Could playing Ark be causing my computer to run slower overall?

[Leonhardt]

So, My computer is pretty old, about 5ish years, so it was already getting slow

After a few weeks of playing Ark, though, it's REALLY become noticeable, even when just browsing files on my own computer

I don't have a high end rig:
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Processor
nVidia GTX 740 GPU
8Gs of RAM

I can run Ark at about Medium settings on 4GB Memory + All Available Cores + DX10 mode and get a playable FPS.

But I'm worried that playing a resource intensive game such as Ark might actually be damaging my computer's performance.

I'm saving up money for a new computer, hopefully this Christmas, but of course the problem exists right now.

Should I stop playing Ark until I can upgrade my system?

[Skeldarkday]

What you should do is shut down your computer and restart it. That should help. It can slow it down. With a new computer that problem should go away but for the meantime after playing ark re start your computer if you going to do something else.

[V10lator]

Also defragging the harddrive from time to time might help.

[builder680]

game isn't causing this while it's not running. reboot should fix it. elsewise check for other issues or possibly malware. only defrag if you use an hdd, no need with an ssd.

[twitch.tv/TehEmoGurl]

Reccomended steps:

Full security scan with the following tools (In the order listed):
ADWcleaner
Hitman Pro 3
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware

Reboot after each scan then repeat the process until all scans are clean (Note:Be sur eto do a FULL scan not a quick scan).

After that head to piriforms website and download "Defraggler" and defrage your mechanical hard drives with it (Never defrag an SSD as it will kill it much quicker and doesn't help performance at all).

The 2 most likely issues:
1. Viruses & Malware. These bugs take up system resources, damage system files and registry entrys, corrupt user data and interfere with drivers and software itnerfaces causing your computer to slow down over time.

2. Cached files in RAM and Page File/Swap space: To make loading quicker the computer will store certain files in your RAM and Swap Space to allow loading things faster the next time you open them. Ark is one that i have noticed uses this very well. However, After closing the game an dopening something new it shouldn't actually slow down the computer, it should just move it out of the cached memory space and then mov ein the new files ot be chached.

On saying that, Swap Space is slower than RAM and on only 4GB's of RAM your swap space will be used allot more often for overflow, especially when playign Ark. Make syour you have atleast 6GB of swap space assigned ot your OS. (Note: Too much swap space will cause your performance to decrease due to it's drasticly slower transfer rates compared to physicle RAM.

To learn how to set your Swap Space size in windows just go to google and search for "How to set Page File Siz ein Windows[version]"


Hope this helps. If you find anythign in the scans and repeating them 3 times or more still shows results then please feel free to add me on steam an di will assist you further in cleaning your system. Also note that Hitman Pro 3 will ALWAYS find cookies. These entries can be ignored, Any other entries however should be removed (Such as PUP's,Malware, AdWare, GreyWare, Trojans, Keyloggers, HiJack's,Worms,Viruses and the like)

[Lori37]

Originally posted by TTSS - TehEmoGurl:

Full security scan with the following tools (In the order listed):
ADWcleaner
Hitman Pro 3
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware

so you want this person to use

1. A ♥♥♥♥♥♥ program (according to the comments I read on the websites)
2. A program you have to pay for after 30 days to use its full potential
3. Another program you have to pay for to use its full potential (because after one of their updates they removed a few things from the free version)

To be able to maybe run ARK properly without having the computer running slow? Sorry, but somehow that rubs me wrong....

[Leonhardt]

Originally posted by V10lator:

Also defragging the harddrive from time to time might help.

I have it set to defrag automatically once a week.
And I use AVG, McAfee, CCcleaner and Malware Bytes regularly.

[twitch.tv/TehEmoGurl]

Originally posted by Lori:

Originally posted by TTSS - TehEmoGurl:

Full security scan with the following tools (In the order listed):
ADWcleaner
Hitman Pro 3
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware

so you want this person to use

1. A ♥♥♥♥♥♥ program (according to the comments I read on the websites)
2. A program you have to pay for after 30 days to use its full potential
3. Another program you have to pay for to use its full potential (because after one of their updates they removed a few things from the free version)

To be able to maybe run ARK properly without having the computer running slow? Sorry, but somehow that rubs me wrong....

Do you believe everythign you read online? How about you go do your own actual research and see how the programs work. I do tech support on a near to daily basis so i know how to clean a system effectively thank you very much.

[SilvaDreams]

Originally posted by MLeonhardt:

Originally posted by V10lator:

Also defragging the harddrive from time to time might help.

I have it set to defrag automatically once a week.
And I use AVG, McAfee, CCcleaner and Malware Bytes regularly.

Get rid of McAfee, it might as well be malware and a virus itself (same with Norton's)
But overall TTSS was right, do a few full scans but they left out an important step, do them in safe mode, no network enabled and just basic drivers as some malware and viruses hide themselves within startup files and can redownload themselves.
Yes they can be that malicious and a pain to get rid of... And no porn sites needed just an infected ad.

[twitch.tv/TehEmoGurl]

Originally posted by SilvaDreams:

Originally posted by MLeonhardt:

I have it set to defrag automatically once a week.
And I use AVG, McAfee, CCcleaner and Malware Bytes regularly.

Get rid of McAfee, it might as well be malware and a virus itself (same with Norton's)
But overall TTSS was right, do a few full scans but they left out an important step, do them in safe mode, no network enabled and just basic drivers as some malware and viruses hide themselves within startup files and can redownload themselves.
Yes they can be that malicious and a pain to get rid of... And no porn sites needed just an infected ad.

Safe Mode would have been the next step if he had added me stating they are sitll showing results after reboot ;P Glad sum1 els eher eknows how to clean a rig though!

[SilvaDreams]

Originally posted by TTSS - TehEmoGurl:

Originally posted by SilvaDreams:

Get rid of McAfee, it might as well be malware and a virus itself (same with Norton's)
But overall TTSS was right, do a few full scans but they left out an important step, do them in safe mode, no network enabled and just basic drivers as some malware and viruses hide themselves within startup files and can redownload themselves.
Yes they can be that malicious and a pain to get rid of... And no porn sites needed just an infected ad.

Safe Mode would have been the next step if he had added me stating they are sitll showing results after reboot ;P Glad sum1 els eher eknows how to clean a rig though!

Been keeping my personal rig virus free since '96, I can dig out even the most resilient of malicious software.
But some malware and viruses won't even flag if you aren't in safe mode as they hide within normal operating files or drivers.

[SilvaDreams]

Originally posted by TheCandyKid:

Yes bob! DayZ did the same thing to my old PC b/c i could only run minimum specs and it destroyed my hardrive over time> maybe b/c i played several hours a day as well

That just sounds like your hard drive on the way out anyways....