Sluggish when multi tasking / opening programmes

[jonny512379]

Hi All

I've been lurking hear for a while to learn what parts to buy for a new build and to help solve any problems i have had building/setting it up (so thanks for the help .)
I hope this post this in the correct section too.

The build seems to have gone well, in that all seems to work as it should, however there are a few little "niggly" parts that are really getting to me and i cant seem to cure them.
Any advice on the below "niggle" would be well appreciated. (any advice on the EFI settings i have used too, if i have set any wrong/better setting)

My Main Problem is:
The system becomes very slow to respond if something is being installed or unzipped (or similar), the delay on opening even small programmes is around 30 - 60+ seconds (ASUS AI Tweak, IE, Chrome, Windows Live, Notepad, Explorer windows, etc), generaly the system does not seem to like multitasking (maybe it is Male ).
As soon as the install or unzip is stopped/finished the system instantly opens up the programmes i have been waiting for.
I don't expect things to open instant but even my old AMD X2 @ 2.2GHz handles these requests much faster and at the same time.
I notice that during these times the Sandybridge remains at the base rate of 1.6GHz and CPU usage is around 10-30% across all cores (it does increase to Max GHz at other times as i would expect it to .....) Ram usage is also only around 30-50%.
The system is generally slow opening programmes at other times too, although runs very fast once the programme has opened.
I am wondering if it is the HDD as i am running a single 6 GB/s HDD with a single partition. It is plugged into the P67's 6GB/s port with the cable marked 6GB/s that came with the MB (i have also tried plugging it in the standard 6GB/s port, but this makes not difference).
The MB bios/efi is all set to default for the HDD section (and all looks correct too) and i have installed all software that came on the MB's install DVD.
Although i think the HDD may be the problem my old X2 machine has a similar setup and is still MUCH faster at the same tasks, hence i am doubting if this is the real problem.

I would like to know if anyone else has had similar problems with similar setups, as surely a 4 core Sandybridge with 4 GB of ram plus an ATA 6GBs HDD should easily out perform a AMD X2 with less ram and on ATA-1 HDD!!!

Other than this speed issue, everything else runs perfect, super fast and all stable with no crashes (other than during the overclocking setup).
So far it plays all games on mostly max setting without even breaking a sweat! (it copes with Crysis 2 on MAX settings alarmingly well as the GPU never needs to ride over the its lower base speeds of 500MHz..... is this right too? GPU temps stay below 65c - CPU temps below 55c.... i thought Crysis 2 should push even the best of systems.....)

Any help on this will be much appreciated and if you need more details please ask.
Thanks

My specs to the best of my knowledge are:
i5 2500K @ 4.4GHz - 1.275v, (max temps under testing for 1 hour are 65C)
ASUS p8p67 Sabertooth MB
4 gig Corsair XMS3
Sapphire ATI 6950
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
windows 7 x64 Ultimate (fully updated)
All Drivers are current, MB & GPU bios is what shipped on the DVD.

My Bios/EFI is mostly on default apart from the below
AI overclock - Manual
BCLK - 100.0
Turbo Ratio - 44
PLL overvoltage - Enabled
Memory Frequency - 1600MHz (Timing is at default and stock)
Load Line Calibration - Extreme
VMR Frequency - 350 (increased from auto/300 to see if this cures the problem)
Phase Control - Extreme
Duty Control - C.Probe
CPU Current Capability - 100%
CPU Voltage - 1.275v
DRAM - 1.50v (also tried 1.65v, no change)

Thanks
Any help on this will be much appreciated and if you need more details please ask.

 

[Kaeo]

Your settings actually look pretty solid. The fact that everything except installing/upzipping is fast generally means a software issue. I'm seeing a lot of forums complaints elsewhere regarding Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, more specifically the windows installer and unzipping being extremely slow, often causing system crashes.

Couple of links...http://social.technet.microsoft.com...f/thread/b9830d8f-212e-4678-975e-9db37448c651

http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...stalling-any-program-high-cpu-usage-lagg.html

http://forums.techarena.in/operating-systems/1337750.htm

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f217/pc-extremely-slow-while-installing-563512.html

And many more. It seems there's still issues that Microsoft haven't quite made perfect with the 64bit version.

From your spec, I really can't see any issue with the system. I can only suggest killing off any extra programs you have running, aka virus scanners in the background etc when you're trying to install/unzip things. That was the only real advice for all the complaints.

