Question My PC occasionally goes into a lag trance!

[Dave3000]

My PC for the second time has gone into a lag trance! What I mean is that this is the second time that my mouse and keyboard input have been lagging and the audio has been crackling and laggy opening apps, maximizing/minimizing windows is laggy and load times are much longer than usual as well when this happens. I also noticed that my RTX 4090 drops down to PCI-E 16x 2.0 from 4.0 mode as verified in the Nvidia Control Panel's System information when this lag happens. In fact it is very difficult to type this message because of this lag I'm mentioning here. Also Crystal Disk Mark is shows about 1/4 to 1/2 the performance of what my primary NVMe which is connected the the first M.2 slot (CPU lanes) should be getting when this happens but my secondary NVMe that is connected to the last M.2 slot (Chipset Lanes) is not having this issue. CPU-Z, under Mainboard, is showing a current link speed of 5.0 GT/s for the PCI-E 4.0 of the Graphics Interface when this happens. CPU-Z is much slower in the CPU benchmark when this happens, even more so on the single-threaded one. This lag issue happens from a straight boot up from a power off and the last time this happened was 2 months ago. After a reboot, system functions normal again, until it happens again. I did update my BIOS of my motherboard 2 months ago after first experiencing this issue but now the issue is back and now their is another BIOS update for my motherboard that I will update to. Also recently there are newer chipset drivers available for my motherboard but I had the latest motherboard chipset drivers until I found out today that their is an updated version just released today of the chipset drivers for my motherboard and I will update to those as well. My motherboard is an MSI X670E Tomahawk and my CPU is a Ryzen 7800X3D. I have an 850W power supply, the minimum required for an RTX 4090 according to the manufacturer of my card. Does anyone here have an idea of what is going on with my PC? Defective or gone bad CPU ? Defective or gone bad motherboard? BIOS issue? Chipset driver issue?

 

[Dave3000]

I just rebooted my PC and it is back to normal. CPU-Z shows 16.0 GT/s for the PCI-E 4.0 instead of 5.0 GT/s (when the issue was happening) for the Graphics Interface and my GPU is now running at PCI-E x16 Gen 4 instead of PCI-E x16 Gen 2 which is what it should be according to Nvidia's Control Panel's system information section.

 

[Brainonska511]

If it happens again, you could try setting PCIe settings manually in the BIOS, like setting it to PCIe 4.0 instead of auto.

 

[Dave3000]

Even if the GPU was running at PCI-E 16x Gen 2.0, it should not cause crackling audio, extreme input lag from mouse and keyboard and much slower CPU benchmark scores and lag in maximizing windows? Later today I updated my BIOS and reinstalled Windows 11 with the recently released updated chipset drivers. I will see how it goes from there.

 

[Dave3000]

Well today the issue cropped up again. I could tell that the problem cropped up without even checking that if my GPU was running at PCI-E x16 Gen 2 mode as Windows 11 was loading too slowly, static in the audio, and moving the mouse was extremely laggy. I checked the Nvidia Control Panel to see if my RTX 4090 was running in PCI-E x16 Gen 2 mode and sure it enough it was. As I mentioned earlier, a GPU just running in PCI-E x16 Gen 2 should not cause this issue in itself, as there seems to be more about this issue than that. Also I'm borderline on the power supply required for my GPU, but I doubt the GPU is being stressed anywhere near 100% when loading Windows and just navigating around the Windows GUI. I am using a Seasonic 600W 12HPWR adapter for my GPU so that I can have a direct power connection to the power supply which is a Seasonic as well instead of the using the included power adapter than came with my GPU. So it's not a motherboard BIOS issue or at least even if it was it hasn't been corrected and not a chipset driver issue as I'm now using the latest chipset drivers and BIOS since yesterday. I had to type this message using my secondary PC due to the extreme input lag I get when this happens. I'm not sure if it's the Logitech wireless receiver of my keyboard that is causing this, all three times that I experience this issue, I was using my wireless keyboard and mouse, but it didn't happen when I was using my wired keyboard and mouse without the wireless receiver connected from my PC. However, I really want to keep using this wireless mouse and keyboard as it has a multi-device feature that allows me to switch between my secondary PC and my main PC (The one having the issue). I'm beginning to think it's a motherboard issue or maybe even a CPU issue but I don't have a spare AM5 socket motherboard or a spare AM5 CPU to find out. I could buy a new motherboard or CPU to find out but the problem might not happen again until after the return period and I would hate it to still happen on the new motherboard or CPU, that would be a waste of money, even if I could RMA my motherboard or CPU under warranty. Maybe I should manually set it to PCI-E Gen 4 mode in the BIOS and see what happens.

