Hey everyone, I'm having some major performance issues with my computer lately. It seems to be lagging unexpectedly, especially when I'm using Chrome, where I experience significant lag spikes. I also hear my secondary HDD active when I don't think I'm using it, and even the Windows clipboard shortcut (Win+V) takes a long time to respond sometimes. I'm starting to wonder if I might have malware on my machine. Right now, my RAM usage is close to 16GB, but I typically don't run heavy applications apart from Chrome. Here are my specs for reference: R5 5600x, RTX 3080, and a 500GB NVME SSD.
4 Answers
Consider doing a clean reinstall of Windows. Sometimes, systems can get bloated over time, and starting fresh can help improve performance.
First off, check how much storage is left on your SSD. Low storage can definitely slow things down.
It seems unlikely that it's malware. High RAM use and random HDD activity usually stem from background processes or your system's virtual memory paging. Check Task Manager for any heavy applications or extensions that might be slowing things down.
Have a look at your Task Manager to see what’s running. It might give you a clue about what’s hogging your resources.
That sounds like a hassle, but it might be worth it if you're up for it!