Koolaidman23

Distinguished
Apr 4, 2008
42
0
18,530
My computer is running strangely. I have had my quad for 2 months now, it replaced a e2180 @ 3 Ghz. My computer lags to open Firefox... for instance this morning it took over 30 seconds to start the program. RealTemp is showing core temps from 27-34 C. EIST is off. Kaspersky says I have no viruses/trojans/etc. At other times it seems that the computer is lightning quick, Photoshop opens fine, Civilization IV and Crysis play without lag, I got 12900 in 3Dmark06 (which actually seems low to me). Memtest86+ shows my ram is fine.

my specs:

q6600 @ 3 Ghz
Gigabyte P35-DS3L rev 2.0
4x1 Gb A-Data DDR2-800 (at stock speed)
Sapphire HD 4850
2 SATA II HDs, boot drive is a Seagate 640 gb with 32 mb cache
Antec Earthwatts ea500D Power Supply
Samsung DVD-RW
Arctic Cooler 7
Vista x64 Home Premium

Where should I continue with my investigation? Could I be getting bad power from my PSU? Is my hard drive failing? Like I said, this is not all of the time, just sometimes. Basically at random. And it is not just Firefox. Windows seems to run slowly at times as well. My old e2180 seemed, if not faster, at least more consistent in its speed.
 

mi1ez

Splendid
Could be if your anti-virus is running a full system scan. When's it scheduled for?
I know my anti-virus slows the sytem up when installing it's daily virus definition, albeit only for a minute or so.
 

Koolaidman23

Distinguished
Apr 4, 2008
42
0
18,530
I last defragged a couple of weeks ago. Also, I did a clean install of Vista when I installed this CPU. FYI, when I replaced the CPU, I also went from 2 gb of RAM to 4 gb, I upgraded to the ea500D from a ea380, I replaced my HD 3850 with the 4850, and started using the 640 gb HD as my boot drive instead of my old 250 gb 8 mb cache.
 

Koolaidman23

Distinguished
Apr 4, 2008
42
0
18,530
My scan runs at 3 am. But on the occasion that I have run a full scan during the day, the computer became laggy to the point of being unusable, and I had to restart. Also, when extracting large files (4 gb +), often I have to restart afterwards.
 

squatchman

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2008
211
0
18,680
Interestingly, I have an old dual core AMD processor that will do the same thing when first opening firefox. The delay is only on the first window and only for firefox. As long as I don't close firefox after that the program operates lightning fast.


Honestly, I think Firefox is at fault here.
 

techguy911

Distinguished
Jun 8, 2007
1,075
0
19,460
I got 12900 in 3Dmark06 (which actually seems low to me).

changing your cpu won't have much of an impact on 3dmark where a video card upgrade will get you more, upgrading both is even more.

Chances are your psu is too low with quad core cpu's an under rated ps will cause this.
 

Koolaidman23

Distinguished
Apr 4, 2008
42
0
18,530
I noticed it in Firefox simply because it is not normal. Firefox usually opens instantaneously, as does pretty much everything (on a good day).

I suspect that it is the PSU. I knew I should have gone with the Corsair. Yet using Antec's PSU Calculator, a 500 watt PSU (especially an Antec with good reviews such as the ea500), should give me plenty of power, even overclocked and using the HD 4850.

Could I be getting bad power from the wall?