Performance decreases during heavy use while maintaining stable temperatures.
Performance decreases during heavy use while maintaining stable temperatures.
Hey everyone, my computer has recently experienced a significant slowdown, marked by low frame rates and sluggish performance across most applications—from games to File Explorer and Discord. Before mid-August, I could play titles like BG3 or Metro Exodus comfortably at medium-high settings without any lag. Recently, however, the performance has dropped sharply. I haven’t identified a clear cause yet. The issues seem consistent across everything I’ve tried, though some problems are more noticeable in Timberborn. When I adjusted the game speed (a built-in setting, not via CheatEngine), it improved noticeably—GPU and CPU usage decreased while RAM and temperature stayed stable. This suggests the problem might be related to hardware or software settings rather than a complete system failure. I’ve tried restarting the machine, updating all drivers, clearing disk space, and even reinstalling Windows, but nothing seems to resolve it. Malware scans came back clean, and I cleared my drives without success. I also ran a memory test, which showed no errors. The hardware specs look solid: a 12th Gen Intel i7, 16GB RAM, an RX 6700 XT GPU, and a 512GB NVMe SSD on a Windows OS drive. The HDD is a Western Digital model, and the power supply is a Dell L750EPS-00. I’m still trying to figure out what’s causing this slowdown. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Current data on performance at higher temperatures and the most recent bios information are not available.
Confirmed with the newest BIOS update. Temperatures haven’t exceeded 60°C. Tested Samsung Magician last night; SSD benchmark results were disappointing. Attached screenshot for reference. Possible cause: both drives appear to be deteriorating.
Health statuses: Yes, latest SSD firmware installed; tested Iobit Driver Booster; scanned for malware viruses.
Windows has been fully updated, and even though I didn’t realize trim/optimize was enabled, it seems to run on a regular weekly auto-schedule. I installed a driver booster, which made some changes, but the issues still occur (it restarts after each install).