Starting to notice a slowdown

[neonplanet40]

Hi Folks,

I don't have the fastest PC in the world but my rig has always done everything I need from it. The only thing I have ever really upgraded (since the original build) is my GPU.

However, over the past few months, I have started to notice a slowdown in things which used to run fine?

E.g. - Playing HOTS (hardly overly demanding) and watching Iplayer on the other screen.

This used to work fine. However, now I get random stuttering and freezes in the game or on the player.

Is my PC showing it's age? Or is it something else? I am running the latest drivers etc.

Rig is:

Asus P8P67M
Intel 2500k
8GB Corsair XMS
256GB Crucial MX SSD
Palit GTX1070 GameRock Edition

[Phage]

Unlikely -If it was fine before, I'd be guessing some component is starting to fail.
Cooler ?
RAM ?
PSU ?
I'd start some monitoring apps and see if you can see what's going on

[neonplanet40]

Cooler is an Arctic something-something ( not useful I know!) - Coretemp records temps of 30 when just using internet across cores. Tops out about 48 when gaming.

Ram is Corsair 8GB 1600 - I could test it to ensure there are no problems.

PSU is an OCZ 650W.

I thought the slowdown could be linked to the problems all Intel CPU's had that needs a fixed which could slow them down. I am unsure if mine was affected though...

[Fizzl]

Have you tried the same things with your browser closed? Checked for any specific programs eating your resources?

I got a slowdown a month or so back, Vermintide especially was having a problem. Checked task manager, my browser was munching 75% of my CPU. Closer inspection revealed it was just one specific tab I'd left open (because it had a nice ESP-01s diagram) was running a miner in it.

Alternatively dust around a heatsink will cause thermal throttling. In that case I recommend this guy, beats the socks off the compressed air cans: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ITDusters-C...dp/B073F9NY1X/

[Millennium]

Hi neonplanet40!

Please try this and report back:

The DPC Latency Checker tool
If any kernel-mode device driver in your Windows system is implemented improperly and causes excessive latencies of Deferred Procedure Calls (DPCs) then drop-outs will probably occur when you use real-time audio or video streaming applications.

https://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml


Did you change any drivers, or the BIOS, and have there been any recent windows updates? Your system seems decent enough even today.

[Pob255]

Over clocking?
Check the Ram usage.
Could be hard drive/ssd
Do you shutdown or just put it to sleep? it could be just a ton of crud temp/cache data built up.

[Firejack]

...

I thought the slowdown could be linked to the problems all Intel CPU's had that needs a fixed which could slow them down. I am unsure if mine was affected though...

There is an handy tool for checking Spectre/ Meltdown on your PC. See this article on Hexus: https://hexus.net/tech/news/software...-released-grc/

[DanceswithUnix]

How bad is the stuttering/freezing? If it is really clonking then it could be you are losing some sectors on the hard disk, if you can get an output from a SMART hard disk tool we can tell you if it looks on the way out. Worth doing occasionally anyway.

[johnroe]

It's good to have a feel for how well your PC is running. Whenever mine seems a bit slower I also give it a thorough clean inside(every six months). It's incredible(and I've got two filters) how much dust builds up on fan blades on GPU, clogging up the CPU radiator. Let us know what the real problem was, it might help next time mine feels slow.

Out of interest> is it okay to use a vacuum attachment and place it below the GPU fan blades, making the fan spin(ie: will that potentially damage the motor?). It's just I had fan pack up on my last GPU.

[Corky34]

If the hardware has remained essentially unchanged then my first port of call would be the software and if you're running Windows 10 that, unfortunately, is getting a bit of a reputation for random problems being introduced with every update.

[Kumagoro]

Reinstall windows, it saves you time in the long run.

[DanceswithUnix]

Out of interest> is it okay to use a vacuum attachment and place it below the GPU fan blades, making the fan spin(ie: will that potentially damage the motor?). It's just I had fan pack up on my last GPU.

Try and avoid it, it will generate voltages in the fan control circuit which shouldn't blow anything but might. Put a finger on the heatsink blocking the fan from spinning, don't hold the fan blades as the bearings are easy to damage.

Also, be careful with the vacuum cleaner, uprights tent to be good Van de Graaf generators so keep the body away from the PC and use the hose.

[Pob255]

Out of interest> is it okay to use a vacuum attachment and place it below the GPU fan blades, making the fan spin(ie: will that potentially damage the motor?). It's just I had fan pack up on my last GPU.

Try and avoid it, it will generate voltages in the fan control circuit which shouldn't blow anything but might. Put a finger on the heatsink blocking the fan from spinning, don't hold the fan blades as the bearings are easy to damage.

Also, be careful with the vacuum cleaner, uprights tent to be good Van de Graaf generators so keep the body away from the PC and use the hose.

You can easily overvolt a fan controller by spinning the fan too fast esp with a vacuum cleaner.
If you spin an electric motor you turn it into a dynamo, a vacuum cleaner can spin a fan far far faster than it'll run at 12v so you can feed a +100v back into the fan controller circuit.
Normally it will have some form of protection, in the past I have fried a motherboard fan header this way, it only effected that fan header.
Fan bearing are tougher than that, generally stopping a fan by holding a blade will not do anything to it, just don't try to pickup a graphics card by a fan blade.

If you want to stop a spinning fan press on the hub, you can stop it by just jamming your fingers into the blades, but your fingers will come off worse.

Static will tend to build up on the nozzle of the tube, caused by dust against the plastic and the nozzle not being earthed, keep it a couple of inch (~5cm) away

[DanceswithUnix]

You can easily overvolt a fan controller by spinning the fan too fast esp with a vacuum cleaner.
If you spin an electric motor you turn it into a dynamo, a vacuum cleaner can spin a fan far far faster than it'll run at 12v so you can feed a +100v back into the fan controller circuit.
Normally it will have some form of protection, in the past I have fried a motherboard fan header this way, it only effected that fan header.
Fan bearing are tougher than that, generally stopping a fan by holding a blade will not do anything to it, just don't try to pickup a graphics card by a fan blade.

If you want to stop a spinning fan press on the hub, you can stop it by just jamming your fingers into the blades, but your fingers will come off worse.

Static will tend to build up on the nozzle of the tube, caused by dust against the plastic and the nozzle not being earthed, keep it a couple of inch (~5cm) away

Interesting, I haven't blown anything yet by letting the fans spin just heard second hand (like your tale). I have however accidentally knocked a spinning fan and turned it from silent to a buzzing dying mess.

I was assuming when saying to put your finger in the way of the fan that the PC would be turned off at the time I try and stop the fan from starting to spin when cleaning a PC out.

[johnroe]

My first post on here years ago was 'my skin is attacking my PC'(or similar), by which I meant dust. Based on feedback, I clamp the end of the vac hose inside the case and blow circuits with a small air compressor, but was concerned that blowing dust off blades might send it somewhere else. I'm not sure how(or if it was coincidence) but EVGA sent me an email shortly after telling me to clean the GPU every 2 or 3 months. They replaced my last GPU after one of it's fans stopped. But after your advice I think it's going to be damp paintbrush for the blades from now on.

Something I'd like to see, going on from the PC build simulator idea. I'd like a way of seeing all the air flows created by all the different fans in a virtual computer case. It would be interesting and maybe there would be away of making sure there's a slightly positive internal pressure, and less chance of dust being sucked in. Although my GPU and CPU do run at quite low temps even when gaming. I think the cleaning has extended the life of this PC.

[kalniel]

Oddly.. my computer seems to be speeding up. I mean, yes, some components have been upgraded over time, but the last few windows updates have made it feel snappier on the same components as well.