Why is this computer so slow?

[RadiatingLight]

My mom has a old prebuilt dell that used to be a high-end prebuilt. it has a 2600K, 8GB of RAM, and some trashy AMD GPU that I swapped out for a GTX 650

 

However, despite these very decent specs, it still is noticeably slow during normal use, web browsing, etc.

I originally thought this was because of the HDD inside the computer, so I replaced it with a Samsung 850 EVO and put on a fresh install of windows 10.

it's marginally faster, but it's still slow. why is this?

NOTE: slow doesn't mean unusably slow, just slow enough that it makes a noticeable difference. it takes 0.5 seconds to open a minimized window. it takes 0.5 seconds to open the start menu, it takes 1 full second to open up a folder.

thermals are fine, and the CPU is nowhere near full load anyway.

 

Could it be because of SATA II instead of SATA III? maybe slow RAM speeds? I honestly have no idea why the computer is slow.

[Alexcalibur]

It might be the RAM, if it has low speed ram then that might be bottleneck isn't it especially if you notice it while going to different tabs

[JefferyD90]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

My mom has a old prebuilt dell that used to be a high-end prebuilt. it has a 2600K, 8GB of RAM, and some trashy AMD GPU that I swapped out for a GTX 650

 

However, despite these very decent specs, it still is noticeably slow during normal use, web browsing, etc.

I originally thought this was because of the HDD inside the computer, so I replaced it with a Samsung 850 EVO and put on a fresh install of windows 10.

it's marginally faster, but it's still slow. why is this?

NOTE: slow doesn't mean unusably slow, just slow enough that it makes a noticeable difference. it takes 0.5 seconds to open a minimized window. it takes 0.5 seconds to open the start menu, it takes 1 full second to open up a folder.

thermals are fine, and the CPU is nowhere near full load anyway.

 

Could it be because of SATA II instead of SATA III? maybe slow RAM speeds? I honestly have no idea why the computer is slow.

sounds like storage to me

[TheRandomness]

Check task manager? Something using the CPU a lot?

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, JefferyD90 said:

sounds like storage to me

How much does SATA II actually affect performance. is the latency less with SATA III? because loading up a minimized tab doesn't take 3Gbps of speed.

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Check task manager? Something using the CPU a lot?

Nope.

it hovers around 5-10% usage

 

[AresKrieger]

5 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

a fresh install of windows 10.

Check the ram usage and see if it has a memory leak, and possibly reinstall it as some windows 10 installs are just bad an cause issues such as crashes lag and other problems

[TheRandomness]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

Nope.

it hovers around 5-10% usage

 

Scan for virus' anyway c:

[AresKrieger]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Scan for virus' anyway c:

Didn't he just wipe the drive?

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Scan for virus' anyway c:

Windows defender is active. is there anything more to do for virus scanning?

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, wrathoftheturkey said:

Temps?

 

7 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

thermals are fine, and the CPU is nowhere near full load anyway.

 

[TheRandomness]

Just now, AresKrieger said:

Didn't he just wipe the drive?

Could've fucking it hard by using IE for a while THEN installing chrome. 

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

Windows defender is active. is there anything more to do for virus scanning?

Use an actual antivirus. Please don't ask me for recommendations, I haven't a clue on what's good or not. 

[flibberdipper]

Could very well be dying RAM, overheating, or (and this is my main theory) Windows 10 and Nvidia not getting along.

 

I had a GTX 480 in my system, but I had to take it out because the Nvidia drivers and Windows 10 did NOT get along. Closing Chrome would make my system scream to a halt and start running in circles.

[TheRandomness]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Windows Defender in Windows 10 isn't half bad.

But it's less than a quarter good.. So it's about a third meh. 

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

But it's less than a quarter good.. So it's about a third meh. 

How does that make sense?

ISNT half bad means less than 50% is bad

at least 51% good.

51% > 33%

 

But seriously defender is pretty good. unless you really fuck you PC up, it does a good job of filtering web downloads and catching viruses. I was running a VM and trying to get as many viruses as I could just for shits and giggles, and defender ruined my fun by deleting every virus I tried to install

[RadiatingLight]

5 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Try running off integrated graphics.

Interesting suggestion. I will try that.

It wont ruin gaming performance, right?

 

[TheRandomness]

4 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Any support for that claim?

I ran defender on my sister's PC and it found nothing. I then ran a different antivirus and it for around 150 different viruses...

4 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

How does that make sense?

ISNT half bad means less than 50% is bad

at least 51% good.

51% > 33%

 

But seriously defender is pretty good. unless you really fuck you PC up, it does a good job of filtering web downloads and catching viruses. I was running a VM and trying to get as many viruses as I could just for shits and giggles, and defender ruined my fun by deleting every virus I tried to install

I dislike maths. 

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Well, it will. But it'll at least help diagnose the problem.

OK

What's the best way to switch over to integrated graphics so I can switch back to the GPU when playing rocket league?

[AresKrieger]

So I take it that ram usage is fine, well check to see if the system interrupt system program is running as that has often been an indicator to me that the OS is corrupted in some form (after you use something like malwarbytes to check for viruses)

Edited September 19, 2016 by AresKrieger
()

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, TheRandomness said:

I ran defender on my sister's PC and it found nothing. I then ran a different antivirus and it for around 150 different viruses...

I dislike maths. 

What antivirus did you run?

[TheRandomness]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

What antivirus did you run?

Was a few months ago, can't remember now :c

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, AresKrieger said:

So I take it that ram usage is fine, well check to see if the system interrupt system program is running as that has often been an indicator to me that the OS is corrupted in some form

you might be onto something!

I do frequently see system interrupts near the top of task manager, but it takes up like 500MB of ram and 5% CPU, so I've usually dismissed it as just a poorly written system program, because 5% CPU and 500MB RAM isn't enough to slow a computer down that much, but if it's a sign of something bigger, I might want to try another reinstall.

[RadiatingLight]

2 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Take the display cable out of the GPU and plug into the motherboard's port.

I don't think that will work. I've run some demanding games with my display cable connected to my MOBO, and the GPU kicked in just fine.

also, the motherboard doesn't have a DVI output (only VGA). is there a software way to disable the GPU?

[AresKrieger]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

you might be onto something!

I do frequently see system interrupts near the top of task manager, but it takes up like 500MB of ram and 5% CPU, so I've usually dismissed it as just a poorly written system program, because 5% CPU and 500MB RAM isn't enough to slow a computer down that much, but if it's a sign of something bigger, I might want to try another reinstall.

Yeah constant interrupts happen when a process either is hindering an operation or the system itself has a broken element, i'd try running malwarebytes (free version of course) before the reinstall but windows 10 often has install issues so reinstalling won't hurt, it might not help if you have a piece of harware windows 10 takes issue with (usually wifi cards) but if all else fails it is an option

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, AresKrieger said:

Yeah constant interrupts happen when a process either is hindering an operation or the system itself has a broken element, i'd try running malwarebytes (free version of course) before the reinstall but windows 10 often has install issues so reinstalling won't hurt, it might not help if you have a piece of harware windows 10 takes issue with (usually wifi cards) but if all else fails it is an option

If i was to fresh install, I would need to do it off a USB stick, not just using the refresh option from within windows right? (I don't want a corrupted OS messing up the new install)