Help Troubleshooting Performance Issue

[faithwarrior118]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Troubleshooting starter

1. Overview of the problem
   Dramatic and sudden drop in performance of 6 month old computer
   
   
2. Full description of the problem and symptoms
   We started noticing the computer running slower. Windows was loading slower. Programs took longer to open. Games ran slower and we had poorer framerates. Everything just seemed to slow down.
   
3. Did it work normally at one time, or has the problem always existed?
   It's worked fine for the past 6 months. Then today it started acting up.
   
4. Is the problem consistent and repeatable, or entirely random, or semi-random?
   Since we noticed the problem it's been consistently bad.
   
   
   
5. I already tried these steps:
   I ran my AntiVirus scanner Norton Internet Security. That came up clean so I ran Malware Bytes Anti Malware. That came up clean. I opened up the case and used my Can of Air to blow some dust out. Nothing seemed to help.
   
   
   
6. My software:
   • Operating System and service-pack level: Windows XP Home SP3
   • Antivirus: Norton Internet Security 16.5.0.135
   • Firewall: Norton Internet Security
   
   
   
7. My hardware
   • Motherboard brand & model GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
   • CPU model (and is it overclocked?) Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail (Not Overclocked)
   • Video card(s) brand & model SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
   • RAM modules brand & model G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
   • Feel free to add more hardware details that you think might be relevant to the issue
   
   
8. Other information that might be relevant
   My first thought was a virus of some sort but the scans came back clean and it's even slowing down Windows loading. More than anything, I'd appreciate some ideas of tests I can run or something I can check to try to narrow down the problem.
   

 

[Rottie]

ccleaner
defrag hdd
check task manager to see if there is any process that is causing computer slow down then kill it and uninstall it.
also update your drivers

 

[faithwarrior118]

I installed CPU-Z which sows the multiplier and core speed.

The mulitipler keeps changing from x6.0 to x12.5 and the core speed changes from 1200 MHz to 2500.1 MHz.

Is this normal behavior?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Only if the power saving features are enabled in the bios.

 

[xgsound]

Originally posted by: faithwarrior118
I installed CPU-Z which sows the multiplier and core speed.

The mulitipler keeps changing from x6.0 to x12.5 and the core speed changes from 1200 MHz to 2500.1 MHz.

Is this normal behavior?

Normal in "power saving" mode. Check power settings in Control panel and set to "desktop " to change.

Could result from overheat of cpu also. If you have a temp monitor what is cpu temp? Check and report.

To check for an errant program or driver open task manager (ctrl, alt, and delete simultaniously) and select the performance tab. Normally this should show 5% or less of cpu usage with no activity. If it is higher, select the processes tab and see what is using the processes in a high percentage. This should lead us in the right direction.


Jim

 

[faithwarrior118]

I don't see anything obviously taking up too much of the CPU. Most everything looks to be in line.

The CPU temp is 36c, GPU is 34c and general case temp is 29c

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: faithwarrior118
I don't see anything obviously taking up too much of the CPU. Most everything looks to be in line.

The CPU temp is 36c, GPU is 34c and general case temp is 29c

You have a thermal sensor to read air temp inside your case? Or are you just basing it off your ambient temps of the room? Running CCleaner on a regular basis as well as a defrag or reformat once in a while is good idea to keep your system running relatively clean, however none of these would explain such a sudden case of lowered performance.

I'd assume you either have malware that isn't being detected by whatever scans you run (probably unlikely but you never know), sudden mechanical failure of a component that affects all system performance (is your hard drive making weird sounds?), or one of your programs is doing something that it shouldn't be.

A thought occured to me when I read that you noticed the speed change in cpu-z. Normally unless the processor is being asked to do a certain amount of work (you can go off CPU usage load I suppose) it shouldn't be bumping up to the 12.5x multiplier. Now, were you opening programs when you noticed this change or was it changing back and forth when you left the system idle? That's the only thing I can think of that causes such a drastic drop, something that uses up processing power then throttles down before you really notice it. Could be malware, could be broken drivers, etc.