PC case upgrade gone wrong, need help. Hardware/software problem.

[BigDaddy0790]

Fisrt, I'll re-post my message from another site:
Okay guys, here is the deal: I bought a GTX 680 as a replacement to 570, it didn't fit. Yesterday I got a new case, Corsair 650D, and installed everything into it with only new part being the 680. Mobo is Asus p8p67 B3 and cpu is intel 2600k. Also got 3 HDDs, 500Gb old one, and two more or less new 1TBs one of which is my system drive. Upon installing everything I tried booting. Before that everything lit up, including my power button LED, however when I pressed it nothing happened. I obviously connected something wrong but after messing with the cables just used my mobo button, it booted up. However upon booting I faced another problem - EXTREMELY slow Windows 7. Boot up takes couple of minutes which is fine, but the system itself is barely moving. Don't get me wrong, it's the HDD. Animations and buttons and everything works fine but takes a LOT of time to load. Folder icons take some 30 seconds to start appearing, browser boots up for 30 minutes and then loads pages for hours, that kind of thing. Programs boot for minutes. I got 8 gigs of RAM like before but it's not being used at all unless some program finally opens. CPU is also under 1% load most of the time. I thought that it had something to do with cables and ports I used to conmect HDDs, since I do not remember the positions they were in with the old case, but after trying few combinations it didn't help. Also, installition of drivers took windows minutes for each, and about 30 mins for display driver. At this point I'm completely lost. Do I gotta install some drivers after re-connecting stuff to mobo? What the hell is the problem?

After posting that I thought that I solved it. A year ago I had a similar problem after updating mobo to this one - I connected my HDD to Marvell not Intel SATA port, so not using Marvell solved it. Yesterday after doing that it looked alright - Windows 7 booted normally and the OS itself loaded programs almost like usual. I decided to do a restart just in case - same problem. Switched HDD connection cables around, it felt to load faster again, then slowed down with time. Chrome which has 50+ tabs loaded them for some 15 mins instead of seconds sitting at "waiting for cache" forever or very long, clearing it didn't help. Other programs worked fine but I needed Chrome so I restarted - Windows won't start at all, giving me 0xc0000225 or device inaccessible. That happened a few times, absolutely randomly. Sometimes when I disabled Marvell port in BIOS (which is empty), sometimes when I enabled it, sometimes when I simply restarted. At this point I'm so lost I'm thinking of a new mobo or clean Windows install (which I REALLY don't want to do especially since I'm leaving on 23rd for 2 weeks), but I have this thought, can PSU cause this if it can't provide enough power because of a new card/case fans? I didn't try connecting old GPU yet.

All of the above is a re-post, this is new: Now I realize that all of the failed Windows 7 boots were my fault, I forgot to change boot priority in BIOS. So only problem is slow HDD performance. I'm currently typing from my more or less old laptop. A friend of mine who's been building PCs for quite some time payed me a visit a bit earlier today, said everything in the build was solid and we just swapped more HDD ports around once again which didn't help, so problem is still here. Tried swapping GPU to the old one, no help. We also put in new SATA connection cables while friend was here, no help. I also tried booting without any other HDDs or DVD drive, no help. Just to sum it up like before - Windows overall acts slow but once something is loaded it's more or less okay, by that I mean that GPU/CPU are clearly fine, yesterday when I thought it was okay I got my internet shut down (quite a coincidence) so I decided to test GPU by launching Crysis Warhead which gave me 100 fps maxed out, GPU being below 50 degrees. Although occasionally it stopped for a second or few, once again pointing at HDD problem. Any driver install also takes forever. And Chrome barely loads anything sitting at "waiting for cache". Any help at all would be GREATLY appreciated, I'd be very happy to solve this today-tomorrow before leaving for 2 weeks.
Anyhow, ideas? Also, sorry for any mistakes I made, I'm no native speaker of the language.