Edit: Seen a few complaints about this regarding RAM use while installing programmes/unzipping with Win7 x64 aswell. Some guy installing a game, and it's using almost 6gb of RAM doing just that, hence everything else is horrendously slow. Try installing something and checking your task manager to see how much it's using. o.o

Also, according to some sources, it's possibly a driver issue causing a memory leak, and you should make sure all your system drivers are up to date. (That includes for example onboard ethernet drivers/sound drivers etc.)

 

[jonny512379]

Your settings actually look pretty solid. The fact that everything except installing/upzipping is fast generally means a software issue. I'm seeing a lot of forums complaints elsewhere regarding Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, more specifically the windows installer and unzipping being extremely slow, often causing system crashes.

Couple of links...http://social.technet.microsoft.com...f/thread/b9830d8f-212e-4678-975e-9db37448c651

http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...stalling-any-program-high-cpu-usage-lagg.html

http://forums.techarena.in/operating-systems/1337750.htm

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f217/pc-extremely-slow-while-installing-563512.html

And many more. It seems there's still issues that Microsoft haven't quite made perfect with the 64bit version.

From your spec, I really can't see any issue with the system. I can only suggest killing off any extra programs you have running, aka virus scanners in the background etc when you're trying to install/unzip things. That was the only real advice for all the complaints.

Edit: Seen a few complaints about this regarding RAM use while installing programmes/unzipping with Win7 x64 aswell. Some guy installing a game, and it's using almost 6gb of RAM doing just that, hence everything else is horrendously slow. Try installing something and checking your task manager to see how much it's using. o.o

Also, according to some sources, it's possibly a driver issue causing a memory leak, and you should make sure all your system drivers are up to date. (That includes for example onboard ethernet drivers/sound drivers etc.)

Hello Kaeo,

Thank you very much for your in depth reply. I would also say it sounds like a windows software issue, but i also have win 7 x64 installed on my old AMD x2 (shhhh its the same copy) and that works just fine (all updated too).
I have 4 Gig of ram installed and when installing/unzipping my usage is only at around 2GB with plenty of RAM left to open other programs (or so i would think). I do think that my drivers are all up to date, however i will have a good check of this including the ethernet and sound drivers as i have left these on the default drivers that come with the MB drivers (as they are both onboard i assume this was correct?).

Again thanks for your help and if i do fix this little Niggle i will be sure to post the fix for others to use.

 

[belial8321]

Hmm just a thought, you mention you have throttling, holding ur cpu @1.60ghz most of the time? Just try turning throttling off in ur bios, I noticed this with a pc i was working on the other day, it was just being throttled so much everything was bottlenecked, and unzipping files its a fairly cpu dependant task - i can't say it will work for you but it seems a possibility in my opinion, good luck!

 

[Kaeo]

The onboard ethernet and sound drivers will come on a disk with the mb. You can usually 99% of the time rely on windows auto updater to grab the newer versions of these. (If there are any).

As the above poster said, if the CPU isn't throttling correctly, it's also a possible solution. You can disable it in the BIOS or usually under the processor power management settings (Power Options) in control panel + restart.

Worth a try to see differences.

Edit: Having searched directly regarding programs not reporting the correct CPU usage requirements, I see a lot of people are having similar issues. Some programs are fine, whilst others are not. Some people are even having toruble disabling throttling, depending on which motherboard they have. Hopefully you'll be able to disable yours without any issues.

Be aware that Throttling may not be worded as such in your BIOS, and you might have to check your mobo manual for specific terms/settings to disable it. (Some say disable throttling, some say cpu control settings..cpu auto performance..etc)

Seems to be a Win 7 x64 issue.

 

[belial8321]

Throttling/Cool and quiet power saver settings etc are pointless on a desktop pc in my opinion, especial high end ones like most people on this forum own Its just asking for problems

 

[jonny512379]

Hello and thanks again for the replies

I will try and remove the "throttling (i believe ASUS call is "speed stepping" or somat like that).

Are there any disadvantages to running the CPU at full speed all the time. i dont care about the electricity, i am more worried that the CPU will be damaged.
My temps never go over 65c under load @ 1.275v (although one core does go around 5c hotter than the other 3) so i assume that this is OK?

Ill post my results later......

 

[jonny512379]

Hmm just a thought, you mention you have throttling, holding ur cpu @1.60ghz most of the time? Just try turning throttling off in ur bios, I noticed this with a pc i was working on the other day, it was just being throttled so much everything was bottlenecked, and unzipping files its a fairly cpu dependant task - i can't say it will work for you but it seems a possibility in my opinion, good luck!

