PC slowing down

[mikef]

I wonder whether anyone else has experienced this or has any pointers?

I have a decent spec PC that slows down noticeably during the day. I don't mean that it has slowed down over time with bloat - on boot the Geekbench 3 score is 22,000, by the end of the day it's nearer 6,000

This was happening under Win 8.1, still the same under Windows 10

My initial suspects were three services - Malwarebytes Premium, Acronis 2016 and Norton Intenet Security 2015. I've run without those and checked logs, but no real pointers or improvement so far. I also run those exact same services on a couple of other decent spec Win 10 systems that don't exhibit the same behaviour.

Any ideas where to look next?

[anonymous-user]

Heating issues ?
Check core temps etc ?

[mikef]

Thanks, I'll do that next time. Tha CPU isn't being stretched and has a Megahalems cooler with Gelid paste, there are three case fans - I can use the Asus utility to up the fan speeds, so will try that. Also a Corsair PSU that gives diagnostics through USB link.

I do a lot of database development work and did suspect SQL Server which can hog free memory and doesn't show up in memory monitors but I've set the max DB memory setting to less than half the available RAM, so I don't /think/ that's it

[Who me ?]

techiedave said:

Heating issues ?
Check core temps etc ?

I'd recommend SPEEDFAN for this, as a first step. Look at TUCOWS.COM/DOWNLOAD.COM for a download site.
But the older Norton versions were very guilty of resource hogging. Another place to look is Windows auto update. Try turning them off and see if things change. W8/8.1- I don't know about, as I had a feeling (proved to be right) ,that this was Vista by another name ,but 10 is full of bloatware .Old mate of mine(when I started dabbling in PC) said that Windoz likes to be in control. Prior to W95, you deleted software. Try that with 95 and it threw a hizzy fit. now it's not just Windoz that wants to be in control ,it's MS.Or so it seems on W10.

Edited by Who me ? on Saturday 12th September 23:18

[mp3manager]

Avoid Tucows at all costs as they inject adware installers into the install process.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/safe-software-downlo...

Edited by mp3manager on Saturday 12th September 23:43

[Who me ?]

Another reason for getting defended early = rogue killer.

[grumbledoak]

Heating up and throttling back sounds possible.

Is it reset by logging out and in again (thus a user process), or do you have to switch it properly off and on (system process)?

I would look at the Task Manager Performance and Details tabs.

[mikef]

Hi

Thanks all for the input

So far the first suggestion looks like the culprit (so especially thanks) Funny how as a software guy I always assume it's a software problem

I've changed the fan profiles, particularly the CPU fans, and so far it's holding up

Mike

[nyt]

Is running 3 anti-virus packages a good idea?

I've always read that they interfere with each other and lead to slowdown.

Example advice from Microsoft: http://blogs.microsoft.com/cybertrust/2014/08/05/c...

[anonymous-user]

mikef said:

Hi

Thanks all for the input

So far the first suggestion looks like the culprit (so especially thanks) Funny how as a software guy I always assume it's a software problem

I've changed the fan profiles, particularly the CPU fans, and so far it's holding up

Mike

Thanks for being so polite !
Hope you get it fixed
FWIW the guy above mentioning not running several anti virus together may have a point. Though Malware Bytes is a little different as I thought it was just something you ran from time to time.

[jjlynn27]

There is a part of mwbytes that is resident. But you can kill that off. These days most av companies do updates several times a day and are usually very quick in updating for new threads. TLDR; pick one av and mwbytes or equivalent.

[mikef]

nyt said:

Is running 3 anti-virus packages a good idea?

I've always read that they interfere with each other and lead to slowdown

Only two, the Acronis 2016 is an automated backup app
As mentioned, Malwarebytes is a bit different from a normal anti-virus; the Premium version does run as a background service though to catch dodgy content in sites in real time. I do run this combination of Norton 2105 and Malwarebytes on other PCs with no issues

[nyt]

mikef said:

Only two, the Acronis 2016 is an automated backup app
As mentioned, Malwarebytes is a bit different from a normal anti-virus; the Premium version does run as a background service though to catch dodgy content in sites in real time. I do run this combination of Norton 2105 and Malwarebytes on other PCs with no issues

Where is the PC from? Could the issue be something as simple as the heatsink not being properly seated or insufficient heat transfer compound.

Or, perhaps, one or more of the case fans not working

[mikef]

Self-build. I was already thinking that if adjusting the fan profiles doesn't do the trick (they are definitely all working and showing up in the monitor) then I might redo the paste - I use Gelid GC-Extreme ceramic paste.

I don't suspect the PSU - Corsair AX860i driving 1 CPU and 1 GPU. It has onboard diagnostics that hook up to the motherboard via USB and can be monitored onscreen.

[nyt]

A PC shouldn't slow down in the way you describe unless it's being driven really hard.
The fan software is probably masking an underlying issue.

I'd definitely reseat and re-gunk the heatsink

[mikef]

Makes sense, I'll replace the paste. The CPU isn't being pushed that hard, it's a software development box with hex core i7-5820 and I have a more powerful QA box that I use when I need processing power.

[mikef]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

1. Yes, it does
2. Yes, pretty much identical and each time it's rebooted (which I've been having to do at least once a day)

[mikef]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks. I'm not sure about the disks; it's all SSD apart from internal backup space; system disk is a Samsung HD840 Pro, main database disk is a Mushkin PCIe SSD, database logs to a Samsung XP951 PCIe M.2 SSD.

I'll investigate the memory - it's the cheapest DDR4 that Overclockers sell, 64GB of Avexir 2400MHz, that may have been a false saving

[mikef]

Crystaldiskinfo shows the system SSD SMART status as 100%

The problem occurs even when I know I haven't been hitting the other 2 SSDs. The Samsung XP951 shows status as 93% with some used reserved blocks; Can't get a reading on the Mushkin Scorpio PCIe SSD

That doesn't feel like it's the problem

[nyt]

OP - are any processes malfunctioning and just using memory?

Perhaps, next time that the machine gets slow, you could upload screen grabs of task manager with processes sorted for 1)CPU 2)Memory and 3)Disk IO.

Though non of the above would explain the fan software fixing the issue (unless some process is using lots of CPU and causing overheating)

Could it be something like Acronis or one of the AVs hammering the disks? The problem with SSDs is that you can't hear it when they are being constantly accessed.