Update 1: Just swapped RAM sticks, no help. Looked at pics I took before the change, and they were set up differently from what I put them in the new case at first, two are green and two are blue. Before it was green-blue-green-blue, but I put them blue-green-blue-green by accident. Not that it matters though, problem is still here. Trying to run HDD diagnostic but with it taking 5 minutes to open Mozilla, I think this'll take a while.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

So only problem is slow HDD performance

I would go to the HDD manufacturer's website and download their drive utility and run it.

In one or two sentences, in what way is the hard drive slow?

 

[BigDaddy0790]

So only problem is slow HDD performance

I would go to the HDD manufacturer's website and download their drive utility and run it.

In one or two sentences, in what way is the hard drive slow?

I think it's all explained up there, I can repeat or even take a video. Windows boots at least twice slower than usual. Once I see the desktop background it takes 20+ minutes to open all programs, usually in 1 minute I'm already browsing 50+ tab Chrome with everything opened and loaded. Any program lags even after being loaded - Skype hangs for few seconds after I type each message, browser hangs for few seconds whenever I press anything, even outside the webpage (settings button). Same goes for all programs.

I do think of downloading the utility, however with this kind of speed I'm not sure what it'll show and if it'll help, HDD is slow as is, plus it'll take a while. I also don't have results from my previous setup. Still, I'll try this out right when I finish swapping RAM sticks.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

A slow or sluggish system may have very little to do with the hard drive. It may be perfect.

Have you looked in Task Manager for information on the number of running processes or RAM utilization?

Have you looked in msconfig to see what programs are set to load on every startup?

 

[Layback Bear]

Fill in My System Specs completely.

 

[BigDaddy0790]

A slow or sluggish system may have very little to do with the hard drive. It may be perfect.

Have you looked in Task Manager for information on the number of running processes or RAM utilization?

Have you looked in msconfig to see what programs are set to load on every startup?

Both first are fine, processes are 60-85 as usual, and RAM is used as usual too. I got a desktop widget showing amount of RAM and percentage of use, it was 8 gigs total with 1.5-2 topping when I'm idle, 5+ gigs used with fully opened browser, as usual.

I didn't check startup programs but they are all the same once opened. Just a few - Steam, Skype, Xfire, that's it if not including utilities like Asus thing for controller mobo temps as well as general monitoring with CPU fan control.

 

[essenbe]

Like ignatzatsonic asked, have you downloaded the manufacturers hard drive diagnostic program? The symptoms you listed can be a sick or dying hard drive. ignatzatsonicignatzatsonic

 

[BigDaddy0790]

Like ignatzatsonic asked, have you downloaded the manufacturers hard drive diagnostic program? The symptoms you listed can be a sick or dying hard drive. ignatzatsonicignatzatsonic

That's what people suggested and that's what I thought, however how big of a coincidence is it then? I had a 500Gb drive for 3 years which is perfectly fine, but this nice 1TB system drive that's one year old is already dying without showing ANY signs of degradation lately? And it started RIGHT when I re-assembled my mobo in a new case? I don't think so. However I just downloaded and installed this SeaTools thingy, let's see how it goes. PC feels very responsive btw, until it comes to loading something

 

[BigDaddy0790]

Update 2: Tried using SeaTools for Windows by Seagate, their diagnostic utility. Tried short Generic test, it passed. Short drive self test (DST) failed. Both passed on my newer 1TB drive I just bought for storage. Should I take more tests or just try to fix it with the utility? Or just screw it and get a new drive instead of this one? I really don't want to do that.

 

[Layback Bear]

My suggestions would be. Make sure you have everything you want to save backup-ed. If possibel do a RMA on the hard drive. If I'm having 2nd thoughts about a component in one of my computers it gets replace one way or the other but that's just me. Do some research on which hard drive is known for reliability and go for it.

 

[BigDaddy0790]

My suggestions would be. Make sure you have everything you want to save backup-ed. If possibel do a RMA on the hard drive. If I'm having 2nd thoughts about a component in one of my computers it gets replace one way or the other but that's just me. Do some research on which hard drive is known for reliability and go for it.

