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CPU Usage extremely high, after playing games?

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  • Computers
  • Games
  • CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
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February 20, 2014 10:40:40 AM

Got a computer last year, everything was running smoothly, even games on highest graphic settings. Since very recently, I sometimes get FPS drops (usually on higher settings) that can be resolved by restarting the game, but it eventually happens again. Once I close the game, all of a sudden, my computer starts to run EXTREMELY slowly - Task Manager shows 50% - 90% CPU usage, even thought I'm not neccesarily doing anything special, than I did before, but everything was fine. Processes that hog the system seems to be everything opened up. It literally seems like the FPS drop in games has caused EVERY process on my OS to use up most of my CPU...
This is really frustrating - I tried several things:

Virus Scan - I'm sure my comps clean
OS Format - reinstalled OS formating all drives

I've also checked the temps, they don't seem to be high.
Process temps do not exceed 65 degrees.
Graphics card temps do not exceed 65 degrees.
Everything else seems to be under 65, some are very cool.


These are my specs:
AMD FX 8150
GTX 550ti 1GB ram
16GB ram

I have no idea how to solve this frustrating issue - please help.

I'm beginning to think that it is a hardware problem, keeping in mind that I use my computer a lot, everyday.

Any help appreciated,
thanks.

More about : cpu usage extremely high playing games

a b à CPUs
February 20, 2014 5:03:30 PM

It sounds to me like an overheating problem, probably the CPU. The AMD fx cpu's shouldn't have a core temp above 62c and a socket temp above 70c. Sometimes it can be hard to get accurate readings with third party hardware monitors. Try cleaning out your entire system with dust off spray, make sure all of the fans are working and pointed in the right direction for proper air flow. If you have a case that's meant to be standing upright make sure it is for proper heat dissipation. Try to clean off the old thermal grease and apply a new thin layer. If you are overclocking try running the cpu at default speeds.
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February 22, 2014 8:19:47 AM

Done as you told me swilczak, cleaned with dust off spray. I tried to play a game again after I cleaned it, and these were the temps: http://screenshooter.net/4782805/nxbmqci
Soon after, the same problem occured, even though the temperature has decreased.

I have no idea what to do to fix this...

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a b à CPUs
February 22, 2014 8:32:48 AM

Okay well at least now we know it's not the temperature that's the problem. It's probably related to malware/viruses or something running in the background that shouldn't be. You can run a virus/malware scan, and or check the system startup configuration. Make sure you uninstall any programs that you don't need too. A disk defragment or disk error check might also help.
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a c 96 à CPUs
February 23, 2014 7:42:05 PM

I would use msconfig

to turn off the automatic start up of everything that is not Windows, your antivirus , your firewall .
Use google to work out what processes are , and what they do .


Once you have done this check task manager to see if anything else is running without permission .
If it is then kill the process from taskmanger .

Does that make a difference?
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February 24, 2014 6:46:50 AM

Outlander_04 said:
I would use msconfig

to turn off the automatic start up of everything that is not Windows, your antivirus , your firewall .
Use google to work out what processes are , and what they do .


Once you have done this check task manager to see if anything else is running without permission .
If it is then kill the process from taskmanger .

Does that make a difference?


Nope. From what I can see, games cause other processes to increase their usage of CPU, it makes no sense.
Before I play, eg. Team Speak doesn't take more than 6% of CPU. Once FPS drops in a game, and I close it, the CPU % of Team Speak increases in general, and never goes below 10% and sometimes even exceeds 20%..
However, when I turn off a game that causes the CPU usage to increase dramatically, and I wait like 20-30 minutes, CPU usage decreases to normal, (1-12%)
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a c 93 à CPUs
February 24, 2014 6:49:55 AM

For me it sounds like a virus, using your CPU.
And yes, some viruses will first start when they detect you are already using a slightly heavy CPU intensive application, but I don't get why it would take it 20-30 minutes to close.

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Best solution

February 24, 2014 6:53:25 AM

Surely a 550ti can't game on the highest settings?!
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February 24, 2014 7:02:35 AM

vmN said:
For me it sounds like a virus, using your CPU.
And yes, some viruses will first start when they detect you are already using a slightly heavy CPU intensive application, but I don't get why it would take it 20-30 minutes to close.



Done many formats, and formats would get rid of them, right? However, formats didn't help. Also tried running games a few days on Win 7, same problem...

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February 24, 2014 7:03:39 AM

calza said:
Surely a 550ti can't game on the highest settings?!


Worked really well for like a year, I had completely no issues with it. Now this is happening, and I'm not even sure whether it is the graphics card fault.
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February 25, 2014 4:13:07 AM

calza said:
Surely a 550ti can't game on the highest settings?!


Yeah, apparently the GTX 550 ti bottlenecks on newer games, and it just cannot handle these games as the card is pretty old.

Bought a new GTX 670, so far good, so the issue was my old GPU.

Issue closed,
Snokind.
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February 25, 2014 4:24:10 AM

Rest of your system looks good, so you'll be set for a while.

Always good to monitor temps though!
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