Question Random PC Lag across various applications during daily use

[The Phoenix]

I have a friend that's having an issue with his computer, and we've done many, many things to try and fix this issue with no result.

Description of Issue

Video(s) buffer, stutter, or lag despite having ample ram and stable internet connection (every now and then)

Monitors flash black when 2 or more videos are open, or Spotify gets a video advertisement

PC decides that corsair icue doesn't exist now and then reducing performance and turning off macros and rgb

weird like artificing or lines occasionally on certain shades of red or sometimes other colors

Keyboard(s) has input lag or doesn't register keys occasionally

Courser Randomly disappears

PC Specs

Intel Core i7 9700k

Motherboard: MEG Z390 ACE

RAM Corsair Vengeance 32GB 3600mhz

Lenovo RTX 3060 12GB (Previously a R9 390X 8GB - Issues 1, 2 and 4 were present on this card as well)

1TB NVME gen 4.

Here's a list of things we have tried to fix this issue

Re-Format of Windows 10 on a brand new NVME.

Cleared CMOS

Re-seated all components

Replaced power supply 600W (issues still present on new power supply)

Replaced Thermal paste on CPU, RTX 3060 and R9 390X (issues still present after this)

Replaced CPU cooler

Re-installed nVidia Drivers (No old AMD drivers present on New OS)

swapped cables, displays, keyboards and mice and saw no improvement or change

Swapped the GPU into the lower PCI-E Slot, does not change.

RTX 3060 has no issues when operating in another system

We've been trying to get to the bottom of this for over a year now, and we cannot find anything related to this issue online, or anyone with a similar issue. If you have any advice, please let me know.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

power supply 600W (issues still present on new power supply)

include make & model of both PSUs, along with their time in use.

Motherboard: MEG Z390 ACE

are you on the latest available BIOS?

Re-installed nVidia Drivers

just used their own uninstaller
or used DDU from Safe Mode to totally remove all graphic related data?

Re-Format of Windows 10

where was it obtained, and is it kept up to date?

 

[The Phoenix]

include make & model of both PSUs, along with their time in use.
evga 600b, brand new, 6 months of use. Previous PSU was a Corsair CX600, 8 years of use (I am aware this PSU is not great, which is why it was replaced.)

are you on the latest available BIOS?
This i am unsure about, however when this motherboard and I7 9700k was in my possession 2 years ago it did not have any of the issues listed above. Worth checking and possibly updating but I don't know if this is the root cause.

just used their own uninstaller
or used DDU from Safe Mode to totally remove all graphic related data?
We installed the drivers on a fresh new windows 10 installation, there was no previous drivers before this. On the last OS, we did try reinstalling drivers which did not fix the issue.

where was it obtained, and is it kept up to date?
Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, activated with a genuine windows key. It is also kept up to date.

 

[neojack]

Uninstall any software that controls rgbs etc. they often cause instability.
Same with software from motherboard makers (msi, gigabyte etc)

If problem still happens, i would try to uninstall as much software as possible. ( maybe reinstall and update windows then just install drivers, browser, and 1 or 2 games)

Is any game that you use known for heavy DRM ? Sometimes they load an anticheat on the background that is quite heavy on the system.

Any antivirus software ? Try to disable or uninstall it to test

If the problem still happens try another keyboard and mouse, standard model without the fancy software ( uninstall it if it's there)

If it does not work, the next thing i would try is another graphics card.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

evga 600b

most of the "B" series units i've encountered are pretty low quality.
not intended for gaming systems with a dedicated graphics card or any sort of heavy use.

pretty much same quality as the older Corsair CX.

 

[The Phoenix]

most of the "B" series units i've encountered are pretty low quality.
not intended for gaming systems with a dedicated graphics card or any sort of heavy use.

pretty much same quality as the older Corsair CX.

You are correct, however this wouldn't explain our issue because the only time the PC has these issues is when it's not under any kind of load on the GPU or CPU. When stress tested, or gaming, the system functions as intended and does it well.

 

[The Phoenix]

Uninstall any software that controls rgbs etc. they often cause instability.
Same with software from motherboard makers (msi, gigabyte etc)

If problem still happens, i would try to uninstall as much software as possible. ( maybe reinstall and update windows then just install drivers, browser, and 1 or 2 games)

Is any game that you use known for heavy DRM ? Sometimes they load an anticheat on the background that is quite heavy on the system.

Any antivirus software ? Try to disable or uninstall it to test

If the problem still happens try another keyboard and mouse, standard model without the fancy software ( uninstall it if it's there)

If it does not work, the next thing i would try is another graphics card.

We did an entire windows installation on a new drive, with little software and games. New graphics card and the issues are still present.

 

[neojack]

The latest bios seems to be 7B12c1B from nov 2022. Worth a try + reset the bios setup to factory default.

Are you absolutely sure that no dragon center / mistic light / corsair rgb etc software are not installed ?

Nothing exotic plugged to the motherboard ? ( rgb headers etc)

Any changes to the bios settings ? Of so, reset to factory default

 

[geofelt]

Could you have a failing monitor?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

When stress tested, or gaming, the system functions as intended and does it well.

unless you have run these stress apps for many hours or left games running for days, you may just have not experienced the issue(s) during this time.

 

[NedSmelly]

I have a hunch that it’s a motherboard problem. Especially when you said the GPUs etc work fine on another PC. Perhaps a PCIe bridging issue, dead cap, or some such.

Edit: you can get PCIe diagnostic test cards, if you’re interested in exploring that option.

 

[The Phoenix]

Could you have a failing monitor?

It's possible. However, he uses 2 monitors and both monitors go black momentarily. I can't imagine both displays are failing at the same time.

 

[The Phoenix]

The latest bios seems to be 7B12c1B from nov 2022. Worth a try + reset the bios setup to factory default.

Are you absolutely sure that no dragon center / mistic light / corsair rgb etc software are not installed ?

Nothing exotic plugged to the motherboard ? ( rgb headers etc)

Any changes to the bios settings ? Of so, reset to factory default

Going to try this. We are on stock motherboard settings with the only setting change being ram speed from 2133Mhz to 3600Mhz. I'm sure the motherboard hasn't had a firmware update in quite some time.