Windows 10: General sluggishness on i5-4200U processor (laptop, windows 10)

Basically I heaved out this laptop from 2013 that had been sitting in my closet for a few years, freshly installed a new Windows 10 on it, threw an SSD in it as well as upgraded it to 12 gb of ram, all this with the support of a generally decent 4th generation i5 processor. Seems pretty good, eh?

Not exactly, productivity on this machine is lackluster. Programs take ages longer to load than they should on a SSD (yes it is sata, but I'm talking really strange load times for a sata SSD), general switching between programs can be annoying with lag, things sometimes just freeze or crash, and the overall feel is just slow (for example, I used the Discord app, and everything is EXTREMELY laggy on it when scrolling, same goes for Skype to a certain extent.

Here's what I've done already to try to fix it: I've....
- reinstalled windows multiple different times
- tried a different SSD (with a confirmed working copy of windows on it already), to no avail
- replaced battery
- tried different ram sticks, re-seated them in different positions
- cleared any dust from the insides

Something to note is that the CPU usage sometimes goes to 100, but even when it's not at 100 these things definitely still apply. Also, why would it even go to 100, that seems way to high especially since CPU temps never really go about 60 from what I've noticed, and ram usage is always at around only 50%. Really nothing makes sense anymore.

Any sort of advice is appreciated. Thank you.

:)

 

I have problems with my cores with win 10

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

I appreciate your interest in Windows 10.We sincerely regret for the inconvenience caused.

As per the screen shots that you have provided Intel® Core™ i5-4200U Processor
has only 2 cores.

You may follow the below link and check if it helps:

Intel® Core™ i5-4200U Processor (3M Cache, up to 2.60 GHz) Product Specifications

Please do let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thank you

 

Playing music on headphones or speakers on my ASUS Notebook sounds strange?

I have better specs here:

• Model: Asus Q501LA

• Windows edition: Windows 10 Home

• Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60 GHz 2.30 GHz

• Installed memory (RAM): 6.00 GB (5.89 usable)

• System type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor

 

" and ram usage is always at around only 50%"
That is very high, mine is 30% with 8GB RAM on a i5-4200M and a mechanical HDD. Running this Website on IE 11, and Notepad, Task Manager.
Word/Excel files open in less than 1 sec.

It needs servicing. Start with hardware checks and work your way upwards through Windows and Applications. You have done 5 of the 100+ basics required.

 

I have a lot more running than what you have. Typically I'll have discord, word, onenote, calendar, spotify, notepad, among others. An i5 should be able to handle this especially since my ram usage is not throttling any performance, as well as from experience I've seen i3 processors of the same generation do this.

I'm not sure how else I'm supposed to work my way upwards through Windows and Applications if I've done resets and wipes already; that should have fixed any software issues. I have tested stuff through regedit and changed other services and settings that have been recommended through already documented forums about a similar issue but to no avail.

 

You have most likely some post install process still running and optimizing stuff.

Fire up TaskManager.
Go to Details Tab.
Sort all process by CPU-usage (the CPU column) in descending order (arrow pointing down)
Finally take a screenshot of that view and post it here.

Like THIS:




NOTE: You can hide the username column if you want to stay more anonymous. *Smile

 

I've noticed that the CPU really goes haywire when doing something like watching a simple youtube video, so here is what this tab looks like with that going.





This is just at idle.

 

AHAH, you seem to have some issues with system interrupts...let me see if I can find a tutorial for this here on TenForums.

 

Update: I've looked into the whole System Interrupts thing and I still have had no success... nothing seems to be working honestly, and the signs are more and more pointing to some sort of hardware motherboard issue that would have to be replaced. Meh.

 

I'm not sure that is the main issue, because pretty much every application that is running has a really high cpu usage, like chrome will often take like 70% with like 6 tabs open. It seems in general the cpu usage of everything is just amplified.

 

Try this first as a temporary test:

Go to device manager and disable your Audio Drivers. And as a second test, disable any USB3 controllers. If you are using an USB mouse, then also make sure it's connected to USB2 port and finally disable the touchpad.

Make sure you don't disable all input methods or you will have a hard time navigating in Windows.

See if this helps. Report back once this is tested. It could be you just have some driver issues.

 

Could you also post the make and model of your laptop. If you find a link to full system specs you could post here, it would be even better. I know you swapped out the HDD to an SSD, so never mind that part, but everything else might be very important information.

Also run the winver command from Console or by opening the Run dialog by pressing WIN + R keys, and post a screenshot of that version window, so we know which Windows version/build/revision you are on. I assume you are running a 64-bit version of Windows, since you installed 12GB of RAM. *Smile

This is what I run currently and it works great for me:

 

Are you one cumulative behind, Toni? Maybe it's intentional. Just asking.

 

Heheh, I let them come, when they come. No need to monitor and install every single CU when they are released.

UPDATE: I just read through the release notes for 16299.334. I have none of the issues it is supposed to solve. *Smile
UPDATE: My other computer is still on 16299.248 and have absolutely no issues on that one either. None of the newer updates bring anything useful for my needs.

 

Dell Inspiron 15R 5537
CPU: i5-4200U @1.6 GHz
GPU: Integrated
Display: Touchscreen

I'll start disabling some stuff and see if that makes a difference, thanks. I have updated my drivers as much as Dell's website will allow for this computer just to mention. I ran their driver assistant tool and downloaded the stuff I needed like the BIOS update and etc.