For the past few months, I've noticed that my PC has been running really slow while gaming, but only when I'm trying to do things in the background like using my browser or Discord. I can play games like Space Marine 2 without problems, but as soon as I alt-tab, everything else starts lagging until I leave the game minimized for about 30 seconds. This issue just got worse since around Christmas, and I'm not sure what could be causing it. I've only tried running CCleaner, as I don't have much knowledge about PC internals. Here are my specs: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, Windows 11, and 16 GB of RAM. Any advice would be super helpful before I consider getting a technician to look at it.
3 Answers
Cleaning out your PC and reapplying thermal paste on your CPU could make a big difference! From your description, it seems like your CPU might be throttling due to heat when you switch tasks. This can happen when you have background applications running, especially if you've been using your PC for a while. If you're comfortable with it, look for tutorials on how to clean and maintain your PC, especially since it's been 5 years since you first set it up!
Have you noticed if the slowdowns started after you ran CCleaner? It might be worth checking out your Task Manager next time the issue happens. The Performance tab will show you how much CPU, GPU, and disk usage is going on. This could help you pinpoint whether something is overloading your system when this lag happens.
Have you thought about reinstalling Windows? I know you’re saving up for new SSDs, but sometimes a fresh install can really resolve underlying issues. If it’s an option for you later on, that might be a good idea.
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