Hi, all. Warning, this may get a bit long.

I've got myself a new computer to game on, the first I've actually bought in years (as I usually build them). It's an ASUS Essentio Series desktop, with 16GB DDR3 memory, two 1TB harddrives (plus three externals), and I've put in a 700W power supply and my trusty nVidia GTS 450. It has Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 and an Intel Core i7 processor. Avira is my antivirus. Everything has been properly cleaned and it's sitting on top of a table with nothing on either side except my monitor.

After about a week of using my new setup, I've started to notice some very strange things. When I play any game for too long (mostly TS2), even when my internal temps are not even five degrees above my usual idle of 30C - 34C, the computer starts to lock up and the cursor becomes very strange:



Everything starts to lock up, Task Manager often says that around 97% of my (very large) memory is being used up. For no reason. TS2 isn't using it, as it only uses less than 15% even when exerting itself. Host Process for Windows Services, however, has suddenly started eating away at it. Closing TS2 does nothing and the computer still is slow, with less than 5% of the CPU being used at one time.

When I investigate the Host Process that seems to be taking up so much space, I find that it's all useless Windows crap I never use and have resorted to disabling it every restart.



Even with these disabled, something is eating up my memory whenever I start any game. I'm usually playing TS2, and that's usually what triggers it. The game itself, again, doesn't use up much at all and it always monitored. In Process Explorer I can't determine how or where this memory leak is coming from, but I've done the math and the combined processes shouldn't be able to use up that much memory.

This is what Task Manager looks like in Safe Mode, idle:



The above also is representative of what it usually looks like when I run the game - not a lot being utilised, everything very calm and serene and unchallenged. The useless crap isn't running at all, which begs the question as to why it runs in normal mode. (I've not tried to boot the game in Safe Mode, but I will if any of you need to know.)

I run nothing but Avira and RealTemp GT when playing the game, which runs smoothly until my computer decides to get cranky every now and again and pull this shit on me.

The main harddrive's been a bit finnicky (sometimes when I boot, it won't recognise), and often I get thrown into CHKDSK for no discernible reason upon startup. What baffles me is that I've went over the harddrive many times with various tools and had people look at it. All have come to the same conclusion as me: it's fine. What's weird is that my older, less well-endowed computers have had zero problems like these, even running hot and under strain. So I don't see what the hell this computer's problem is.

I have also run CCleaner, MyDefrag, UnHackMe, MalwareBytes, HWMonitor, and RealTemp's various tests, under the advice of a few other forums who have been pretty stumped as to what my problem is.

Am I going crazy, missing something, or was this computer just a good waste of money? I've Googled around and talked to people, but nothing they've said has worked. Please help me, I'm desperate to figure this out.

Can you post your detailed system specs (part brand, model number)
Do you have GPU-Z installed?
Are you using 4x4GB or 2x4GB RAM?
How many processes do you have running 5min after a reboot in normal mode?

By detailed, I need to know exactly what you need and from where first. (DXDiag, the brand and model numbers of different parts, etc. - different forums ask for different things and it's a pain to post the wrong thing)

I don't have GPU-Z.

I'm using 4x4GB RAM.

68 processes running (from all users, which is myself and whatever Windows has) and nearly half of them are Host Process for Windows Services. 13% RAM taken, 5% CPU, and it's idle. Completely idle. The Host Process seems to be running services that I don't need, but when I started to disable them I lost my connection to the internet and upon restart it wouldn't let me into my account. I did a system restore and I'm fine, but that's exactly what Task Manager is reading, even still.

(Just as an addition, SuperFetch, when disabled, makes the problems I've been describing go away. I've heard horror stories of it trying to "fully utilise" your computer, which is horrid for gamers who need that extra unused headroom just in case. On my older rigs, SuperFetch has always been disabled. Hmm. I think that may be it.)

We usually ask for this:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title...lp:System_Specs

can you give me cpu, mb, ram and psu brand & model? download gpu-Z and see if your gpu is running at idle. I've been seeing people reporting a virus that uses their gpu to mine for bitcoins, making the computer run sluggishly when playing games.