SSD both suddenly slow, asking help from hardware wizards!

[Crasje]

Hello,

This morning my pc worked fine, this evening it was mega slow. My first idea was software W11, did scan now, restore healt and such… didn’t help. In my task manager all values were low, nothing was going at 100%.

then I checked the health of my Samsung SSD with the OS, health ok. When I didt a performance it was like 10 times slower in all areas then my test a year ok. I thought, issue solved, new SSD. Just to be sure I checked my second (identical) SSD too and it showed the same slow results. 

Anyone any idea what it can be, what I can check? I am now beginning to think it is my 690 mobo…. 😔😔

[JohnAb]

SSDs do slow down over time, but not in a day unless they are full. They can also get slow unless Trim is enabled, but I can't see that happening since this morning. Have you checked CPU utilisation to make sure the system isn't doing heavy work in the background. I'm thinking that your symptoms could be a virus like some rogue crypto mining software. If you don't use anti-virus software, download a trial and see what it reports.

That would be a good place to start. Otherwise, try a shutdown followed by a total power off at the PSU for 10 minutes, restart and see if that helps. You might also try disabling fast startup to see if your hibernation file might be part of the cause. I think at this stage that it's probably not a hardware failure. If that was the case I think you'd have bigger problems. 

Also, in normal daily use, using shutdown followed by turning it back on the next day is not the same as a restart, so try a restart as well if you don't normally do that. 

[Crasje]

Hi John, 

Thanks you for taking the time to answer! Much appreciated.

I have checked in Taskmanager - performance what is going on in the background but my CPU doesnt come past 11% when f.i. opening outlook, memory is at 16%, Even with Whatsapp, Chrome, Taskmanager, teams and outlook open all performances across the board are low. 

Even when I open another program like Excel, CPU/Memory/disk performance is low (<10%). I have taken the system's power off (1 min) but will do it again for 10. And I always shut down my system (it's a desktop - electricity proces are high here)  when I stop using it.

Update:

10 min power off did not fix it. I did notice a single beep when starting up a game (world of warship) and I remember it beeping once yesterday too. Could that indicate anything?

[JohnAb]

In that case, perhaps it is hardware then, like extreme suggests. But, just to be sure, before going to a lot of trouble, try booting to a live Linux OS (like Mint) and see if it runs OK using that. It won't modify your Windows OS unless you try to install it, so it's a perfectly safe way to eliminate Windows from the mix. You can just try it, reboot and nothing will have changed. 

If it runs Linux OK, then a fresh Windows install should do the trick. In that case, backup your OS first, just in case you forget to grab some files that you might need. I use Macrium Reflect for that job, but many others are available for free. Actually, Macrium have stopped offering the free version now, so using another one is a better plan. 

One extra thought, when testing, disconnect as much as you possibly can, faulty USB devices can cause all sorts of odd symptoms. See what you can disconnect from internal headers as well. You could also look for WHEA errors in HWINfo, that might help to see what's happening and there is also Windows 'Reliability History'. Just search for it in Windows and it's an easy way to see what might be upsetting the system. Some level of faults are normal, but you might get a lead that way.   

I've no idea what the beeping might be, but that sounds off if you've never had it before yesterday. 

[Crasje]

Hi,

No idea how to make it run on Linux, only have MacOS and Windows experience. Just testen my SSD with command, wintas disk -drive c and also for d. C was actually slightly faster with 1100MB sec, D was 950 MB/s. It should be 6700MB/s for read and 5000 MB/s for write.

I checked W reliability and only have some Aura issues there (and a corsair component, related to Aura).

I have downloaded and installed HWinfo64, clicked on lots of the options but did not see any WHEA things... where can I find them (if there are any)?

[JohnAb]

Open up the full sensors window in HWInfo and look near the bottom of the list...

You should be able to boot into a live Linux, even if running on MacOS. I don't have a Mac, well I do but I never use it, so there should be a way to boot from another device like a USB. You'll need to burn a Linux ISO to USB and then boot from it. Many give you a live (not install option). Mint certainly does.   

[extreme]

Seems like hardware problem. Take the board to a pc shop to test it.

[Crasje]

Hi all, thank you for all the suggestions.

I also wrote ASUS support and they suggested I updated the following 6 drivers: Intel DTT, Intel ME, Intel Chipset driver, Intel GNA, Intel SIO Driver, Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology Driver.

I updated a driver, rebooted then updated the next in the order above. After installing the last...... I still was slow as f*ck.

HOWEVER.... next day I logged in and my PC was fast again. It was running hot (thermal throttling) but fast. So I could play my games again. To reduce the temp I undervolted Intel Xtrme Tuning Utility. That helped a little. But 2 days later... that was normal to and it the CPU is running at 40-42 degrees.

I still think with all the different issues I have my Mobo is a crap one but I doubt they will send me a new one. All and all not great customer experience after investing 1000+ euro in a mobo.