Why is my computer lagging?

Question

I built a brand new computer. When I open a program or navigate the web it has a very long delay before performing certain actions. I don't know what could cause this. Specs are:

Asus 890FX ROG Motherboard 6GB SATA
AMD 6 core processor
8GB RAM
1.5TB Harddrive
EVGA 550ti Video Card
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Internet Speed http://www.speedtest.net/result/1870031092.png

This is far from a low end computer, but ever since I built it, it lags when I click on things. My friend said it might be a faulty Hard drive, but I don't think that would affect internet performance. When I play games, the game itself runs fine, but opening it up is another story. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Your friend is a maroon, there is nothing unstable about a 1TB drive. I have 6 ( and two 1.5 TB) of them on my Areca 1220 controller for 4 years now without so much as a hiccup.



The Windows Experience Index will always show 5.9 for drive subsystem unless it has SSDs. It's just Microsoft's way of encouraging you to spend more money.



I'd suggest you install a small (60GB) SSD for just the OS. You'll be amazed at how fast it loads.

Answer 2

Upgrade to the latest stable version of nVidia driver if you are using the generic Win7 drivers.

Reboot.

Then click Start -> type in "Check the Windows Experience Index" and re-run the assessment.



If this is a custom build, make sure you've set your clock multiplier settings correctly. Right-click My Computer, click Properties, and see what the processor speed is listed. You don't list your processor type so I am assuming you have at least a 2.8ghz Phenom 6 core processor. If you are listed below 2.8ghz, you will probably want to go into the bios and change the multiplier/fsb settings to ensure accurate speed representation on your CPU.



*Edit*

Let's do a hard drive check then.

Click Start, type 'cmd' without quotes, but instead of pressing Enter, right-click on cmd.exe and click Run as admin.



At the command prompt, type:

chkdsk c: /f /r

and press enter.

You'll be warned that the computer can't run the chkdsk while the disk is mounted and offer to run chkdsk at the next startup. Click ok to that and reboot.



Also, download and install the following programs:



Data Lifeguard:

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3&lang=en

Ensure drive passes S.M.A.R.T. tests



Speedfan:

http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

Ensure HDD and CPU reading are not idling higher than 45 degrees celcius and GPU is not idling above 50 degrees celcius.



CCleaner:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner

Remove cache, temporary files, cookies and recycle bin.



If the above doesn't work, I would suggest performing a clean install of Windows. This is a prudent thing to do and something I do at least twice a year anyway.



In the event this is malware related, a clean install will take care of that too.

Answer 3

Download Tuneup Utilities. it cleans your PC/laptop out thoroughly. chances are you just have lots of fragged data or an unfragged registry or duplicate back-data or all of the above or more



30 day free trial and works like the full paid app. once you install it just click on the 1Click-maintainance option and let it do its thing. first few times might take a while...



also invest in a good internet security, not anti-virus... Kaspersky is best

Answer 4

Your friend could very well be right. The bad hard drive could very well account for your browser to start up slow - it is an application, just like any other program on your computer, after all.



You got your computer in the mail? hard drives are pretty fragile and is probably the component that's DOA (dead on arrival) most frequently when shipped by mail, I'm sure.



No, I have never heard that 1TB+ HDDs are unstable, not sure why they would be

Answer 5

Is your CPU at 0 when nothing is running

I also found this info

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I've been trying to overclock my CPU. the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T.



I overclocked from 2.8 to 3.2 MHz and ran a stress test for 20-25 mins, it ran completely fine, didn't overheat, no errors. However, when I turned a game on, in this case Crysis Warhead, the game would freeze up and crash. I tried a bunch of different settings in the game, even restarted my computer and no matter what I did it would crash. I finally set the clock speed back to default and ran the game, no crashes...



I've never had this happen before.

I think you need to set your CPU speed as it is to many MHz

Answer 6

Go to start> run> MS COnfig and see whts in ur startup list, disable unwanted items. If its been a while since you cleaned out the temporary files, temp internet files etc, run a disk cleanup and check the fragmentation levels. Run chkdsk and defrag, a drive loaded with junk combined with severe fragmentation can cause slowdowns. Of course scan for spyware.

Answer 7

Your hard drive score will always be less than or equal to 6.0 unless you have an SSD.

Answer 8

Could it be your internet connection? are other computers in your house having the same problem? check that and if not, try reinstalling your motherboard drivers (you should be able to get them off their website..... err try on another computer and copying them to this one with a flash drive, might be faster) and if all else fails, try a reistall of windows 7.