Question Slow PC start on a new build, is a faulty component causing this ?

[mightohkondria]

Hello, I recently built a new PC that booted up with no problems the first time and I got a fresh Windows installed. After the Windows installation I installed a new GP driver, motherboard drivers, and CPU drivers.
I noticed while I was doing the downloads that load times were extremely long on Chrome with waits of over 3 minutes for tabs to load. When I restarted the computer it took well over a minute to boot and seemed to be even slower opening applications. Does anyone have any idea what's going on and how to fix it? Every part was new in the box.

Specs
Motherboard: MSI B650 Gaming Plus Wifi
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
GPU: MSI GeForce 3070 Ti 8GB
PSU: Corsair RM850e
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz
Cooling: Icue Link Titan 360 RX and 3 x Corsair fans
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 2TB

 

[Colif]

try running Magician on your ssd and run diagnostics

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

Do you have latest BIOS on motherboard?
which motherboard drivers did you get? Did it include LAN?
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support#driver
shouldn't effect start up though, why I looked at ssd.

 

[mightohkondria]

try running Magician on your ssd and run diagnostics

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

semiconductor.samsung.com

Do you have latest BIOS on motherboard?
which motherboard drivers did you get? Did it include LAN?
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support#driver
shouldn't effect start up though, why I looked at ssd.

thank you for the reply! I’ll run the diagnostic on the SSD but the bios is updated to a recent iteration from 11/6/2024 should I still try to update it to the newest?

 

[Colif]

Wish MSI would remove beta versions after they release an actual version.
I can't tell what version that is but I wouldn't go past 7E26v1F since most above it look like Beta.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support#bios
its dated 9th Aug

Magician isn't perfect, if there is something physically wrong with drive it can't tell.
Was it slow before you installed windows?

 

[mightohkondria]

Wish MSI would remove beta versions after they release an actual version.
I can't tell what version that is but I wouldn't go past 7E26v1F since most above it look like Beta.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support#bios
its dated 9th Aug

Magician isn't perfect, if there is something physically wrong with drive it can't tell.
Was it slow before you installed windows?

The computer was running just fine before windows was installed and no lagging occurred at all in the BIOS menu. After windows was installed the start up slowed down and the slow programs started.

 

[Colif]

Makes me think its the ssd even though it tests out.

Before you installed windows, it wasn't running off ssd.
I was curious if it was slow before installing any drivers.

Curious what its like in safe mode
On the logon screen, click on the power icon on bottom right
hold left shift and click restart

1. this restarts PC in a blue menu
2. choose troubleshoot
3. choose advanced
4. choose startup settings
5. click the restart button
6. choose a safe mode (it doesn't matter which) by using number associated with it.
7. Pc will restart and load safe mode

if its still slow there, its likely hardware. As no drivers are running. Its just windows.

 

[mightohkondria]

Makes me think its the ssd even though it tests out.

Before you installed windows, it wasn't running off ssd.
I was curious if it was slow before installing any drivers.

Curious what its like in safe mode
On the logon screen, click on the power icon on bottom right
hold left shift and click restart

1. this restarts PC in a blue menu
2. choose troubleshoot
3. choose advanced
4. choose startup settings
5. click the restart button
6. choose a safe mode (it doesn't matter which) by using number associated with it.
7. Pc will restart and load safe mode

if its still slow there, its likely hardware. As no drivers are running. Its just windows.

I will test this next! The scan for the SSD is taking a little while but almost done. I should be able to post the result soon and then test safe mode. If it’s not the SSD is there another component to check first?

 

[Colif]

I noticed while I was doing the downloads that load times were extremely long on Chrome with waits of over 3 minutes for tabs to load. When I restarted the computer it took well over a minute to boot and seemed to be even slower opening applications.

the tabs could be lan drivers, why I suggested them, but the other slowness sounds like storage. Other hardware can slow startup but the loading times aren't something I can see anything else causing

Some Samsung drives use their own nvme drivers but I looked, it doesn't apply to 990 Pro
Since its only a new Drive, I would be tempted to return it and get another one... and start again. I really doubt its anything else (I have been wrong before).
No other drives in PC I assume.

 

[mightohkondria]

the tabs could be lan drivers, why I suggested them, but the other slowness sounds like storage. Other hardware can slow startup but the loading times aren't something I can see anything else causing

Some Samsung drives use their own nvme drivers but I looked, it doesn't apply to 990 Pro
Since its only a new Drive, I would be tempted to return it and get another one... and start again. I really doubt its anything else (I have been wrong before).
No other drives in PC I assume.

So we started the PC in safe mode and it was still very slow. The scan came back with no issues on the SSD so we are going to try to switch the boot drive to a hard drive (Seagate BarraCuda 2TB) and see if its just as slow on that drive. Another issue that occurred was that we tried to launch a steam game last night (Noita) which should have been easy to run and it crashed everytime we launched it. Temps seem to be normal with all fans and cooling working.

 

[Colif]

Was hdd in PC when it was slow or just added after it was already slow, or just now to see if it fixes? As if anything likely to slow PC down, its a hdd going bad. Just a thought.

Otherwise It all sounds like the ssd, let me know how the hdd goes?

it will be slow but only as its a hdd. It should play steam games though. And PC should be faster to boot.
its all relative.

If ssd had worked as it should, the hdd isn't even in the same league as an nvme

990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 2TB MZ-V9P2T0BW | Samsung Australia

990 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD (MZ-V9P2T0BW) - See the benefits and full features of this product. Learn more and find the best Memory&Storage for you at Samsung Australia.

www.samsung.com

speed of up to 7600 Mb/s compared to a hdd that can't even saturate SATA (which maxes out at 550mb/s). So um, if ssd was working right it would boot windows in 15 seconds.

 

[Misgar]

When I restarted the computer it took well over a minute to boot and seemed to be even slower opening applications.

I used to experience slow startups on computers many years ago after updating multiple drivers at the same time and eventually I resorted to fitting a spare drive and reinstalling Windows.

Then I slowly started to update the drivers manually, one at a time, with the computer disconnected from the internet, creating a System Restore Point after each additonal driver.

Eventually the problem would reappear and I'd roll back to the previous Restore Point, then investigate the bad driver to see if there were any alternative versions.

All of the above assume you don't have any problems with your hardware, just the OS.

Slow boots on modern DDR5 systems can also be caused by memory "retraining".

 

[Colif]

memory retraining should only happen on 1st boot though? Not every one.

Yes, loading too many drivers at once can lead to problems.
System restore SHOULD create a restore point after every new driver anyway. That is its main reason to exist now.

 

[mightohkondria]

Thank you both for your input! After a long day of updating and checking the speed of the new drive, it turned out to be an issue with the SSD. We are going to be getting a replacement and the backup drive until it arrives. The start-up time is still slow but applications open and we are able to play games again.