Old computer, new parts, same problems

[IComeFromDowntown]

So I had a gaming computer a while ago. It was modest at best. Today, I booted it up after about 2 years of having it in a closet at my parents house. The reason why I brought it out again was that a good friend of mine was asking if I wanted his old graphics card as he was getting a new one. I still game, but mostly on my laptop as I could never seem to get the performance out of my old desktop that I could out of my laptop.

So today, my buddy dropped off his old graphics card, an ASUS DirectCU II, and I picked up my old desktop, brought it to my house, and swapped out the cards. To my surprise, it was pretty clean inside and didn't appear to need anything other then a quick wipe down. The second order of business was accessing internet in the back of my house where the computer would be. Of course, the rig isn't wifi compatible and my modem is at the front of the house, so I needed to purchase a wifi adapter. I know its not the best, but until this pandemic is over and I can get my internet provider to send a technician over to move my modem so that I can hardwire my connection, an adapter would have to do. I painstakingly waited all day for WoW to install on the wifi adapter, which took forever, and noticed that ANYTHING I tried to do, lagged. If I wanted to close a window, it would take 2 minutes, if I wanted to restart the computer, it took forever for the startup menu to pop up once I clicked it. I finally got WoW installed and when, after opening, closing, opening closing, and it not loading properly, it finally opened correctly but the loading screen took FOREVER to load. When I finally got into the game, the HUD didn't load. I tried playing around with the graphic settings and even still with everything set on the lowest of the low, I was still getting sub 50 FPS and certain things were not loading. I even waited a good 10 minutes to see if the HUD would load properly and still, nothing.

What is going on??!! Why is the computer performing so poorly with ordinary tasks like opening a browser window while also being abysmal at supporting gameplay despite OK spec??!!

The computer specs are:
Core i5
600 watt power supply
ASUS DirectCU II graphics card with updated drivers
8 GB RAM

 

[Colif]

do you know what Core I5 you have? What Asus DirectCU 2 GPU is it as there are a few I can see?

if the answer to both is no, you can download a program like speccy that will show you - https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download (Don't download ccleaner, you don't need it)

slow loading could mean the hdd is at fault.

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

do you know what Core I5 you have? What Asus DirectCU 2 GPU is it as there are a few I can see?

if the answer to both is no, you can download a program like speccy that will show you - https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download (Don't download ccleaner, you don't need it)

slow loading could mean the hdd is at fault.

Asus GeForce GTX 760 2 GB DirectCU II Video Card

Intel Core i5-4460 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor

 

[Colif]

since I am using a 4690K, I feel I have to say its not that old

SO what hdd have you got? as that isn't a necessarily slow system and shouldn't struggle that much in wow (I assume, its been a long time since i played it)

How much free space on hdd? that can also slow down operations.

Are you on win 10?

what adapter did you get?

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

since I am using a 4690K, I feel I have to say its not that old

SO what hdd have you got? as that isn't a necessarily slow system and shouldn't struggle that much in wow (I assume, its been a long time since i played it)

How much free space on hdd? that can also slow down operations.

Are you on win 10?

what adapter did you get?

Western Digital Caviar Green 500 GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive is my HDD and yes, running windows 10 and have 305 GB of free space.

It was also a 5G D-Link adapter that I bought

 

[Colif]

Have you run a defrag recently?

could run this on hdd and see if its okay - WD - https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=3&lang=en

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

Have you run a defrag recently?

could run this on hdd and see if its okay - WD - https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=3&lang=en

Currently running the test. Says estimated time to complete is 2 minutes, but just passed the 10 minute mark and stuck at about 90% complete

 

[OsaX Nymloth]

Did you run the quick test? If so, taking more than few minutes seems like a potential HDD problem. Wait for the test to finish for now and check the results.

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

Did you run the quick test? If so, taking more than few minutes seems like a potential HDD problem. Wait for the test to finish for now and check the results.

Yes, I did take the quick test option... closing in on 15 minutes. However, when I opened the program, in the top window beside "capacity" under "SMART Status" it had a check mark and a PASS before I began running the test, if that means anything.

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

It just completed, and received a pass.

 

[Colif]

hdd are slow but not that slow (Its been a while since i used one).
Have you run defrag? its meant to be auto in win 10 but only runs if pc is idle. If you never run it, it could help.

What speeds are you getting through the 5g adapter? is it lag from slow connection as i played wow 10 years ago on a connection speed so slow I remember one fight I got 2 hits in before i died as I couldn't defend attacks i didn't see.

That shouldn't cause the HUD to not draw though. Latency causes the game to not draw things in the game world, but HUD is local so shouldn't be latency.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

A couple of easy things to try to try I'm not a pro tech support guy but I know a couple of tricks., if you need clarification ask :

(Turn it off and on again )

EDIT!!!!!!!!

