Slight slowdowns on a new rig

[TeruTeru]

I just bought a new rig and had formatted it (the HDD was from a previous PC with XP installed) and installed its drivers. However I notice that when minimizing or maximizing windows, it doesn't seem to go up and down as smooth as the other PC I'm using. The new one I bought is supposedly faster so I was wondering if there was something wrong I did with installing drivers or stuff.

Here are the rig's specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5 3470
Mobo: MSI H77MA G43 LGA 1155
GPU: HIS Radeon 7850
Mem: G. Skill Ripjaws 2x4 8gb DDR3-1600
Psu: Corsair 650w VS
Atx: Corsair 200-R

When I installed the drivers included in the Mobo, I only picked out the stuff that I thought was needed (main drivers) and did not include the other software they had. Could this be what the rig lacks?

 

[Jad Chaar]

That is an issue with Windows XP on new hardware. Also, AMD will stop supporting XP in the next driver update, so you have upgrade to Win 7 in order to receive further updates.

 

[TeruTeru]

Sorry I forgot to say that the HDD was reformatted to a Win 7 now. And the slight slow downs are still there. But funny that when I change resolutions, it disappears. And after I restart it is there again.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Try this:

• Download and install the latest driver from here: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon_xp-32.aspx.

If that does not help, please describe the slowdown further and in greater detail.

 

[TeruTeru]

Thanks. Sorry I couldn't give much detail about it as I'm not even sure how to describe it. Anyway, I have that installed through the driver included with the GPU but I'll try to update it just in case and let you know what happens. Sadly, the update may take more than a week since the ISP that was supposed to install my internet line yesterday were gofers. Not sure when they can get it installed.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Ok, no problem. Just make sure you uninstall that driver with this tool: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/catalyst-uninstall-utility.aspx before installing the latest one.

 

[TeruTeru]

Okay. Thanks again. Just to give more detail though (haven't tried any fixes since I'm still at work and the PC at home still has no net), the things that are slow about the new PC I've noticed are:

• Minimizing and maximizing animation of windows
• The boot up of Windows on startup doesn't seem to be that fast (this maybe a problem with my HDD though, using one that was bought 5-6 years ago but is SATA and running at 7200 rpm)

Hope this can help identify the problem. I haven't been able to test with heavy graphics yet but will update here once I could.

 

[Jad Chaar]

HDDs are slow to start up. As for minimizing and maximizing animations, are they laggy? I have not experienced these types of slowdowns before.

 

[TeruTeru]

Okay for the HDDs. The 6 years it previously served must be takings its toll now. However I'd like to observe first to see if it's worth spending for a new one or to just keep the old one (most would say just get a new one but I'm not allowed to spend so casually).

On the other hand, as I opened up the PC today (got my net now). I noticed that the animation lags were gone. Just to be sure though, I tried updating the VGA driver and restarting and to my surprise, no signs of lags or slow downs. My guess is that the HDD just needed to heat up or something from not being used for 8 months and collecting dust? (purely an amateur assumption)

JC713 Thanks for helping me with this issue.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Okay for the HDDs. The 6 years it previously served must be takings its toll now. However I'd like to observe first to see if it's worth spending for a new one or to just keep the old one (most would say just get a new one but I'm not allowed to spend so casually).

On the other hand, as I opened up the PC today (got my net now). I noticed that the animation lags were gone. Just to be sure though, I tried updating the VGA driver and restarting and to my surprise, no signs of lags or slow downs. My guess is that the HDD just needed to heat up or something from not being used for 8 months and collecting dust? (purely an amateur assumption)

JC713 Thanks for helping me with this issue.

Congrats man! I am always glad to help. The lagging may have gone away because an update was downloaded and installed when you connected the internet. I am not sure though.