least your 1TB WD Blue is probably CMR if it's a WD10EZRZ or WD10EZEX and not slower a SMR, so you shouldn't have a bottleneck there.
https://products.wdc.com/library/SpecSheet/ENG/product-brief-wd-blue-pc-hdd.pdf

This has started happening only recently. My WD Blue HDD is 6 years old.

Does your ISP start to throttle your downloads, if you exceed a certain limit (in GB) during peak hours?

No, no throttling present.

PlusNet reduced my download speeds to one quarter during peak evening hours, despite their promise of "unlimited" downloads. This started one week after I signed up with PlusNet broadband. I was not impressed.

Are you using a VPN which might restrict bandwidth if they detect very large downloads?

No, not using any VPN.

Have you run CHKDSK in read-only mode (no /R or /F switches) on both drives?

No, i have ran chkdsk with /F switch on both drives and sfc with /scannow switch on. I will be running defrag tool as it shows 22% fragmented on WD Drive.

Have you used Task Manager to see if any apps have abnormally high CPU usage?

I have checked. I didn't see any apps using high CPU usage. Only the network usage shown is 100%. Since then I have reinstalled my Network driver, scanned my system for viruses and ran Prime95 for 10 mins. I didn't see that problem while running stress tests on the CPU.

I use an Intel i5-4670K (similar spec to your FX 6300) to download large files without any problems.

Yes, sadly it's happening recently only. Didnt have this problem before. The only thing I have changed is PSU. But I do play games and i don't see that problem while playing games and didn't see it while stress testing with Prime95 so I ruled out the PSU. Although I will do some more Prime95 tests now.

 

[scout_03]

use the wd software and test hdd on both low and high also what is download and upload speed on peer to peer to much upload is a issue .

 

[techprince]

use the wd software and test hdd on both low and high also what is download and upload speed on peer to peer to much upload is a issue .

Did that just now. Both short and extended tests passed. In P2P, both download and upload speeds are uncapped.

 

[Misgar]

Something else must have changed recently. I very much doubt that fitting a new PSU will have caused the fault.

You could try downloading torrents to a fast USB3 memory stick, to rule the 1TB hard disk out if the equation. I doubt that defragging the hard disk will make a huge difference, but every little helps.

Does the problem only occur during torrenting? It can place a significant strain on an old quad core CPU like my i5-4680K without hyper threading.

Do you have a "sensible" maximum limit set for the number of simultaneous torrents being downloaded, e.g. between 4 and 8?

I'd be inclined to limit the torrent upload speed to 10% below whatever the network can handle. If your torrent client uses Autospeed, or has a test option, use it to check your broadband upload speeds.

Good luck if you torrent without a VPN. Of course you're only downloading Linux distros and other legit files aren't you?

 

[techprince]

Something else must have changed recently. I very much doubt that fitting a new PSU will have caused the fault.

You could try downloading torrents to a fast USB3 memory stick, to rule the 1TB hard disk out if the equation. I doubt that defragging the hard disk will make a huge difference, but every little helps.

Does the problem only occur during torrenting? It can place a significant strain on an old quad core CPU like my i5-4680K without hyper threading.

Do you have a "sensible" maximum limit set for the number of simultaneous torrents being downloaded, e.g. between 4 and 8?

I'd be inclined to limit the torrent upload speed to 10% below whatever the network can handle. If your torrent client uses Autospeed, or has a test option, use it to check your broadband upload speeds.

Good luck if you torrent without a VPN. Of course you're only downloading Linux distros and other legit files aren't you?

It's not just torrents, normal HTTP downloads would do the same. I installed this PSU in January 2023, it's been 7 months already and this problem has started occurring only recently.

After reading a lot of threads on this topic, either my network controller, SATA controller or the HDD itself can be a culprit. I have installed an old version of the network driver to test. If that doesn't work, I will be buying an SSD to replace my HDD as the game load times have increased significantly over the years and i am noise sensitive so its noise sometimes bothers me. If the new SSD doesn't fix it, it's the controllers and it would be time to say goodbye to this old rig 😀