CPU 90%-100% only when gaming.

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DiscountPringles

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Jan 9, 2017
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I saw a question similar to this but it didn't seem to answer my question. Anyways, I built a Gaming PC a while back a have been slowly upgrading it over the years, everything has been running fine (GTA V, The Witcher, BF1, ETC high graphic 60+ FPS) until about a week ago. One morning I decided to boot up GTA V but I was only getting about 15 fps and I realised that my CPU was bouncing from 90-100% whenever I was in game. CPU runs at about 0-20% at all other times until I boot up a game and according to the resource monitor it is the games .EXE that is taking up almost all of it. RAM is only at about 2-4 GB even in game. I've checked for malware several times with different programs and I'm 90% sure its not that. I have run several diagnostics tools checking the CPU, hard drive, GPU, RAM, and motherboard but the only error that came up was that my 1TB HDD had some reallocation issues. Could that be the issue, a failing hard drive? Or is my CPU itself failing?

Side note: I took my PC on vacation with me to show VR to my family but the problem arrived when I set it up when I got there. I thought it was a steamvr problem until I booted up GTA. I didn't see any physical damage to the machine internal or external. Could physical damage still be a factor?

Here is my Specs:

OS: WIN 7 64 bit Pro
Motherboard: asrock h77 pro4/mvp
Processor: Intel core i5-3470 3.20GHz 4 Cores
Ram: 16GB DDR3
GPU: Geforce GTX 970 SSC+ 4GB
Hard Drive: 256GB SSD/1 TB HDD
Power Supply: Corsair CX550



 
Solution
Palewing
Try uninstalling the nVidia drivers using this tool: http://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=717.
Let it boot into safemode (it will ask when you run it).
Then reinstall the latest drivers, and don't install the Geforce Experience.
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Palewing

Palewing

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May 9, 2015
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If the reallocation errors occurred after physically moving the machine, then the HDD might have been damaged in transit, yes. But that would not explain the CPU usage. Extreme CPU usage could indicate the game running in software-mode, but why it would do that all of a sudden is a different matter. Could you list the SMART status on the SSD and HDD?
 
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DiscountPringles

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Jan 9, 2017
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Sure thing, Like I said, The Reallocated sectors count and the current pending sector count on the HDD are the only errors that got thrown up

SSD

Model : Crucial_CT256MX100SSD1
Firmware : MU01
Disk Size : 256.0 GB (8.4/137.4/256.0/256.0)
Buffer Size : Unknown
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 500118192
Rotation Rate : ---- (SSD)
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ACS-2
Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 6
Transfer Mode : SATA/600 | SATA/600
Power On Hours : 14918 hours
Power On Count : 74 count
Host Writes : 6154 GB
Wear Level Count : 81
Temperature : 31 C (87 F)
Health Status : Good (98 %)
Features : S.M.A.R.T., APM, 48bit LBA, NCQ, TRIM, DevSleep
APM Level : 00FEh [ON]
AAM Level : ----
Drive Letter : C:

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 100 100 __0 000000000000 Raw Read Error Rate
05 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reallocated NAND Blocks
09 100 100 __0 000000003A46 Power On Hours
0C 100 100 __0 00000000004A Power Cycle Count
AB 100 100 __0 000000000000 Program Fail Count
AC 100 100 __0 000000000000 Erase Fail Count
AD _98 _98 __0 000000000051 Average Block-Erase Count
AE 100 100 __0 00000000001B Unexpected Power Loss Count
B4 __0 __0 __0 00000000086F Unused Reserve NAND Blocks
B7 100 100 __0 000000000000 SATA Interface Downshift
B8 100 100 __0 000000000000 Error Correction Count
BB 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reported Uncorrectable Errors
C2 _69 _55 __0 002D000D001F Temperature
C4 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reallocation Event Count
C5 100 100 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 100 100 __0 000000000000 Smart Off-line Scan Uncorrectable Error Count
C7 100 100 __0 000000000007 Ultra DMA CRC Error Rate
CA _98 _98 __0 000000000002 Percent Lifetime Used
CE 100 100 __0 000000000000 Write Error Rate
D2 100 100 __0 000000000000 Successful RAIN Recovery Count
F6 100 100 __0 000301543D48 Total Host Sector Writes
F7 100 100 __0 0000182EA094 Host Program Page Count
F8 100 100 __0 000038E0057E Background Program Page Count


