Whats going on with my PC's performance

[RoCKSLAM]

So i was using my pc the other day when all of a sudden it slowed down, it has been slow since then with no apparent reason. I did virus scans, i deleted junk files, i cleaned the registry and defragged with advanced system care pro but nothing seems to have helped. Games are noticeably slower as well, in left 4 dead 2 i usually get 60fps or higher but im getting 30 fps and then it drops even lower sometimes. it happens in all of my other games as well especially minecraft where im getting 10fps. i have no idea what is wrong with it.

My system specs are as follows:
3.0ghz amd athlon 640 x4 cpu
Gigabyte gtx460 768mb factory overclocked
8GB G.skill ripjaws X 1333mhz
Windows 7 ultimate 64bit
samsung spinpoint F3 1tb HDD
Biostar A960A3+ motherboard

i also did a 3dmark 11 test

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4848680

 

[Z1NONLY]

How much CPU usage do you see in task manager at idle?

 

[RoCKSLAM]

How much CPU usage do you see in task manager at idle?

it seems to be fluctuating between 4% to 28%

 

[Z1NONLY]

28% at idle is a problem. I would try another virus scan (complete scan) with something like malware bytes, and go through the "processes" list and google each one. You may be able to zero in on the culprit by looking at memory usage.

You could also try a "system restore" point before the problem started.

 

[RoCKSLAM]

28% at idle is a problem. I would try another virus scan (complete scan) with something like malware bytes, and go through the "processes" list and google each one. You may be able to zero in on the culprit by looking at memory usage.

You could also try a "system restore" point before the problem started.

Thanks for the reply, ill give malware bytes a go and will also do a complete virus scan. i will post here if anything is found.

 

[Z1NONLY]

The "processes" list I was talking about is part of task manager. You can see all the processes that are running and investigate each one (with google) to see if one of them is a virus.

 

[RoCKSLAM]

well, i scanned with malware bytes and found 2 trojans sitting there in my system 32 folder. i removed them. i am now going to do a complete scan with avast and see if anything comes up there

 

[Z1NONLY]

Sounds like progress.

 

[RoCKSLAM]

I just ran a HDD benchmark and the results are at the following link http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/518/hddtestc.png
I think it is running slow but i wanted to check first.

P.S i did a full virus scan and found nothing

 

[Z1NONLY]

I have never ran that test. Maybe someone can chime in on your results.

After you removed the trojans, what did your idle CPU usage do?

 

[RoCKSLAM]

I have never ran that test. Maybe someone can chime in on your results.

After you removed the trojans, what did your idle CPU usage do?

its fluctuating between 1% and at the highest 11%

 

[RoCKSLAM]

I also asked on another part of the forums about my hard drive. Im waiting for a reply from them

 

[joe_newbuilder]

I just ran a HDD benchmark and the results are at the following link http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/518/hddtestc.png
I think it is running slow but i wanted to check first.

P.S i did a full virus scan and found nothing

Those HDD numbers look fine. From 75mb a second to 150 is about the full performance range for a spinning drive.

 

[RoCKSLAM]

Those HDD numbers look fine. From 75mb a second to 150 is about the full performance range for a spinning drive.

Thanks for replying. Well things are loading slower than usual such as games. On command and conquer 3 it usually loads a game in about 5 seconds but now it is taking over 20 thats why i thought it may be the hard drive. also if it helps here is the hard drive i have
http://www.ebuyer.com/173804-samsung-1tb-spinpoint-f3-internal-hard-drive-hd103sj

 

[DarkSable]

That sounds like RAM or, more likely, a busted PSU that's no longer supplying sufficient power. Are you getting other problems in games, or just slow loading times?

 

[RoCKSLAM]

That sounds like RAM or, more likely, a busted PSU that's no longer supplying sufficient power. Are you getting other problems in games, or just slow loading times?

Yes, im getting slower framerates as well. It shouldnt be either of those things though because i got the ram and the psu in july this year.

 

[Z1NONLY]

11% is still kind of high. I would look at what processes are running in the task manager and google each one.

 

[RoCKSLAM]

Okay, i have been looking in the bios to check if anything there looks wrong and what i found was my RAM's clock speed had reset to 800mhz. i reoverclocked it back to 1600mhz and now loading games seems to be a lot faster . problem is im still getting low frame rates on some games.

 

[joe_newbuilder]

Thanks for replying. Well things are loading slower than usual such as games. On command and conquer 3 it usually loads a game in about 5 seconds but now it is taking over 20 thats why i thought it may be the hard drive. also if it helps here is the hard drive i have
http://www.ebuyer.com/173804-samsung-1tb-spinpoint-f3-internal-hard-drive-hd103sj

Typically drive related performance degrades over time, you have experienced a sudden issue. My guess is that you have a system infection still.

Have you used the WEI to bench your system? It is crude but it can give you an idea of what parts of your system slowed down.

 

[joe_newbuilder]

Thanks for replying. Well things are loading slower than usual such as games. On command and conquer 3 it usually loads a game in about 5 seconds but now it is taking over 20 thats why i thought it may be the hard drive. also if it helps here is the hard drive i have
http://www.ebuyer.com/173804-samsung-1tb-spinpoint-f3-internal-hard-drive-hd103sj

Just FYI a review of yoru drive is here

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/samsung-spinpoint-f3-1tb-review/3

It gave an average rate of 124 MB/s your is right in that range

 

[RoCKSLAM]

Typically drive related performance degrades over time, you have experienced a sudden issue. My guess is that you have a system infection still.

Have you used the WEI to bench your system? It is crude but it can give you an idea of what parts of your system slowed down.

hmm. no i haven't tried that. i might have to give it a go

 

[RoCKSLAM]

Typically drive related performance degrades over time, you have experienced a sudden issue. My guess is that you have a system infection still.

Have you used the WEI to bench your system? It is crude but it can give you an idea of what parts of your system slowed down.

Okay so i used WEI and it said nothing had slowed down at all. and also the FPS game problem is getting worse, Command and conquer 3 just froze on me as well.

 

[RoCKSLAM]

11% is still kind of high. I would look at what processes are running in the task manager and google each one.

I looked through the processes and found one suspicious file called tcbhn.exe, i googled it and found out that it might be a possible trojan so i found where its files were located and deleted it, i am also running a sweep of my pc with speedypc pro and will tell you if the problem is solved

 

[RoCKSLAM]

okay, this is now getting really annoying. my computer now takes over 2 minutes to boot when it used to take about 12 seconds. i have no idea why. i have run every scan, deleted ALL possible malware, i have done a preboot virus scan and deleted what that found scanned and fixed errors countless times and STILL my computer is running slow.

 

[Z1NONLY]

That's called "hanging". I had that problem with one of my external drives. When I tried to boot with it connected, it would take forever. With it disconnected, it booted right up.

I am starting to think you have a (failing)drive problem. (Although it's good that you removed the malware you found)