 

[Brainonska511]

At a curiosity, do you have the GPU on a riser cable?

 

[Dave3000]

No, it's directly connected to the motherboard.

 

[Brainonska511]

Hm...

Since you think it could be an issue with the wireless receiver, have you tried a different set of USB ports?

The other option would be to manually set PCIe speed in the BIOS. Usually, its probably set at "auto/4.0" - maybe you can just set it directly to "4.0" (it could be called something like link speed)?

 

[Dave3000]

I don't remember which USB port I plugged it into the first time this issue happened. The wireless receiver is currently plugged into one of the rear USB ports.

 

[Dave3000]

I set the M.2 slots, PCI-E, and chipset PCI-E manually to Gen 4 mode in the BIOS a few minutes ago. Both my NVMe drives and GPU are PCI-E 4.0 anyways.

 

[Dave3000]

The issue happened again just now. I'm going back to the wired keyboard and mouse and see if it still happens.

 

[Dave3000]

I just disconnected my wireless keyboard and mouse and removed the wireless receiver from the USB port and reconnected my wired keyboard and mouse on this system. I want to verify if it's the wireless receiver that is causing this issue or not. I also installed updated ethernet, WiFi, bluetooth, and audio drivers specific for my motherboard as I was using an older version of these drivers, as I don't frequently check the motherboard's manufacturer's website for updated drivers for my motherboard unless I'm having an issue with my system. I also installed LatencyMon on this system yesterday, to check the DPC latency when this issue happens next time.

 

[Dave3000]

Well, so far the issue has not returned while using my wired keyboard and wired mouse. The keyboard and mouse are connected to my USB switch (mouse wire can't reach PC) which is connected to a rear USB port on my system. I'm using the same USB slot in the back as I did with my wireless receiver. What I might do next is connect the wireless receiver to the USB switch and see if the issue returns when connected to the USB switch instead of directly to my PC. Does this sound like a compatibility issue between my PC and the wireless receiver?

 

[Dave3000]

Yesterday evening I connected the wireless receiver to my USB switch instead of directly to my PC and used my wireless keyboard and wireless mouse and the issue happened again just now, though it wasn't as bad. This time it said PCI-E x16 Gen 3.0 instead of PCI-E x16 Gen 2.0 when I had the issue last time and the mouse wasn't as laggy, however, the cursor was choppy during moving the mouse.

 

[mindless1]

What is this "USB switch"? Is it just a USB hub or actually a USB switch that you're using to get these two systems to use the same keyboard and mouse?

However, I really want to keep using this wireless mouse and keyboard as it has a multi-device feature that allows me to switch between my secondary PC and my main PC (The one having the issue).

What exactly does this mean, can you elaborate?

Are you frequently plugging and unplugging this receiver into the same USB port? USB ports are supposed to be rated for a high # of insertion cycles, but personally I have seen cases where the little springy tabs that hold the connector tight against the electrical contacts, gets weak and certain USB devices I plug in, certain USB flash drives, I can tell they aren't making a good connection because windows pops up the "this device could perform faster (or however it's worded) message until I unplug and plug back in a few times, always with the same USB flash drives that apparently have a little different dimensions for the contacts in the connectors.

I would never have plugged a little mini-receiver directly into the back of a big, metal, computer case as that is frequently the cause of keyboard or mouse issues, but usually not making the entire system misbehave instead of just dropping smooth keyboard and mouse input. I would have tried putting the USB receiver on a USB extension cord first, and depending on the casing material of your USB switch or hub, if metal, or on a metal table/tray/etc, I would get it further away from a lot of metal and retest. If it still misbehaves then depending on your elaboration above, I would move the receiver or give up on it.

