Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

CPU usage dropping to 0% while under load

Tags:
  • Gaming
  • CPUs
Last response: in CPUs
Share
June 23, 2014 9:43:32 PM

hi everyone, i'm having a strange problem with my CPU, during gaming and almost all programs im getting usage drops down to 0% every couple seconds for no apparent reasons, in gaming this results in 1-2 second freezes and framerate drops from 60 to 45 or lower.
my temperature never goes above 50c, so its not throttling, and ive disabled all power saving features in the bios. I've tried running at the default clock speed and voltage, tried auto settings and even underclocked, but the issue still persists. my power settings are set to high performance but i have tried balanced, neither changed anything. i am running my games off of a 2tb WD green harddrive but the same problem occurs when loaded off a ssd as well.

this link shows my cpu usage in a prime95 test, it behaves similarly in games,but hovers around 60-80%, then drops to 0% usage
http://puu.sh/9HBzT

all help is greatly appreciated :) 

More about : cpu usage dropping load

June 23, 2014 10:09:18 PM

What motherboard and CPU
m
0
l
a b à CPUs
June 23, 2014 10:11:12 PM

interesting... maybe a power supply issue.
m
0
l
Related resources
a b à CPUs
June 23, 2014 10:11:51 PM

lukelaw said:
What motherboard and CPU


its in the info at the bottom right
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:12:10 PM

iron8orn said:
interesting... maybe a power supply issue.


That's what i'm thinking, but It could also be VRM heating
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:13:37 PM

I have the same CPU and motherboard as you so it's not VRM, Do you have all CPU power connectors in?
m
0
l
a b à CPUs
June 23, 2014 10:14:00 PM

lukelaw said:
iron8orn said:
interesting... maybe a power supply issue.


That's what i'm thinking, but It could also be VRM heating


yeah possibly case cooling. what case do you own and what is your fan configuration?

m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:15:00 PM

brand new power supply so i hope its not haha, yes lukelaw i have both power connectors in
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:18:33 PM

Okay, try resitting your CPU in the socket and double check ALL power connectors to the motherboard.
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:20:44 PM

i have the xpredator x3, this one: http://www.aerocool.us/pgs/pgs-b/x3white.htm
i have a 200mm intake on the front, 120mm intake on the side panel directly above the cpu and a 140mm exhaust fan on the back, but i also have the corsair h100i watercooling on the cpu

okay lukelaw, ill give that a try
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:22:37 PM

Okay, your cooling is good so it can't be VRM for chipset related. Okay, I'll wait for you to come back
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:33:23 PM

all power connectors were in place and correctly seated, i reseated the cpu, didnt change anything, im considering just resetting the bios altogether and starting over, anything else you can think of?
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:35:13 PM

This is a very odd problem, what is your cooler?
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:40:36 PM

I really can't think of what the problem could be, I haven't encounter something like this be for. I would recommend you send a PM to one of the experts here on Tom's Hardware, I would suggest a user like i7Baby.
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:45:28 PM

My last recommendation would be to check for an update for your GPU drivers and make sure you have the most recent Windows updates installed. I hope you manage to solve this issue but I have reached a dead end for solutions.
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:47:49 PM

okay, ill have a look at the windows updates, i have a spare copy of windows 8 so i may give that a go, tbh kinda hope that deosnt fix it though, much prefer windows 7, thanks heaps for your time though :) 
m
0
l
a b à CPUs
June 23, 2014 10:47:53 PM

check for a bios update also.

yes i7Baby would be a great user to private message if steps fail. comes very highly recommended.
m
0
l
a b 4 Gaming
a c 179 à CPUs
June 23, 2014 10:49:09 PM

Which OS? Make sure all drivers are up to date and all windows updates are done, as the fx line has hotfixes from windows. I know it sounds like a waste, if u have an extra drive or all your important data off your hdd, try a windows re install or install on a different drive.
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 10:52:55 PM

bios is up to date iron8orn, and ill keep him in mind thanks :) 

im on windows 7, all the latest drivers downloaded and installed yesterday, problem was happening before then though, ill have alook at the hotfixes before i do anything crazy haha
m
0
l
a b 4 Gaming
a c 179 à CPUs
June 23, 2014 11:03:20 PM

I would agree weird that it drops to 0, my oc'd 8320 on win 7 on a 890fx board with beta bios has no problem and doesnt drop.
m
0
l
June 23, 2014 11:10:36 PM

im starting to wonder if its actually the chip, but im going to try it on windows 8 first, ill report back once its up and running :) 
m
1
l

Best solution

June 24, 2014 2:59:10 AM

okay, so ive installed windows 8 and tested my cpu at stock and surprisingly it works fine, actually had a few more fps in crysis 3 than i did on win7, so i guess my problem has sort of been solved, too bad upgrading to windows 8 was the fix, thank you guys for all your help :) 
Share
!