New PC build lagging

[TheLegend53]

I recently built my first computer after taking an IT class to learn how. Things went pretty well but I keep having lagging problems that happen randomly. It sometimes happens when opening programs like firefox or even when playing games. The hard drive is a seagate 7200rpm 2TB drive that is SATA revision III. I had it plug into the Intel controlled SATA III ports and the Marvell controlled SATA III ports with the same results (the Marvell had more lagging). Tried clean installs with both IDE and AHCI modes with the same lagging. Tried different SATA cables still didn't help. Then when I changed it to the SATA II ports the problem got better but it would still lag. I was told the hard drive wasn't very good so I tried the one out of my laptop which was a Seagate 7200rmp 500GB with 4GB of solid state memory. It improved the performance greatly on both SATA II and SATA III ports but would still lag during games. Then I put the 2 TB hard drive on the SATA III port not in a raid config to use as a storage drive. I install a game to it and used the same settings as on the 500GB drive but this time no lag. I have no idea what is going on.

My Specs:
Intel i7-2600K (Stock Clock)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 Motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Seagate - Momentus XT 500GB Internal Serial ATA Solid State Hybrid Drive for Laptops
SAMSUNG Blu Ray Drive
PC Power and Cooling Silencer 910W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply
Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD
COOLER MASTER HAF X Case

 

[TheLegend53]

I forgot to say that I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. It was installed from the upgrade disk but it came with its own key code.

 

[Digerati]

You seem to have plenty of horsepower. Did the problem appear from day 1? Have you checked for driver upgrades - in particular, for your graphics card? What programs do you have starting with Windows? Have you scanned for malware?

As a side note, it would appear you are using that copy of Windows illegally. The upgrade version is ONLY allowed to be used with a machine that has a legal copy of a previous version of Windows licensed to it, and you said this was a new machine.

 

[TheLegend53]

You seem to have plenty of horsepower. Did the problem appear from day 1? Have you checked for driver upgrades - in particular, for your graphics card? What programs do you have starting with Windows? Have you scanned for malware?

As a side note, it would appear you are using that copy of Windows illegally. The upgrade version is ONLY allowed to be used with a machine that has a legal copy of a previous version of Windows licensed to it, and you said this was a new machine.

I have had the problem since day 1 and everything is up to date. Since I didn't have any problems with lag when I installed the game to the 2TB hard drive(not the main drive) I know its not the graphics card driver. I only have the basic windows programs and itunes as start programs but the lag happens after everything is loaded. My copy of Windows has been verified as genuine so I don't think I'm doing anything illegal. My only thought is that the motherboard is the cause but i don't know for sure.

 

[Digerati]

My copy of Windows has been verified as genuine so I don't think I'm doing anything illegal.

A legal copy is the not the same thing as using it illegally. An upgrade is supposed to be for just that - to "upgrade" that computer from a previous version of Windows. Therefore, to be legal, you must have had a [legal] previous version of Windows installed on that machine prior to installing the Windows 7 upgrade. You apparently did not. So while you have a legal copy of Windows, it appears you are using it illegally and you need to purchase a new license for that "new", and NOT "upgraded", machine.

***

I didn't have any problems with lag when I installed the game to the 2TB hard drive

But you did have problems with that drive when, "plug into the Intel controlled SATA III ports and the Marvell controlled SATA III ports with the same results (the Marvell had more lagging", right? So while your graphics controller may have good drivers, you still should check the motherboard maker's site for updated drivers.