PC gradually running worse and worse

[JamDav]

I've had this PC since October of 2021 and it was built earlier that year. It is using Windows 64 bit, Intel Core 15-9400F, 16Gb ram, 220Gb SSD, 2TB HDD and NVIDIA GeForece GTX 1660.

 

Initially when I used it I was able to run games such as Overwatch 1 at the time and Valorant at 100+ frames and on upper medium-high graphics whilst having Spotify or Chrome open too with little to no issues or chugging. But over the last 6 months especially, I've been on lower medium-low graphics on Valorant and Overwatch 2, amongst other games, and can't go above around 80 frames without my CPU skyrocketing. Even when trying to just watch a YouTube video with no games open, maybe just Discord, it struggles to stay under 90%.

 

My BIOS is up to date, as are my drivers. Should I be expecting more performance than I'm getting now? Or is it worth just upgrading? 

 

Thanks. 

[Naijin]

3 minutes ago, JamDav said:

I've had this PC since October of 2021 and it was built earlier that year. It is using Windows 64 bit, Intel Core 15-9400F, 16Gb ram, 220Gb SSD, 2TB HDD and NVIDIA GeForece GTX 1660.

 

Initially when I used it I was able to run games such as Overwatch 1 at the time and Valorant at 100+ frames and on upper medium-high graphics whilst having Spotify or Chrome open too with little to no issues or chugging. But over the last 6 months especially, I've been on lower medium-low graphics on Valorant and Overwatch 2, amongst other games, and can't go above around 80 frames without my CPU skyrocketing. Even when trying to just watch a YouTube video with no games open, maybe just Discord, it struggles to stay under 90%.

 

My BIOS is up to date, as are my drivers. Should I be expecting more performance than I'm getting now? Or is it worth just upgrading? 

 

Thanks. 

What are your cpu and gpu temperatures and frequencies when playing games? Sounds like the cpu or gpu may be throttling itself.

What cpu cooling and case do you use? Is the heatsink properly seated? Is there dust in the pc/heatsink?

[Dedayog]

36 minutes ago, JamDav said:

I've had this PC since October of 2021 and it was built earlier that year. It is using Windows 64 bit, Intel Core 15-9400F, 16Gb ram, 220Gb SSD, 2TB HDD and NVIDIA GeForece GTX 1660.

 

Initially when I used it I was able to run games such as Overwatch 1 at the time and Valorant at 100+ frames and on upper medium-high graphics whilst having Spotify or Chrome open too with little to no issues or chugging. But over the last 6 months especially, I've been on lower medium-low graphics on Valorant and Overwatch 2, amongst other games, and can't go above around 80 frames without my CPU skyrocketing. Even when trying to just watch a YouTube video with no games open, maybe just Discord, it struggles to stay under 90%.

 

My BIOS is up to date, as are my drivers. Should I be expecting more performance than I'm getting now? Or is it worth just upgrading? 

 

Thanks. 

Well over time we accumulate other fixes, patches, updates and of course... random downloads.  In the 1.5 years you've had it, how cluttered have you gotten it?  I would wager there are more background processes than you realize.

 

Now while that shouldn't impact TOO much, I don't know if Valorant or Overwatch have had updates that affect a non-HT chip.  Doubtful, but possible.

 

As above, how are you temps?  

[WildDagwood]

7 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Well over time we accumulate other fixes, patches, updates and of course... random downloads.  In the 1.5 years you've had it, how cluttered have you gotten it?  I would wager there are more background processes than you realize.

 

Now while that shouldn't impact TOO much, I don't know if Valorant or Overwatch have had updates that affect a non-HT chip.  Doubtful, but possible.

 

As above, how are you temps?  

Was thinking the same about an increase in background processes impacting games. Though, with such high CPU usage when minimal apps open, I'm curious what processes are hogging the CPU resources, outside of gaming. Struggling to stay under 90% utilization when only a browser and discord is open is excessive.

 

@JamDav take a peak at your Task Manager and sort it by CPU usage (high to low, obviously), to see what processes are taking up the most resources. A screenshot may be useful for us as well.

[JamDav]

Firstly, thank you all for your replies. 

 

I monitored my CPU and GPU temps when having only Overwatch/FIFA, Discord and Spotify open. On average, my CPU was sitting at around 130-145 degrees Fahrenheit (hopefully the celsius to fahrenheit conversion was right) and the GPU was around 130 or 150 (there is temp #1 and #2 on ICUE and I don't know which one is correct sorry). 

 

As far as I'm aware, I am using the stock intel CPU cooler. 

 

I would say I have gotten it reasonably cluttered, but I try to clear cache, files and do clean ups using Norton. Gave my PC a dust the other day (just with a brush, not removing components and using canned air, etc) as admittedly it was quite grubby, however, this hasn't garnered any improvements.

 

Again thanks for the replies!

Edited March 3, 2023 by JamDav
added "FIFA"

[Dedayog]

Turn off Norton and run again please.

 

Also, how full is your 220GB boot SSD?

 

Also, no need to convert to Fahrenheit here. We default to Celsius since that's how temps are reported.

 

I am curious to note how long ago it was working awesome, how much time passed and what was installed and uninstalled til now.

 

Honestly, you have an older CPU that has no hyperthreading. Youtube watching at 90% usage is insane but when doing that you may have a lot of background stuff working.

 

I'd probably just reinstall Windows and go fresh, minimal apps downloaded.  

[WildDagwood]

Curious about the reported usage when a game isn't open as well. I don't play Overwatch or FIFA, but nothing in the usage seems out of the ordinary so far, on the CPU end.

 

Can you check the digital signature on wallpaper32? It seems to be using a decent chunk of your GPU.

[JamDav]

These are a couple screenshots of just a couple light Chrome tabs open and my start up programs. 

 

Wallpaper32 is Wallpaper Engine, I've got an animated wallpaper. Nothing too crazy but still has an impact on my GPU which I don't believe I've had any issues with. 

 

It's probably been 6-8 months since it's been working great and in that time I've downloaded a fair few things. My SSD (222GB) has 30GB storage free and my HDD (2TB) has 475GB left. 

 

Going fresh is something I've considered but I'd ideally like to avoid it just with many large games and document files on the system. But I understand that it may be the best solution.