Multiple peers = Lag

[QuantumT]

I've been having a persistent problem for over a year now. Every time I download something from multiple (40+) peers, my whole system starts lagging fiercely, the cooling fans run berserk and I can hardly control my mouse. It only happens when there are many connections, like in Windows Update or when I download bittorrent files/content (all legal of course!).

I've tried updating my LAN and mouse drivers many times. Doesn't help. I've also googled it countless times, but no help there either.

Is there any system files, that manages connections, that could be corrupt?

I run Windows 10 Home on a Lenovo 81HN V130 i5 laptop.

[MigL]

Maybe you're dyslexic.
And you meant to say "multiple beers"

[QuantumT]

6 minutes ago, MigL said:

Maybe you're dyslexic.
And you meant to say "multiple beers"

No. It's the same when I drink water, coffee, red wine, whisky and gin.

[StringJunky]

Can you reduce the uploading amount to the other peers? It sounds like excessive demand on your system trying service too many requests at once. Like Windows Update in its current guise downloads the update files whilst supplying your files to other PC's... it can create too much traffic for the system's specs.

Edited January 15, 2021 by StringJunky

[QuantumT]

20 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Can you reduce the uploading amount to the other peers? It sounds like excessive demand on your system trying service too many requests at once. Like Windows Update in its current guise downloads the update files whilst supplying your files to other PC's... it can create too much traffic for the system's specs.

My bittorrent is reduced to max 50, which often gives low DL speed. Any lasting solutions?

Edited January 15, 2021 by QuantumT

[Ghideon]

14 minutes ago, QuantumT said:

Any lasting solutions?

Wild guess and questions:

Fan spinning fast sounds like CPU is working hard. Which process is working hard? You may be able to see the program's name in the windows task manager.
Do you have any antivirus software or similar scanning the downloaded data? That software could be degrading when having many connections.

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Ghideon

[QuantumT]

1 hour ago, Ghideon said:

Wild guess and questions:

Fan spinning fast sounds like CPU is working hard. Which process is working hard? You may be able to see the program's name in the windows task manager.
Do you have any antivirus software or similar scanning the downloaded data? That software could be degrading when having many connections.

I tried to remove the limit on my bittorrent, while downloading, and it showed the bittorrent client taking up to 50% of the CPU. Another 10% went to my firewall, and up to 10% went to "systeminterrupts".

qBittorrent: 40-50%
Zonealarm: 7-10%
Systeminterrupts: 5-10%

[Ghideon]

38 minutes ago, QuantumT said:

I tried to remove the limit on my bittorrent, while downloading, and it showed the bittorrent client taking up to 50% of the CPU. Another 10% went to my firewall, and up to 10% went to "systeminterrupts".

qBittorrent: 40-50%
Zonealarm: 7-10%
Systeminterrupts: 5-10%

From that it does not look like the CPU is running at 100%. Are you running latest version of ZoneAlarm? Is it ok to try to disable ZoneAlarm for a while? If your router has firewall enabled and the windows 10 is patched and has built in security measures enabled (Windows Defender) that should be ok to test for a while.

Disclaimer: Do not follow my advise to try with disabled Zonealarm unless you have reason to believe it is safe to do so. Reason for not disabling so could include, but not be limited to: using public Wifi, running old window version, downloading content of unknown quality.  

 

Other question to limit the possible causes: Is it only when running qBittorrent the fan is spinning fast? Or does the same thing happen when streaming video or doing other tasks?
Side note in case it helps: I once had a computer of a different brand that behaved as yours; laptop got hot and fan spinning fast even at moderate CPU loads (for any programs). In that case dust had gathered in the vents.

 

[Sensei]

How much memory do you have in the computer? Do you have HDD, SSD, or M.2? HDD has 55 MB/s transfer. SSD 550 MB/s. M.2 NVMe 1700-3500 MB/s.

I have 16 GB (max) in the laptop and SSD to not have to worry about out of physical memory. Planning to upgrade to 24 GB (max of mobo) in the desktop machine. If application is using too much physical memory data must be swapped to disk and HDD is serious bottleneck here.

I recommend to not even touch a computer without 16 GB of memory regardless of what are you doing and strongly recommend M.2 NVMe. 120 GB NVMe (1700 MB/s) costs 50 USD and PCI adapter for desktop costs 20 USD. 100 USD NVMe burst can have 3500 MB/s. Laptop users without on-board M.2 unfortunately have to use SSD. If you are not homeless there is no reason to suffer using obsolete  computer.. It does not cost much.. Investment will pay off within a couple days of usage because you will save your time of life, which is wasted on waiting for the computer to finish job.. and minutes add up to hours, every day..

I often hear laymans "I don't do anything fancy, so don't need much" (the last time yesterday). BS! Reading websites in 10 tabs/windows can take the all memory of 8 GB computer these days..

M.2 NVMe has 70 times faster data transfer than HDD, so even if computer has out of physical memory events, they won't be as painful as with slow HDD. And there are still people using 5400 RPM HDD...

Edited January 16, 2021 by Sensei