Thanks

You were right, i have removed the throttling (or SpeedStep as ASUS call it) and now the system responds as it should.. wooowwhhoooo (< very happy).
This does not seem to have made any difference to the system temps either, i cannow manage to unzip, install, open a browser window and play media player all at the same time and all with the speed i would expect from and i5.
It seems to be doing all this @ 4.4GHz and temps are a low 44c on air cooling.

Thanks again woopppppppeeeey.

 

[jonny512379]

Please help

Thanks

You were right, i have removed the throttling (or SpeedStep as ASUS call it) and now the system responds as it should.. wooowwhhoooo (< very happy).
This does not seem to have made any difference to the system temps either, i cannow manage to unzip, install, open a browser window and play media player all at the same time and all with the speed i would expect from and i5.
It seems to be doing all this @ 4.4GHz and temps are a low 44c on air cooling.

Thanks again woopppppppeeeey.

I did think i had fixed this problem, however...... Just installed a few programs on this pc (my sons) and the original problem is still here!!
i have the same opperating system on a much lower spec pc than this one and that works much faster during installes and unzipping, etc.....
It is behaving how i would expect a single core P3 to work with only 128MB of ram. Yet this PC is a quad core with 4GB of ram.

Does anyone have any ideas?
could it be faulty ram or other hardware?
could it be because the HDD is being used and the 6GBs SATA is running it at full tilt? although i would think if this were the case everyone with a single HD would be having this problem.......
If i am running a single task (games, etc) the PC works as you would expect.

 

[Buchanan0204]

Rather than suggesting you tri various tweaks to possibly fix the issue, we will try and eliminate any hardware faults... Try running wester digitals lifeguard diagnostic on the hdd. Seatools is also pretty good too try.

Run memtest to check for memory issues. You could always try plugging your hard drive into a 3Gbps slot... You won't notice the benefit of sata3 unless the drive is capable of more than 300Mbps anyway. Clever marketing that's all, with regards to these sata3 mechanical drives.

Let us know how you get on, I'd Also keep speedstep disabled...

I would have suggested perhaps with it being a dodgy copy of windows that it is corrupt itself, however if the same copy works fine on the other machine. It rules it out.

Good Luck

 

[jonny512379]

Rather than suggesting you tri various tweaks to possibly fix the issue, we will try and eliminate any hardware faults... Try running wester digitals lifeguard diagnostic on the hdd. Seatools is also pretty good too try.

Run memtest to check for memory issues. You could always try plugging your hard drive into a 3Gbps slot... You won't notice the benefit of sata3 unless the drive is capable of more than 300Mbps anyway. Clever marketing that's all, with regards to these sata3 mechanical drives.

Let us know how you get on, I'd Also keep speedstep disabled...

I would have suggested perhaps with it being a dodgy copy of windows that it is corrupt itself, however if the same copy works fine on the other machine. It rules it out.

Good Luck

Hello & thanks for your help.

I had already ran a memory test and have ran it again today, all comes back as OK.
I am running the in-depth Lifeguard test now so will report back if that is causing any problems.
I did wonder about swapping the SATA ports to 3GBs for the reasons you mention. i had previously tried swapping between the 6GBs P67 and the standard 6GBs slot, but this made no difference, but i will try the 3GBs once the Lifeguard has finished.

I dont think it is the windows OS causing the problem owing to it working fine on my older machine + it is a genuine copy or atleast untill the 30 day trial expires

I am also wondering if it may be the ASUS software for the motherboard causing the problems, does anyone know if i can uninstall this to test this idea? (i am hesitant as i don't want to uninstall the Thermal Radar software with a 4.4 OC, as this keeps the fans running at custom speeds).

Again thanks for everyones help

P.S i saw in another forum people suggesting it was owing to screen resolution (have no idea why this would be the case) but i have tested with all screen resolutions and this does not improve things either.

 

[aries2580]

Hummm
Check tweak#8
http://kadaitcha.cx/blog/featured-articles/windows-7-performance-tweaks/

Windows XP was much faster at copying files than Windows 7 is now. Pre-service pack 1 Vista was also much, much faster; pre-SP1 Vista included a file copy engine that supported buffered (cached) synchronous I/O out of the box; an upgraded version of that copy engine is included in Windows 7 but support for buffered synchronous I/O is turned off in Vista SP1 and in Windows 7. Microsoft wants Windows to be all things to all people, and one of the drawbacks to that approach is the trade-offs to benefit some users can disadvantage others; Buffered synchronous I/O being turned off is one of those situations, which benefits low-end machines but not those with higher specification.

I know your machine is high end but have a read through that and see what you think