Question Why is my PC struggling?

[Toby3000]

Specs:

• CPU: Intel i5-10600K (no overclock)
• GPU: RTX 3060 12GB (no overclock)
• RAM: Corsair 16GB (2133 MHz, dual-channel)
• PSU: Seasonic 650W
• Storage: Two SSDs, one HDD

My PC is struggling with games and even simple tasks on Windows; it sometimes stutters or lags.

For example, I tried playing Hogwarts Legacy on high settings, but I can barely get a stable 60 FPS. I've seen plenty of YouTube videos of people getting well over 100 FPS with the same graphics card.

I also tried playing Planetside 2, a very CPU-intensive game, and I can barely get 70 FPS even on very low settings.

Here's what I've done and checked so far:

1. Performed a clean install of Windows 10/11.
2. Bought a brand-new H510M motherboard and installed the latest drivers.
3. Bought a used ASUS Z490 motherboard and installed the latest drivers.
4. Bought a brand-new 650W Seasonic PSU.
5. Ran a full MemTest; all results were OK.
6. Performed a disk health check; all results were good.
7. Checked system temperatures; all are very good.
8. Installed all necessary drivers.
9. Ran Cinebench tests for both the CPU and GPU; results were normal.
10. Turned off Bluetooth and switched to different mouse and keyboard hardware.

I'm at the end of my troubleshooting options. Could my system have been hacked? What else should I try?

 

[Toby3000]

What BIOS version is the motherboard running?

HDD is 94% full!

Get bigger and better SSDs.

RAM is slow. Running 3200 MT/ s on Z490 is peanuts.

This is the Bios Version: TUF GAMING Z490-PLUS BIOS 2601

I will definitely get better storage, but I doubt it will have a huge impact on FPS. My RAM is slow, that’s true, and I suspect it might be corrupted, even though I did a full memtest on it.

 

[Toby3000]

Are you running the games from an HDD?

I am running some games on an HDD and others on an SSD. In both cases, the performance is far too weak compared to what it should be. As I mentioned, I experience occasional lag while using Windows. It happens rarely, but it does occur.

 

[drivinfast247]

All your storage drives are full. Enable XMP in BIOS

 

[Toby3000]

Are you running the games from an HDD?

I am running some programs on an HDD and others on an SSD. In both cases, the performance is far weaker than it should be. As I mentioned, I experience occasional lag while using Windows. It happens rarely, but it does occur.

 

[helper800]

I am running some games on an HDD and others on an SSD. In both cases, the performance is far too weak compared to what it should be. As I mentioned, I experience occasional lag while using Windows. It happens rarely, but it does occur.

Have you tried using DDU to reinstall your graphics drivers?

 

[Toby3000]

All your storage drives are full. Enable XMP in BIOS

My RAM does not have XMP.

 

[helper800]

All your storage drives are full. Enable XMP in BIOS

I am pretty sure he just has old DDR4 that does not have a faster profile.

 

[drivinfast247]

My RAM does not XMP.

Get better RAM

 

[Toby3000]

Have you tried using DDU to reinstall your graphics drivers?

I will give it go. Thanks for the help

 

[drivinfast247]

I am pretty sure he just has old DDR4 that does not have a faster profile.

I see that now.

 

[Toby3000]

Get better RAM

Yes, i will do that.

 

[helper800]

Yes, i will do that.

Better RAM!

 

[drivinfast247]

Yes, i will do that.

Also keep in mind that your OS drive is full and extremely slow.

 

[Bob.B]

Here are the new results: UserBenchmark Test.

That looks better.
As has been mentioned some proper ram should help move things along.

Is the optimize app enabled and setup proper for the disk?

 

[palladin9479]

"Yes, I installed the OS on my SSD. The thing is, though, I've reinstalled Windows a couple of times now, even went back to Windows 10 to see if that makes any difference. b? This problem has been going on for a couple of months, ever since I bought the new CPU and motherboard. My old motherboard actually had similar problems, the only difference was that two of my RAM slots were broken, after i cleand it.

No it doesn't. Windows will automatically install failsafe drivers that "work" but aren't every good performance wise. They are meant to make your system functional so that you can install the correct manufacturers drivers. For Intel motherboard get the Intel Chipset Utility, for your GPU download off nVidia's website. That should be sufficient to ensure no issues.

Also is this a NVME or a SATA SSD, very big difference between them. NVMe is connected directly and shouldn't require any special drivers on 10 / 11. SATA SSD's can operate in different "modes" and incorrect drivers could leave one operating in a very old legacy mode.

 

[Toby3000]

That looks better.
As has been mentioned some proper ram should help move things along.

Is the optimize app enabled and setup proper for the disk?

I just noticed that under GPU results, it says: Performing below potential (26th percentile). Does that mean there is something wrong with the GPU?

