Question [SOLVED] Sudden, inexplicable computer slowdown

empirebeige

Honorable
Feb 25, 2014
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10,530
Hi. I have a strange issue with my desktop PC. Everything runs very slowly all of a sudden. A couple of days ago I restarted the PC, fired up a VR game in my Rift and noticed that things are loading at a snail's pace and everything on screen is really choppy. The system was perfectly fine until then, and I don't remember doing any major software updates right before getting issues. Pretty much everything is now running like crap :( Programs take longer to load, and just moving an application window is stuttery. Even starting up Windows takes a lot longer than usual. One curious symptom is that whenever I move the mouse while the computer is processing something, the cursor lags and also wanders into odd directions. And overall, when there's any CPU load, every operation on screen just drags.

Gaming is a choppy, useless experience. Went from easy 60 FPS in demanding titles to 20-30 chunky, stuttery frames per sec.

My specs:
Core i7 8700
GTX 1070
16 gigs DDR4 RAM 3000 MHz
Asus TUF Z390 PLUS Gaming Motherboard
Antec High Current Gamer 620W PSU
Windows 10 64 bit running on a 1TB SSD, with an additional 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD for storage

So far I have
  • reinstalled GPU drivers
  • ran a virus and malware scan, both negative (I have Avast running all the time anyway)
  • stress tested CPU for temps (low 40s in idle, low 70s at 100% usage)
  • checked Task Manager for resource hogs. Nothing is eating up tons of CPU power there

I haven't managed to do a system restore because Windows keeps saying that an anti-virus program is interfering with it (I disabled it).

Any ideas what might cause a sudden slowdown like this? I got the CPU, RAM kit, motherboard and NVME drive this spring. By far the oldest critical component is the PSU which is probably 6 to 7 years old. But I guess a failing PSU wouldn't manifest itself this way?

Appreciate any advice you can give me! I prefer to avoid having to reinstall Windows, if possible. And I'd like to know if it would even help before going down that road.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Which version of Windows 10 are you on? Which version of Nvidia's GPU drivers are you on? I would look at the PSU being crippled after all these years. Have you tried breadboarding the system and tried a PSU borrowed from a neighbor or friend(of reliable build quality)?
 

empirebeige

Honorable
Feb 25, 2014
46
0
10,530
Which version of Windows 10 are you on? Which version of Nvidia's GPU drivers are you on? I would look at the PSU being crippled after all these years. Have you tried breadboarding the system and tried a PSU borrowed from a neighbor or friend(of reliable build quality)?

GPU drivers should be the most recent since I reinstalled them. I'll check that and the Windows version. I might actually have a spare 600W PSU in storage. I'll try that this weekend for comparison. If by breadboarding you mean stripping down the components and adding them back gradually, I haven't.
 

empirebeige

Honorable
Feb 25, 2014
46
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10,530
I managed to do a system restore. But right after that the computer crashed and Windows could no longer be started, repaired or even reset. It looked like a bunch of files were badly corrupted. Basically I had no choice but to do a fresh Windows install. Now everything seems to run normally again.

I've changed my CPU and motherboard three times without reinstalling Windows. Maybe that finally caught up with me or something.

Thank you for the help!
 

GabeBB

Reputable
Jul 14, 2016
77
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4,630
Hi, I'm not nearly that knowledgeable so take this with a grain of salt, but one time I had a massive slowdown while playing with my son. It was throttling due to heat so maybe check temps. The problem was I'd been cleaning the PC and took some components out, so the CPU cooler was loose ad wasn't cooling the CPU enough. I think GPU's can throttle too. Maybe someone else can input on that. Good luck!
 

empirebeige

Honorable
Feb 25, 2014
46
0
10,530
Hi, I'm not nearly that knowledgeable so take this with a grain of salt, but one time I had a massive slowdown while playing with my son. It was throttling due to heat so maybe check temps. The problem was I'd been cleaning the PC and took some components out, so the CPU cooler was loose ad wasn't cooling the CPU enough. I think GPU's can throttle too. Maybe someone else can input on that. Good luck!

This was a software issue, since the system is working now after reinstalling Windows. I checked the temperatures when the problems started and there was no thermal throttling going on. But for sure this might resolve many other slowdowns.