Semi-new Computer Running Very Slow

[jobbernowled]

I am at a loss. My new computer is running slowly despite everything seeming to be fine. It takes me ~10minutes from turning it on to finally being logged in. It takes far too long to start programs like Word 2007 and PhotoShop CS3. Even in WoW when I ride a zeppelin it takes so long to load that the zepp has already left the other station. Here is my spec:

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600

GPU:
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Motherboard:
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R

Memory:
Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

HD:
Western Digital 500G

PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick

CD-DVD:
Sony NEC Optiarc Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s

OS:
Windows XP SP2

Case:
Antec 900 Black Steel

CPU Fan:
Tuniq Tower


All cores run at 38-45C during load and the computer maintains a 35-40C temp. Any ideas why it is running like this?

Note: the computer itself is a few months old. For the first ~2months the CPU was running at up to 100C (!) thats when I replaced the stock fan with the Tuniq Tower. After cooling the CPU back down the rig still ran slowly so I thought maybe I had damaged the CPU. So I recently (2 days ago) replaced the old Q6600 with a brand-new one, but have noticed no improvement.

Thanks for your time.

 

[akhilles]

Was it a clean windows install when you put the pc together?

What's the os?

Right-click task bar > task manager > click cpu column header twice. List the programs that are using up most of the cpu resource.

 

[jitpublisher]

Sound like some serious OS conflicts somewhere.
I know it sucks, but you should save all your important stuff to another drive and try a complete new OS install.
I don't think there is anything wrong with your hardware, as 10 minutes to load Windows is just completely out the window. Hardware problems wouldn't cause that much of a lag, by the time they got that bad they simply would not work.

 

[ainarssems]

could be hdd or software

 

[mtyermom]

All cores run at 38-45C during load and the computer maintains a 35-40C temp. Any ideas why it is running like this?

Note: the computer itself is a few months old. For the first ~2months the CPU was running at up to 100C (!) thats when I replaced the stock fan with the Tuniq Tower. After cooling the CPU back down the rig still ran slowly so I thought maybe I had damaged the CPU. So I recently (2 days ago) replaced the old Q6600 with a brand-new one, but have noticed no improvement.

Thanks for your time.

How are you testing the load temps? Are you fully loading the CPU with stress test software? (I use 4 instances of Prime95 myself)

You said you were getting temps of 100c for the first ~2 months, are you overclocking at all? It sounds like the stock HSF was not seated properly. I hope you didn't damage your CPU, did you just continue to use it with high temps? When did the performance start to decline? Was it running fine after installing the Tuniq Tower? Have you installed any other software around the time you noticed the performance decrease?

An HDD problem could cause slow loading times, but would not necessarily be the cause of programs running slowly once they are loaded.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Agreed. If you are reaching 100C the CPU will automatically throttle to 6x multiplier(ie SpeedStep will kick in), so 6 * 266 = 1,596 which explains the slowness.

 

[ainarssems]

I had dying hdd. I had installed windows on it normally and software as well . when it writes to disk it was working as it should. but reading from disk was very slow like loading windows or applications or new level in game ect. Also when using lot of memory and writing to and reading from pagefile a lot like in games it was very slow.
I run some hdd diagnostics programs and it showed huge amount of seek attempts. Which means it could not find what it where looking for on the disk and kept trying and trying to read. if I remember correctly it was over 200 seek attempts average when it should be 1-1.0001. replaced hdd and all is working fine.
As for a cpu temperature it was way to high. I recently built q6600 system for a friend and it is running sub 40 C with stock heatsink. Maybe heat have damaged MB near cpu.
I would run some hdd diagnostics first and try another hdd first

 

[Zorg]

Check the task manager as per akhilles. Windows Sysinternals Process Explorer v11.11 will give you even more information. Also check in the Device Manager to ensure that you are running DMA on the drive and not PIO (see pic). Check your hard drive S.M.A.R.T. with SpeedFan. Go into BIOS and turn on S.M.A.R.T for future notices. You said you have a new HS and CPU, but you can verify temps with Core Temp. It should not require any offset, the accuracy has been brought into question, but it should read hot if anything. If you can't find the culprit then save programs and reload, as per jitpublisher.