Lag spikes during any use. At wits end. Please help.

[liquidsense]

I don't know where else to turn to. I've spent so much goddamn time trying to figure this out, but I just don't know enough to do enough.

Problem: During any usage, whether it is word processing, surfing, video editing, or looking at photos, I get random lag spikes where the mouse will stutter, lag, or just freeze altogether for 2-5 seconds bursts --*and then it's gone. Happens about once every 15-30 minutes, but sometimes (like right now), it happens every 5 minutes. I can't really figure out when this started, but I never had it when I was on Windows 8, which was over six months ago.

Specs:
OS: Windows 10 (upgrade from Windows 8)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150
CPU: Intel Core i3-4370 3.8GHz Dual-Core Processor*
GPU: Sapphire R9 285 OC Edition
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
PSU: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5"
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
HDD: Western Digital Green 640 GB 3.5" 7200RPM
Network: LAN connection to ASUS RTN66U router

What I've done thus far:
Moved wireless mouse receiver closer (within 1 foot with no obstructions).
Tried a different cordless mouse.
Tried a corded mouse.
Tried plugging mouse into*different USB port.
Removed all non-essential*peripherals, like external hard drives and speakers.
Exited Malwarebytes.
Fully uninstalled and removed Malwarebytes and reinstalled.
Put all mouse drivers into compatibility mode to Windows 8.
Removed Realtek HD audio driver.
Removed ALL audio drivers.
Disabled Cortana.
Uninstalled Samsung Magician.
Updated Chrome from 32 to beta 64.
Monitored memory usage in Task Manager. Only notable things are that Malwarebytes which hovers around 175MB and Chrome, which (as we speak) has about 15 instances, totaling about 1GB. Total memory usage hovers around 42%.
Updating graphics card drivers.
Downloaded AsRock software and reflashed/updated*all BIOS related matters.
Made absolutely sure my computer is cool and not overheating.
Ran Windows Performance Monitor, which I admittedly don't know how to use, and which shows no spikes of any kind when I encounter lag.

I'm ready to blow this thing up. I'll do whatever it takes to get this to go away. It's driving me mad. What should I do? Buy a new motherboard, upgrade processor, get more ram? Nuke the OS and do a clean install? Just smash the computer and start fresh? Can I run some monitoring software and figure out what the F is causing all this?

 

[UsandThem]

I had the same issue with a new wireless Logitech mouse/keyboard combo I bought. I saw there were many posts about the issue at various support sites.

After doing all the things you did, I gave up. I went back to my wired Microsoft keyboard and older Logitech m310 wireless mouse. All is good again.

 

[JeffMD]

have task manager open... see if you can link it to something more specific.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If it doesn't turn out to be just a wireless mouse interference issue (which, it could be, especially if the 2.4Ghz wireless mouse receiver is plugged into a USB3.0 / blue port), then I would say that one of your storage drives is failing.

I would, as a test, get another (new) storage drive, either HDD or SSD, and unplug all of your existing drive, and plug that one in, and install a "test" copy of the OS (and newest drivers), and see if the problem still happens. If it does NOT, then start plugging in your older drives, one at a time, and see if the problem returns. If it DOES, then the drive you most recently plugged in may be failing.

Edit: BTW, I've had those symptoms when my SSD was failing. It died within a month.

Edit: Try a wired keyboard and mouse, to rule out wireless mouse interference first. If it still happens, it's likely to be your drives.

 

[liquidsense]

have task manager open... see if you can link it to something more specific.

I was being hyper-focused on ram, so instead, I looked at CPU, which would occasionally show Photos Background Task Host running and taking 40% of CPU. I researched and re-registered all Windows apps, and I'll see if that makes a difference. Much of the frustration with this exercise is that, sometimes I feel like it's fixed, and then out of nowhere, it'll come back -- sending me into a fit of rage.

If it doesn't turn out to be just a wireless mouse interference issue (which, it could be, especially if the 2.4Ghz wireless mouse receiver is plugged into a USB3.0 / blue port), then I would say that one of your storage drives is failing.

I would, as a test, get another (new) storage drive, either HDD or SSD, and unplug all of your existing drive, and plug that one in, and install a "test" copy of the OS (and newest drivers), and see if the problem still happens. If it does NOT, then start plugging in your older drives, one at a time, and see if the problem returns. If it DOES, then the drive you most recently plugged in may be failing.

Edit: BTW, I've had those symptoms when my SSD was failing. It died within a month.

Edit: Try a wired keyboard and mouse, to rule out wireless mouse interference first. If it still happens, it's likely to be your drives.

Thank you. I will definitely give this a shot if the photos thing isn't the fix.

 

[Fr33K!e]

I had a similar issue but it was the firmware for the SSD's that was causing the problem. Once I had updated the firmware everything was silky smooth.

 

[harshbarj]

Check the event log. I had a laptop do this once and it was the trackpad drivers crashing and then restarting. Every 10-15 second the driver would crash and restart.