Computer slows down after a while of activity

[addicted2088]

Hi. My PC seems be slowing down a lot lately. Like after I finish playing a game, the computer will be slow in responding to usual stuff like bringing up the menu on right clicking on the desktop. Once or twice Windows has even told me that 'the computer is performing slowly and that I should disable Aero' (and this was while I was in the middle of a game), which I know is a bad sign. The mouse will also start skipping from one point to another for a second or two sometimes when I move it e.g when I try to open something while files are being transferred.

Games also seem to stutter quite a lot in the beginning when I load up a level (though the stuttering/lag stops after a while)

All this has just started happening over the last 4 weeks or so, wasn't the case before that.

One thing I've noticed is that RAM slot temperature is around 60C (which I'm guessing is due to the proximity of either the RAM slot or the RAM temp sensor to the CPU, not sure though)

This usually happens after a while of using the computer, and mostly after I close a game after playing it for a while. Restarting the PC makes it normal again, for a while.

Also, when the PC boots up, it shows a black screen with the mouse first, then the blue Welcome screen comes up. Here, I first get 'Please Wait' for a second, then it seems to hang/stutter for a second as it changes to Welcome. I'm pretty sure this hang isn't supposed to happen. Actually, I don't think even the Please Wait message should come up in normal operation

Here's what I've done till now to try and solve it:

1. Formatted and re-installed Windows, on multiple HDDs. Defragmented regularly.
2. Updated drivers, updated Windows to SP1.
3. Checked the temperatures, everything is normal. HDD goes up to 40-42C, CPU goes to a max of 73C while gaming (hangs around 36-45C in general usage), GPU temperatures are extremely normal as well. (except the RAM temp mentioned above)
4. Reconnected all components etc.
5. Installed a new GPU as well, so that rules out the possibility of a bad GPU (though i'm not sure if GPU was ever responsible for all this)


So what can the problem be? Hardware or software? Help me out here guys, I'm really going nuts not being able to pinpoint the problem.


Update: I ran Memtest for 15 passes, no errors found.


My specs:

Core i5-650 3.2 GHz
4 GB 1333MHz RAM DDR3
Asus P7H55-M LX Motherboard
500 GB 32 MB Cache WDC Caviar Green HDD
Geforce GTX560Ti
600W PSU (585W total output)
Windows 7 SP1 64-bit

 

[Tmagic650]

What program are you using to monitor the temps? Have you run diagnostics or run a disk check on the C drive? Defragging a hard drive often is not a good practice and it is not a substitute for running chkdsk or health diagnostics

 

[addicted2088]

What program are you using to monitor the temps? Have you run diagnostics or run a disk check on the C drive? Defragging a hard drive often is not a good practice and it is not a substitute for running chkdsk or health diagnostics

I've used RealTemp, Sandra, GPU-Z, HD-Tune Pro, all these to check the temperatures, hehe.

The thing is, this is happening with all three of my drives that I tried installing Windows on, so I'm not sure if it's because of the defragmentation. And the computer seems to hang/stutter since the last 4 weeks, never did that before then.

Is it possible that the RAM is going bad even though I never have any BSODs?

I'll do a health diagnostic on all my drives, and a MemTest test of my RAM.

 

[Tmagic650]

Swap the positions of the RAM modules. Run Memtest86 for at least 7 passes... Is the C drive SATA or old IDE? Is SMART (for the hard drive(s)) status enabled in the bios?

 

[addicted2088]

Swap the positions of the RAM modules. Run Memtest86 for at least 7 passes... Is the C drive SATA or old IDE? Is SMART (for the hard drive(s)) status enabled in the bios?

I have only one stick, and I tried putting it in both slots, still the same problems.

Yes, SMART is enabled and all 3 drives that I have are SATA. I'll do the MemTest tonight and post here if I find anything.

Also, my RAM info says:
RAM : 4096 MB DDR3 Single Channel
DRAM Frequency: 666.8 MHz

I'm guessing it says Single Channel and 666 MHz but is actually working at 1333 Mhz because DDR is dual data rate?

 

[Tmagic650]

Once you get this sorted out, you will get better performance running the memory in Dual Channel mode by installing another 4GB memory stick of the same specs. Have you always used single channel?

 

[addicted2088]

Once you get this sorted out, you will get better performance running the memory in Dual Channel mode by installing another 4GB memory stick of the same specs. Have you always used single channel?

Yes, my last two systems (including current) have always been a single RAM stick of 4 GB. I only noticed it says Single Channel with this stick after these problems began, never thought to check before that.

I was gonna go buy a new RAM stick today to add it to the system, but didn't.

 

[addicted2088]

Swap the positions of the RAM modules. Run Memtest86 for at least 7 passes... Is the C drive SATA or old IDE? Is SMART (for the hard drive(s)) status enabled in the bios?

I ran Memtest for 15 passes, no errors found. Guess I can rule out RAM problems. Will do an HDD test when possible and inform again.