One thing I am always careful about in winter, is static electricity, the potential to cause ESD damage to USB peripherals or the hubs themselves through a static discharge event. I touch the side of the (grounded, through PSU) PC case before plugging things into it in winter when humidity is lower.

My point is, that at some point, this system was working fine with this wireless keyboard and mouse, yes? Then I would not have bothered changing the drivers around or bios, unless it only starts happening coming out of a lower power/sleep mode, which some buggy drivers have a problem returning to normal mode. You might also check your windows power management (power profile) settings for the USB and see if toggling settings for shutting them down to save power, makes any difference.

 

[Dave3000]

I did not frequently unplug and replug the receiver to the same USB port of my PC. It didn't experience this problem at first and it started around the beginning of November '24, shortly after I updated the BIOS. I don't remember if I was using one of the front or one of the rear USB ports to connect my wireless receiver at the time. Last week I update the BIOS to the latest version again as there was a more updated version. The problem was still ongoing. Over the past 2 weeks, the problem was more frequent and frequent enough that I can troubleshoot it easier. I will connect the wireless receiver to one of the front USB ports of the case later on. Right now I'm using the Bluetooth connection of the wireless keyboard and mouse and no random system lag issues doing it this way so far but I did have to disable sleep mode for the Bluetooth adapter on my system as with the Bluetooth connection, my wireless keyboard and mouse would have about 1 second of no response to input if I didn't use the wireless mouse or keyboard for around 20 seconds while in Bluetooth mode.

By multi-device keyboard/mouse I mean the wireless keyboard is an Logitech MX Keys and the wireless mouse is a Logitech MX Anywhere that has a 3 keys for 3 devices on the keyboard and switch on the bottom of the wireless mouse to switch between 3 devices using the Logitech wireless or Bluetooth connection. The USB switch I was using is an actual USB switch to switch between 2 PC's. Reason I bought the switch is because I rather use the switch to switch between my 2 PC's than use the built-in multi-device functionality of my wireless keyboard and mouse since I find it more convenient doing it that way than pressing the correct device key on the keyboard and then switching to the correct device selection on the bottom of the mouse each time I want to switch between my 2 PC's.

 

[Dave3000]

Yesterday afternoon I connected the Logitech wireless receiver to one of the front USB ports of my case. This evening when I turned on my PC and booted into Windows 11, the lag issue happened again and this time the PCI-E dropped to Gen 3.0 from Gen 4.0. When it was connected directly to one of the rear USB ports, it dropped to Gen 2.0, and when it was connected through the USB switch to that same rear USB port of my case, it dropped to PCI-E 3.0. As I mentioned here in an earlier post, the sound crackles up and everything is laggy, including opening folders and loading apps. A simple reboot fixes the issue temporarily for a day or two then the issue returns. So it's not a damaged USB port as it happens on more than one USB port in my system. This is on a recent clean install of Windows 11 with the latest drivers directly from the motherboard manufacturer for the motherboard related drivers and directly from Nvidia for my Founder's Edition RTX 4090. I also captured two photos of what it shows in LatencyMon, when the issue is happening and when the issue is not happening. The photos attached to this message. Does anyone here know what to make of it?

 

[Dave3000]

I stay offline while installing Windows 11 Pro by using a known workaround while the ethernet cable disconnected from my PC and setup Windows with an offline account. Right after Windows 11 is installed, I set the theme I want to use. Then I installed the motherboard drivers (chipset, motherboard's audio, ethernet, WiFi, and Bluetooth), while still offline. Then I installed the graphics card driver while still offline. Once I finish installing all drivers I need for my system, I set the Windows power plan to high performance and set the hard drive power down to 0 seconds and the minimum processor state to 100% under the power management settings for the high performance profile in Windows 11, turn off fast startup, and set the graphics card power management mode to "prefer maximum performance". Then I connect the ethernet cable to my PC and download the Windows updates. Then I install the 3rd party software, such as Chrome, LibreOffice, and Steam (I keep it to run at Windows startup automatically). I just thought I'd post my method of how I install Windows 11 Pro, as maybe I'm doing it wrong and it may be the cause of the issue?