Firstly, did you uninstall and do a fresh install of your Nvidia graphics drivers? If not do this first of everything. It doesnt sound like its all of the issue but it could be some of it.

Firstly use speccy(!) as @Colif suggested and list your full system specs, we would need to know Motherboard make and model, RAM speed, amount and number of sticks, also which version of Windows. What exact make and model PSU you have could also be a problem and we need to know.

Check Task manager. Press Ctrl alt delete and run it. See if anything is running and taking up a lot of resources in the background. Report back if there's something using up a lot of resources. Or take a screenshot and upload it.

This is always worth a try: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...er-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system. it may take a while.

If that doesnt help try a different SATA cable. Also a different port on the motherboard. I've had both cables and ports slowly fail before.

While you're at it make sure the drive is plugged into a SATA 3 port and not a slower SATA 2 version. You'll need to check your motherboard model online to find which ports are which if you dont have the manual anymore.

If you have two sticks of RAM, try removing one, leaving one in the first slot, and see if it helps. Then try the other. Be systematic. If you have two sticks they should be in slots 2 and 4, or 1 and 3 assuming you have four slots.

It might also just be that you are using a slow 5400 RPM hdd as a boot and storage drive, slow even for a modern mechanical drive (Usually 7200RPM). Can you tell me if your laptop has an SSD? You could list the make and model if you dont know. I can imagine if I put a 5400RPM HDD in my system as OS drive after all this time on an SSD and tried to do anything it would be like pulling teeth, especially if it was slowing with age a little.

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

hdd are slow but not that slow (Its been a while since i used one).
Have you run defrag? its meant to be auto in win 10 but only runs if pc is idle. If you never run it, it could help.

What speeds are you getting through the 5g adapter? is it lag from slow connection as i played wow 10 years ago on a connection speed so slow I remember one fight I got 2 hits in before i died as I couldn't defend attacks i didn't see.

That shouldn't cause the HUD to not draw though. Latency causes the game to not draw things in the game world, but HUD is local so shouldn't be latency.

Currently running the defrag current status is Pass 1: 57% relocated.

My speed on wifi is 120 Mbps. I assume that is very slow, but that still doesn't explain the lag in just clicking the start menu, or trying to exit a program

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

A couple of easy things to try to try I'm not a pro tech support guy but I know a couple of tricks., if you need clarification ask :

(Turn it off and on again )

EDIT!!!!!!!!

Firstly, did you uninstall and do a fresh install of your Nvidia graphics drivers? If not do this first of everything. It doesnt sound like its all of the issue but it could be some of it.

Firstly use speccy(!) as @Colif suggested and list your full system specs, we would need to know Motherboard make and model, RAM speed, amount and number of sticks, also which version of Windows. What exact make and model PSU you have could also be a problem and we need to know.

Check Task manager. Press Ctrl alt delete and run it. See if anything is running and taking up a lot of resources in the background. Report back if there's something using up a lot of resources. Or take a screenshot and upload it.

This is always worth a try: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...er-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system. it may take a while.

If that doesnt help try a different SATA cable. Also a different port on the motherboard. I've had both cables and ports slowly fail before.

While you're at it make sure the drive is plugged into a SATA 3 port and not a slower SATA 2 version. You'll need to check your motherboard model online to find which ports are which if you dont have the manual anymore.

If you have two sticks of RAM, try removing one, leaving one in the first slot, and see if it helps. Then try the other. Be systematic. If you have two sticks they should be in slots 2 and 4, or 1 and 3 assuming you have four slots.

It might also just be that you are using a slow 5400 RPM hdd as a boot and storage drive, slow even for a modern mechanical drive (Usually 7200RPM). Can you tell me if your laptop has an SSD? You could list the make and model if you dont know. I can imagine if I put a 5400RPM HDD in my system as OS drive after all this time on an SSD and tried to do anything it would be like pulling teeth, especially if it was slowing with age a little.

Following your steps in order, I found something interesting: my Task Manager stats are as follows,

https://imgur.com/a/5rhmHHY

View: https://imgur.com/a/5rhmHHY

 

[Oussebon]

If you've not used it for 2 years it will be installing 2 years of updates. On a slow HDD too. Which is what Task Manager shows - the update service heavily using the drive.

Your best bet is frankly to perform a clean installation of Windows 10.

Download Windows 10 onto a USB stick from here:

Download Windows 10

Boot the USB stick and proceed with Windows installation. When it gives you the choice of a custom/advanced install instead of a quick one, choose that. Delete ALL partitions on the drive so that all it says is "unallocated space". Then proceed with the installation.

Allow Windows to handle all drive updates.

The PC may still show high disk usage for a while after installation but it will be over a lot sooner than if you let it try to write 2 years worth of updates. Moreover, the updates Windows is doing will include upgrades to new versions of Windows 10, which can themselves cause problems when not clean installed, so it will help avoid/eliminate those.