HDD

Model : ST31000528AS
Firmware : HP34
Disk Size : 1000.2 GB (8.4/137.4/1000.2/1000.2)
Buffer Size : Unknown
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 1953525168
Rotation Rate : 7200 RPM
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 4
Transfer Mode : ---- | SATA/300
Power On Hours : 30385 hours
Power On Count : 2689 count
Temperature : 30 C (86 F)
Health Status : Caution
Features : S.M.A.R.T., 48bit LBA, NCQ
APM Level : ----
AAM Level : ----
Drive Letter : D:

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 118 _68 __6 00000A7B1AE6 Read Error Rate
03 _95 _95 __0 000000000000 Spin-Up Time
04 _94 _94 _20 00000000194E Start/Stop Count
05 _99 _99 _36 000000000036 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 _81 _60 _30 000007343433 Seek Error Rate
09 _66 _66 __0 0000000076B1 Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 _97 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0C _98 _98 _20 000000000A81 Power Cycle Count
B4 100 100 __0 000000000020 Vendor Specific
B7 100 100 __0 000000000000 Vendor Specific
B8 100 100 _97 000000000000 End-to-End Error
BB __1 __1 __0 00000000D1DF Reported Uncorrectable Errors
BC 100 __1 __0 0001000106B4 Command Timeout
BD 100 100 __0 000000000000 High Fly Writes
BE _70 _57 _45 00002014001E Airflow Temperature
C2 _30 _43 __0 00080000001E Temperature
C3 _45 _21 __0 00000A7B1AE6 Hardware ECC recovered
C4 _99 _99 _36 000000000036 Reallocation Event Count
C5 100 _93 __0 000000000001 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 100 100 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000001 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
 
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Palewing

Palewing

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Though the numbers aren't extreme, if they keep rising (reallocation event count and reported uncorrectable errors), they would indeed indicate HDD failure approaching. It seems you have used the HDD for over 3 years 24/7 in total, so it is nearing its expected life anyway. The SSD doesn't have values out of the ordinary, but I thought it best to check just case anyway.

I would backup anything important on it if you haven't already. I personally recommend HGST (NAS) drives over those of Seagate and WD. This is both due to personal experience and other numbers out there (https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-failure-rates-q2-2016/). I've had 4 or 5 Seagate drives die in the last 4 years or so.

For the other topic at hand: What other games have you tried?
 
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DiscountPringles

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Jan 9, 2017
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Thanks for the input on the drives, I was considering swapping out my 1Tb for a 2TB anyway so I will look in to HGST.

Anyways, Along with the ones I listed, a couple of VR games (H3, Space Pirate Trainer, and Google earth vr). VR games have to stay above 90 fps to be playable and even maxed out CPU I was only getting about 45 I think. Saints row 4 was the only other game I tested and had the same results; low, choppy frame rate and nearly maxed out CPU

 
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Palewing

Palewing

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And what are the GPU usages when you try to play these games? Running at 90 fps obviously demands a lot more of the CPU than 60 does, but you say you have gotten better FPS before. Are any of these games installed on the HDD, or are they all installed on the SSD? If they are all on the HDD, I would try installing one of them on the SSD, and then disconnect the HDD, just to check.

Oh, and I think the smallest NAS drives HGST creates are 3TB. I specify NAS because they have a vibration sensor that increases the reliability.
 
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DiscountPringles

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Jan 9, 2017
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GPU still bounces between 90-100% when the games are running, I had no problem running any of the games mentioned before I took the trip. All of my games are installed on my HDD as my SSD was originally intended just to host the OS and some documents (I originally built the PC with 60GB SSD) . I will try installing a game on the SSD and disconnect the HDD if I can to see if anything changes.



 
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DiscountPringles

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Jan 9, 2017
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I did what you suggested and I installed saints row 4 on my SSD and then disconnected my HDD and ran the game. Oddly the game ran better but still not as well as it use to. My CPU would range from about 60 to 90% but after about 15 seconds would settle at about 85% but I was still only getting about 20-25 fps. So CPU improved slightly but overall gameplay didn't really change and definitely didn't fix the problem.

 
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Palewing

Palewing

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Try uninstalling the nVidia drivers using this tool: http://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=717.
Let it boot into safemode (it will ask when you run it).
Then reinstall the latest drivers, and don't install the Geforce Experience.
 
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