Performance drop

A

antiname

New Member
I've suddenly got a steep proformance drop that makes playing all my games pretty much impossible.
It usually states when I'm playing MW2. I turn on the game and have no performance issues. I enter a game and no performance issues. The game starts and no performance issues. It's only until around 5-10 minutes in that I experience the performance drop. When that happens, I can't do anything except to hope that the performance goes back up again. Reducing the resolution does not help. Changing my graphics card from quality based to proformance based does not help. Increasing my performance vs power saving does not help. I'm not running any other programs that are using up all the space (How would I? you can't even tab out of MW2 while you're playing it). Restarting the computer also does not help.

Worse still, this performance drop also affects everything else randomly as well.
I really don't know what I can do.
This has happened before, but not for this long.
 

My Computer

System One

Take a memory diagnostic test

Type that phase in search to begin the test.


Check the event viewer right after the problem occurs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Did you ever chase the process(es) down that are responsible. Something must be eating your CPU. When it occurs, I suggest you have a look into the task manager > Processes tab > Click on CPU so that the heavy hitters appear on top. Better even, use Process Explorer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
Start > Type in "Diagnostic" without quotes and select Windows Memory Diagnostic. It will require you reboot the system, so let it do that and run the test.

If that doesn't find any errors, I suggest running a Checkdisk. This can be done by going to

Start > "CMD" > Right-click > Run as Administrator > Type in "Chkdsk /f" without the quotes. This will find and attempt to repair any filesystem issues you may be having.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built
    CPU
    AMD PHENOM X4 9600 BE 2.3GHZ @ 2.46GHZ
    Motherboard
    TA790GX 128M AM2+
    Memory
    8GB OCZ PC6400 800MHZ DDR2 RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GTS 250 1GB VRAM
    Sound Card
    SB5120 24-BIT 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 2330V 23" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB SEAGATE HDD
    PSU
    650W
    Case
    GENERIC
    Cooling
    3 120MM FANS
    Keyboard
    MS WIRELESS DESKTOP 3000
    Mouse
    MS WIRELESS DESKTOP 3000
    Internet Speed
    6MB/s
    Other Info
    Main Machine. Just upgraded my RAM to 8GB. Next task will be to get a new processor for this machine ( 9650 was for my secondary machine )
Well I think I've found the root of the problem...
The power supply was dying.
And now it is dead.
Computer wont even show startup screen... the power button just flashes yellow
 

My Computer

System One

Could be possible cause. Your computer is a DELL I assume. Try doing a power-cycle. Take out the Power-Cord and Hold down the power button for 90 seconds. Replace Power Cord. Attempt to power on. Come back with results, and if it is a DELL, what is the Service Tag
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built
    CPU
    AMD PHENOM X4 9600 BE 2.3GHZ @ 2.46GHZ
    Motherboard
    TA790GX 128M AM2+
    Memory
    8GB OCZ PC6400 800MHZ DDR2 RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GTS 250 1GB VRAM
    Sound Card
    SB5120 24-BIT 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 2330V 23" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB SEAGATE HDD
    PSU
    650W
    Case
    GENERIC
    Cooling
    3 120MM FANS
    Keyboard
    MS WIRELESS DESKTOP 3000
    Mouse
    MS WIRELESS DESKTOP 3000
    Internet Speed
    6MB/s
    Other Info
    Main Machine. Just upgraded my RAM to 8GB. Next task will be to get a new processor for this machine ( 9650 was for my secondary machine )
Yes, my computer is a dell. Dimension E521 to be exact.
Found out that it isn't the power supply, put in a spare power supply I had to see if it would make it work, and it didn't.
Tried the thing you suggested, and it didn't work.
Service Tag is HZBXMC1
 

My Computer

System One

Remove and reseat your RAM. Reseat all internal cables.

Remove ALL Devices except Keyboard, Mouse, and monitor.

Is the LED Indicator lit on your motherboard itself?

Make sure the voltage switch on the power supply is set to match the voltage in your area.

Are all the diagnostic LEDs on the system green?

Try to power it back on.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built
    CPU
    AMD PHENOM X4 9600 BE 2.3GHZ @ 2.46GHZ
    Motherboard
    TA790GX 128M AM2+
    Memory
    8GB OCZ PC6400 800MHZ DDR2 RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GTS 250 1GB VRAM
    Sound Card
    SB5120 24-BIT 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 2330V 23" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB SEAGATE HDD
    PSU
    650W
    Case
    GENERIC
    Cooling
    3 120MM FANS
    Keyboard
    MS WIRELESS DESKTOP 3000
    Mouse
    MS WIRELESS DESKTOP 3000
    Internet Speed
    6MB/s
    Other Info
    Main Machine. Just upgraded my RAM to 8GB. Next task will be to get a new processor for this machine ( 9650 was for my secondary machine )
Yes, the LED on my motherboard is lit. Right now I have something else that I need to do so I'll probably not be able to get back to you until tomorrow. Also, I don't know what a diagnostic LED is but I'm assuming it's the light either on the back of the computer or on the motherboard. The one on the motherboard is orange and the one on the back is yellow and orange. Not sure if that is their normal colour though.

Edit: The real problem was the Graphics card, computer booted up like normal as soon as I removed it. I'm now running on a different Graphics card.
Thanks everyone for their help.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

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