Computer performance suddenly dropped.

[bincurd]

Hi guys,

I recently put together a new system. I installed windows 7 home premium 64-bit and everything went smoothly till I finished installing the drivers and some games.

My built is as follows:

Case: CM USP 100
Mobo+CPU:GA P55A UD3 + Intel i7 - 860
Ram: G.Skill 4gb kit.
Hard drive: WD 1TB caviar black.
PSU: CM GX 650W.
OS: Windows 7 Home premium
Graphics Card: Sapphire 5770hd 1gb.

How can I find find or narrow down the cause of the performance drop?

 

[COLGeek]

To help narrow down where to look, please answer the following:

What has slowed down? Please describe how you are measuring performance (nothing fancy, just need a feel of what is going on).

Are you attempting to overclock anything anything? If so, what?

Did you install the latest GPU (a.k.a. graphics card) drivers from ati.com? If not, go to the link below. Download, install, and check performance again.

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon_win7-64.aspx

I recommend you install the Catalyst Software Suite.

Please clarify. Good luck!

 

[bincurd]

Everything was running smoothly. (smoothly = start up within 30 secs) Now I can't even launch Windows.

Didn't overclock.

I'm re-installing windows now.

When I 1st installed windows, It only took me ~ 1 hour. Now it' taking my > 8 hours.

 

[COLGeek]

Make sure you enable SMART in your BIOS. I am wondering about your HDD at this point.

 

[bincurd]

I'm suspecting my hard drive too. I'm still trying to reformat my com. Will see how it goes when I get home.

How do I check if it's the hard drive?

 

[COLGeek]

Enabling SMART will allow the motherboard to run some diagnostics with the HDD to tell you its status. If bad, you will be notified. You can also go to your HDD manufacturer's website and download test tools for your model of HDD.

 

[bincurd]

Thank you very much.