Right now I'm finishing Fix All Fast thing, let's see how that goes. If assuming worst though, I have no idea how to back it all up. Copy speed will probably be killed and I got some 700 gigs of important stuff I really don't want to find again, that's not including games and software which are all easy to get back. Only way to do this in my eyes is buying one more 1TB HDD and getting it all there, then replacing this one with warranty.

Update 3: Interesting. After Fix All Fast Short DST test was passed, even faster than on the new drive! Let me try running couple more tests. If all pass, I'll try using the system myself, then reboot and see how it goes once more. God, fingers crossed.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If it passes all the hard drive tests and is still sluggish, I would disable as many processes and startup programs as possible temporarily, to see if the system then speeds up.

If it does, then the culprit is presumably something that was temporarily disabled.

Then add back a few at a time and try to identify which then causes the system to slow down again.

I have a similar CPU (2500), but run only about 50 processes typically and have very little running on startup, so I don't really have a frame of reference as to how snappy your system should be with your processes and applications. My system booted in about 55 seconds when I was using a spinning hard drive.

 

[BigDaddy0790]

If it passes all the hard drive tests and is still sluggish, I would disable as many processes and startup programs as possible temporarily, to see if the system then speeds up.

If it does, then the culprit is presumably something that was temporarily disabled.

Then add back a few at a time and try to identify which then causes the system to slow down again.

I have a similar CPU (2500), but run only about 50 processes typically and have very little running on startup, so I don't really have a frame of reference as to how snappy your system should be with your processes and applications. My system booted in about 55 seconds when I was using a spinning hard drive.

I seriously doubt programs are the cause - once again, too big of a coincidence. It took me some 60 seconds to boot into 100% work ready state, and exactly after I re-built the thing it decided to get stuck on some startup program? I really don't think so :huh: Plus it didn't slow down when I opened tons more programs later including 50+ tab Chrome. It worked fine in Crysis: Warhead too which is a very resource hungry application, obviously. I guess a better way to test that out would be safe mode, no?

 

[BigDaddy0790]

Okay, that Fix It All fast *kind of* seems to have worked. It still boots pretty long, however that small lag in Windows itself is at least twice less, I can actually use some programs now with the exception of Chrome, but that might have something to do with it's cache being corrupted after the problem. It's nearly 3 AM here now so I'll leave it on Fix It All Long and check it out in the morning, hoping it'll fix the problem entirely. Will post then

 

[bigmck]

I seriously doubt programs are the cause - once again, too big of a coincidence.

There are a lot of knowledgeable people on here who are trying to help. If you don't take the advice, you will get no help.

 

[BigDaddy0790]

I seriously doubt programs are the cause - once again, too big of a coincidence.

There are a lot of knowledgeable people on here who are trying to help. If you don't take the advice, you will get no help.

I'm making my own judgement of the advice first, how is that wrong? And once again, I explained why it's not really working. And I in fact did try it. So far only the HDD diagnostic seem to have worked, at least I hope so.

 

[BigDaddy0790]

Update 4: Nope, problem wasn't fixed by long Fix It All option. It even feels a bit less responsive than yesterday, same at best. Can use some programs barely, but overall it's the same. Game over I guess, will get a new harddrive once I'm back from the trip.

 

[Layback Bear]

Whether you get a new hard drive or not; just in case do a complete backup. Their are many 3rd party programs that can do that and of course Windows 7 can also do a backup. Start and type backup will get you there. Should read.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

 

[BigDaddy0790]

Whether you get a new hard drive or not; just in case do a complete backup. Their are many 3rd party programs that can do that and of course Windows 7 can also do a backup. Start and type backup will get you there. Should read.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

Thanks, although I'm not exactly sure what that does? You just get a working copy of your system HDD on another one, or no? Because that would be perfect.

 

[rakesh27]

ok this might sound stupid, check your motherboard standoffs, if one is not correctly in place it could be shorting the board.

For me, mine would boot up for 20secs or sometimes 2 mins before loosing power shutting off, after a day or so off messing about trying to find the solution it came to me when unplugged the whole lot.

I could see one standoff not screwed in properly, as soon as i did, everything was working fine...