Lag spike when running most programs

Whenever I'm running a game or a program the computer always has a little lag to it when i'm using any application! I don't know what it is but for an example I play a game called maplestory an it lags like hell! but when I go on my staples bought hp PC which shouldn't be better than my alienware.. also makes me believe I have a virus or something wrong that's a very deep problem since I ran virus scans to no avail :/ but anyways the HP will run it no problem no lag.. Honestly its not just the game its mostly every program it has a little lag when using applications. I was reading online an was suggested to re install windows 7 (Which I can I have the disk but don't know if it is worth it or if I could fix without having to do that) I've run malewarebytes, super anti spyware, avast, advanced system care, which I deleted a few Trojans but that was not the problem I'm facing (which it did help a lot in some ways) etc. My RAM/CPU only runs at 5% even with a game running which is awesome! an that tells me it shouldn't be this laggy on everything I also did put artic silver 5 on my processor an graphics so the heat is only at 50 when running something.

I tried plugging an Ethernet when going wireless to see if that would help an honestly made the games laggier xD! that's odd

the PC is a Alienware M15X windows 7
I bought it stock an upgraded its DVD drive to a Blu ray one, put in a GeForce GTX 460M graphics card, an put in a Intel i7 720QM processor.. I feel like the processor is the problem but i'm not to sure if anyone knows please let me know please and thank you

 

Did you check to see if accidentally stealth mode wasn't activated. Sometimes it also helps to toggle it as well. Also, when running games, set the power plan to high performance. Open up hwinfo64 and cpu-z to see your temps/clocks for cpu and gpu when you are gaming or using applications and such and see if it dips or not (have logging checked in hwinfo64 or you can use gpu-z for that also), and too see what the max clocks/temps it is hitting.

 

Its worth checking task manager and sorting by mem/cpu usage.

 

At best nothing ever is running. The CPU/RAM is always on 5% so it's running perfectly in my opinion! I also have a game booster running most of the time ! which does block all unnecessary programs! (I use advanced system care 6 for my booster)

I always have my PC set to high performance nothing dips or goes up in the temps barley at max when the spikes happen it goes up like 5-10 degrees but nothing really past 50 degrees which is normal I do think it spikes a very tiny bit to were those 5-10 degrees are the spike dips! (Has seen some PCs that were getting up to 90-110) I also disable Alienware sense an all that stuff because I think it just makes the computer run a lot slower!

I bought this PC from a very good friend an upgraded it myself so its in great condition ! but I don't know all of Alienwares features will stealth mode actually do that ? an if so can you please explain how to toggle it please an thank you

~
If it makes a difference I just looked an totally forgot I went for the intel i7 740qm not the 720

"No it makes sense because, as per Intel's data sheet the clock speed of the i7 is 1.73GHz vs 2.53GHz (i5) and during turbo is 2.93GHz vs 3.06GHz. It's good for extensive multitasking but during regular usage it comparatively slower. I'm not sure whether the turbo is factored during the benchmark but I think this explains the score." as said by chaitu87 from http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/681697-compiled-list-compatible-m15x-upgrades-4.html

 

You should never need bloatware type programs, a system running well should run cleanly as it is.

 

The computer literally has nothing wrong with it I've even done the all the tests for ram/gpu an all that blah blah stuff to see if everything was installed correct an are 100% working an it is! I've done the bios a very long time ago I am on A09 if anyone is going to say that one. The booster just deletes all my like itunes an unusable processes an over 5 malware/virus programs to no avail of having anything it sounds like the pc is in perfect condition on my end but it still has that stutter in some programs ..

 

Maybe it's the 5 malware programs Issues like that are usually some background process causing latencies.

You could try disabling things in device manager step by step to see if any particular pieces of hardware are causing them like your LAN or wireless.

 

To toggle the stealth mode, there is a speedometer looking button all the way to the right on the media touch strip above the keyboard. You can tell the difference between on/off by the light of that particular button. When enabled its slightly brighter, when off its a bit dimmer (and the on screen display would at that time say if stealth mode is enabled/disabled after each press of the button)

 

Here is some more info about the stealth mode present on your PC.

 

the cpu is running about 3% when i enable stealthmode but it makes it laggier weird.. Ima set that off for now. I was talking to a friend of mine who told me the stutter might possibly be coming from my HDD going bad.

 

If you have alienautopsy on your computer you can run the harddrive scan on it to see if it comes back with any errors or issues.

 

I downloaded autopsy an ran every scan I could for each device ! everything came out perfect.. so which makes me wonder is it just my processor it is only 1.73ghz

I also restored the system to factory settings restored the PC an everything seems exactly the same maybe a little bit cleaner still notice it though

 

Get rid of avast! It made my laptop lag and it made it take forever to boot

 

I also get annoying lag too. It isn't programs though it is keyboard lag. Also unexplainable. Often it isn't there and if it is I just reboot until it is gone.

 

I restored the PC everything is factory an no useless programs like that is installed

Mine does not do this :/ Sadly it just has a natural lag spike for now I am blaming it on the quad processor an might think about switching to a dual i5 you do have a 920xm So it's better than mine xD but where did you get your 9 cell battery?

 

I think my problem is due to either faulty of badly seated keyboard cable. I just reseated the cable after booting up and having the problem and it was gone on boot up. Only time will tell if it is fixed though.

The 9 cell I got from the guy that sold me my M15x. I bought it second hand, almost completely barebone - No GPU,CPU,RAM,HDD or wireless card.

 

My five eggs: It could be your HDD. When they start to go bad lag might be a symtom. This happened to me with my SSD years back. First when I played FC2 it lagged then even youtube videos and then bam the drive was dead.

 

its good to hear back an to hear that you fixed your problem almost! ^^ I hate messing around with wires in the system lol cause my system stopped even turning on due to the power button wire wasn't in correctly xD ah hate messing with that stuff, But my friend told me the same thing about the HDD honestly I don't think its that..Because I've run autopsy on every scan full scans too an nothing at all came back wrong with the GPU/CPU/RAM/HDD/mother board/etc.. somehow its either the processor or the motherboard though because it is a 2 or 3 year old laptop. The problem I think started a little bit after I applied the artic silver 5 paste :C (I'm assuming right now) even this problem I've seen a lot on this forum but no one knows.. xD im thinking about switching either to a more powerful intel i7 or go for a super strong i5 dual core for even better performance somehow I just want to sell the whole system an just buy a new 16gb gtx 555 alienware x51 desktop xD!

 

Actually I had time the other day to reseat the keyboard cable and found the alienhead ribbon cable wasn't at all connected properly (power button) now I never have the lag problem and all the keyboard control lights light up without fail each boot up. So I would say I have fixed my trusty M15x.

I have to disagree about scans turned up all problems. If it is hardware going bad a software scan could easily miss this. Try a different HDD and at least see if there is a difference before you give up.

KoI

 

1. Run HD tune, this will help you test the HDD more accurate. (If possible add a screen shot to check the results)
2. Keep an eye on your system temperatures, you can use GPUz, make sure while running any applications or games you check mark the log to file box, to check the CPU temperature use HW monitor.

Let me know how it goes!

 

Thank you also for replying with some helpful tips! every bit helps to find the solution !

1. HD tune came back actually 100% okay in the error testing but I kind of do not like the way benchmark test came out :/ but other than that everything was okay in health as well!






2. I've already done this an they seem normal about 50 to 60 even when running games :O I never see my temps skyrocket either.

 

I think the same, the results from the benchmark are not very good and that could caused the lag spike issue.

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