1) Clean install will make you lose any data on the system, so backup what you don't want to loose

2) now might be a good opportunity to add an SSD to the system if you want to improve your quality of life and reduce the length of time you have to wait for the PC to load things or do anything on a daily basis. They're pretty affordable.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

^^^That might well be a large part of the problem.

What version of Windows do you have though?

A fresh install would rule out any other software issues, if you were still having problems after that we'd be looking at a hardware issue almost certainly.

There might be another way, I'm just not that familiar with Windows problems beyond the basics, I'm afraid

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

If you've not used it for 2 years it will be installing 2 years of updates. On a slow HDD too. Which is what Task Manager shows - the update service heavily using the drive.

Your best bet is frankly to perform a clean installation of Windows 10.

Download Windows 10 onto a USB stick from here:

Download Windows 10

Boot the USB stick and proceed with Windows installation. When it gives you the choice of a custom/advanced install instead of a quick one, choose that. Delete ALL partitions on the drive so that all it says is "unallocated space". Then proceed with the installation.

Allow Windows to handle all drive updates.

The PC may still show high disk usage for a while after installation but it will be over a lot sooner than if you let it try to write 2 years worth of updates. Moreover, the updates Windows is doing will include upgrades to new versions of Windows 10, which can themselves cause problems when not clean installed, so it will help avoid/eliminate those.

1) Clean install will make you lose any data on the system, so backup what you don't want to loose

2) now might be a good opportunity to add an SSD to the system if you want to improve your quality of life and reduce the length of time you have to wait for the PC to load things or do anything on a daily basis. They're pretty affordable.

Ok what I think im gonna do is fresh install 10 on this HDD, purchase the SSD:

https://www.amazon.ca/Blue-NAND-500...+2.5"+Solid+State+Drive&qid=1586670505&sr=8-1

and then reinstall WoW onto the new SSD. I am not too worried about losing everything because it was all just games from 2 years ago on the HDD anyways so it will just give me a new start which is I think what I need. It has gotten to the point where there are so many things trying to download at once I can even open the run command window without getting an error message. I finally have the Windows 10 downloading onto an 8GB stick as we speak.

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

^^^That might well be a large part of the problem.

What version of Windows do you have though?

A fresh install would rule out any other software issues, if you were still having problems after that we'd be looking at a hardware issue almost certainly.

There might be another way, I'm just not that familiar with Windows problems beyond the basics, I'm afraid

Yes, I think a fresh install is what is going to happen onto my current HDD. Then, I'm going to purchase a SSD and download my games onto that.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

I'd change it arround but get a bigger SSD. If you get a 500GB SSD you can get your Windows 10 on it, so your PC boots in about 10 seconds, and you'll have space for a few games. In terms of reinstalling Windows, I think some companies have software that make it easy to transfer your operating system from HDD to SSD.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Put your OS on the SSD! It will make the whole experience 10 times snappier and nicer, boot times and the desktop will run so much better. Even if funds are really tight and you only got a 250 GB or thereabouts drive you'd still have room for WOW and a couple other games. I have Windows on a 120GB SSD and there is still 20 GB to spare.

EDIt @Inspireless Llama You can indeed image one hard drive straight to another using something like Macrium reflect if thats what you mean? However it wouldnt solve any other potential software issues that may be occurring.

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

Like the one I linked above?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

The link didnt work, for me at least. It didnt even show up

 

[Colif]

My speed on wifi is 120 Mbps. I assume that is very slow,

that isn't slow. I played on a connection that was slower than 1.87 mbps in speed. 120 is actually faster than what I have now... but I won't cry about it

I wouldn't put games on ssd, I would put windows on ssd and games on hdd. You will see much more of a difference in that order.

having 2 drives is safer. I have almost everything on my hdd, I only have win 10 + anything I need to reinstall again on ssd. Makes rebuilding after windows messes up, so much easier. Admittedly I have gone overboard as I have 187gb free on ssd and I doubt I ever use it.

download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB - always use a NEW installer with win 10 as it gets a new versions every 6 months

follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

 

[Oussebon]

In the OP's case, the ideal would be to have the OS, programs, and their favourite games on the SSD. Some games can see a huge reduction in loading times.

While there is a point that can be made about having a minimal quantity of stuff on the main SSD so as to make formatting and clean installing / imaging and restoring easier, for most users including the OP, making use of the SSD to reduce the time spent sat around doing nothing while the game loads / loads a level etc woiuld be of more practical value I think Instead of loading WoW off a 5400rpm HDD(!).

 

[IComeFromDowntown]

OK so, I did indeed complete a clean install of Windows 10 using the download instructions and a USB. Thank you to all who helped get me that far! The next step I guess is picking an appropriate SSD. After some research, and working with the current shipping and store front restrictions, I have landed on:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6yKcCJ/samsung-860-evo-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-76e500bam

Let me know what you think or if there are any other $ friendly options!