 

[Toby3000]

No it doesn't. Windows will automatically install failsafe drivers that "work" but aren't every good performance wise. They are meant to make your system functional so that you can install the correct manufacturers drivers. For Intel motherboard get the Intel Chipset Utility, for your GPU download off nVidia's website. That should be sufficient to ensure no issues.

Also is this a NVME or a SATA SSD, very big difference between them. NVMe is connected directly and shouldn't require any special drivers on 10 / 11. SATA SSD's can operate in different "modes" and incorrect drivers could leave one operating in a very old legacy mode.

They are fairly old SSDs, not NVMe. I could try to find some drivers for the SSDs—not a bad idea.

 

[palladin9479]

Get better RAM

RAM is not the problem here. Even the lowest of RAM would not cause slow lagy behavior in Windows or games. It could cost some FPS but not nearly enough to cause an issue.

Jittery / laggy system performance is almost entirely attributed to the IO subsystem, either communication with storage or GPU. Missing or badly behaving GPU drivers will cause the graphics display to operate in a legacy compatibility mode which is horrendously slow, but works on everything. Windows 10/11 is notoriously for system updates "breaking" drivers causing them to revert to that operating mode until they are reinstalled. Storage is similar depending on the drivers and mode. SATA III has a limit of 600MB/s while SATA 1 (legacy compatibility) has a limit of 150MB/s. Looking at his performance report I believe his OS drive is operating at SATA 1 speeds which are almost the same as his HDD.

 

[palladin9479]

They are fairly old SSDs, not NVMe. I could try to find some drivers for the SSDs—not a bad idea.

Unless your using XP there aren't any "SATA" drivers, there are chipset drivers will include proper drivers for your storage controller. In your case go find the Intel Chipset Drivers for that chipset.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005533/software/chipset-software.html

That will replace the Windows auto-detected SATA/AHCI controllers with the ones from Intel. Also check your bios and make sure your SATA controllers are not operating in "legacy compatibility" mode.

 

[helper800]

RAM is not the problem here. Even the lowest of RAM would not cause slow lagy behavior in Windows or games. It could cost some FPS but not nearly enough to cause an issue.

Jittery / laggy system performance is almost entirely attributed to the IO subsystem, either communication with storage or GPU. Missing or badly behaving GPU drivers will cause the graphics display to operate in a legacy compatibility mode which is horrendously slow, but works on everything. Windows 10/11 is notoriously for system updates "breaking" drivers causing them to revert to that operating mode until they are reinstalled. Storage is similar depending on the drivers and mode. SATA III has a limit of 600MB/s while SATA 1 (legacy compatibility) has a limit of 150MB/s. Looking at his performance report I believe his OS drive is operating at SATA 1 speeds which are almost the same as his HDD.

You are correct that these issues are usually attributed to IO subsystems, and that includes RAM. All data goes through some cache in the CPU or your RAM before it touch's storage unless we are talking about direct storage. If the RAM is feeding data slower than expected you can see lower performance utilization than expected. Since their drives are slow and full this is certainly something that should be resolved first. Using DDU was also already suggested. 2133mt/s RAM can really hurt expected gaming performance too.

 

[Toby3000]

Unless your using XP there aren't any "SATA" drivers, there are chipset drivers will include proper drivers for your storage controller. In your case go find the Intel Chipset Drivers for that chipset.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005533/software/chipset-software.html

That will replace the Windows auto-detected SATA/AHCI controllers with the ones from Intel. Also check your bios and make sure your SATA controllers are not operating in "legacy compatibility" mode.

So my SATA Mode is in: Intel RST Premium Mode. Is this correct?

 

[Toby3000]

You are correct that these issues are usually attributed to IO subsystems, and that includes RAM. All data goes through some cache in the CPU or your RAM before it touch's storage unless we are talking about direct storage. If the RAM is feeding data slower than expected you can see lower performance utilization than expected. Since their drives are slow and full this is certainly something that should be resolved first. Using DDU was also already suggested. 2133mt/s RAM can really hurt expected gaming performance too.

I did. the DDU. It Kinda made it Even more stutter in the Game.

 

[Bob.B]

I just noticed that under GPU results, it says: Performing below potential (26th percentile). Does that mean there is something wrong with the GPU?

Maybe but many things play in start with a proper set of ram and then see where that gets you.

 

[palladin9479]

You are correct that these issues are usually attributed to IO subsystems, and that includes RAM. All data goes through some cache in the CPU or your RAM before it touch's storage unless we are talking about direct storage. If the RAM is feeding data slower than expected you can see lower performance utilization than expected. Since their drives are slow and full this is certainly something that should be resolved first. Using DDU was also already suggested. 2133mt/s RAM can really hurt expected gaming performance too.

Doesn't matter, even DDR2 800 is fast enough. I've installed Win 10 on an old set of HW with DDR2-800 and it was fine.

 

[helper800]

I did. the DDU. It Kinda made it Even more stutter in the Game.

So you downloaded the latest standalone driver for your Card, restarted into safemode and ran DDU, restarted to windows and installed the latest driver, and now you have worse performance?