strange performance problem

[RajivHighfeather]

Hi there everyone,

I was perfectly happy with the performance of my pc until about a week ago.
Games started slowing down and overal performance dropped
dramatically. Games that always ran smoothly suddenly weren't even
playable anymore.

First I thought it might be due to adware or a virus or something.
But after several scans nothing was found and taskmanager showed no cpu
usage or just 1 percent when idle.

But on opening taskmanager I saw the meter go up to a full 100%!
Wich I thought was a bit more than one would expect for a 3000+.
So I tried some more 'benchmarks'.

Long story short, I can keep my cpu at 100% by just quickly shaking the
taskmanager across the screen. Is this normal?!?

The weird thing is that it doesn't show any signs of malfunction (other than
the presumed performance loss) and there is no cpu usage when idle.

Hope someone recognizes this problem or has an idea what I might try to find the solution.
Thanks for reading anyway.

My system:

Asus K8V-X
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (754 NewCastle)
ATI Radeon 9800Pro
2X 512mb Corsair ValueRam cas2.5
2X 80Gb S-ATA WD800JD, Raid 0
2X M-Audio Delta 44

P.s. Want to spend €300,- soon. ATI X1800RX or 3500+? thanks

 

[EricLegge]

Are you using any Norton software?

If so, disable it's startup programs, or try uninstalling it, because Norton software can be responsible for 100% CPU usage.

Try this Google search: norton + 100% + cpu + use.

 

[Scarchunk]

It is normal that when you first open task manager your cpu usage might spike up to 100% for a split second. After that it should return to normal(1-2% usage when idle) I had never tried shaking my task manager around the screen, but sure enough it does cause a spike in cpu usage(mine went up to about 30% on the pentium M in my laptop as I type this) I doubt this has anything to do with your problem. The above poster is correct in that Norton can be responsible for ridiculous amounts of cpu usage from time to time. I used to use Norton but the recent versions are too bloated and I actually find McAfee to be alot more friendly to performance. I would think that since your problem just started that it is due to some program that was installed recently. Use msconfig and check the executable file against the database on this website. http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php Turn off anything not completely necessary.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Make sure your hard drive(s) aren't getting full. Also you may want to run a good defragger on your drives, one that can also defrag system & page files. Try Perfectdisk or Diskkeeper.

 

[RajivHighfeather]

Thanks for the reply's

Some more info,
I have no hidden, or sys tray, programs running.
No anti virus programs(hate them)

hard drives aren't getting full at all, but the problems did arise
after I changed to raid 0. But this could well have nothing to do with it.

I recently flashed a new bios onto my mobo allowing 16bit hyper transport on the northbridge.
This used to be 8bit, but don't think this is the problem either.

I read some info about the overheating protection in cpu's, in a thread about overclocking the Pntium D805,
apparently cpu's clock down when overheating but don't show a decrease in clock speed 'cause of the way they clock down.
Don't really know how to explain properly. Does anyone know if the athlon 64 3000+ has this same protection system?

 

[RichPLS]

I do run an anti-virus program... even if it is MS's 1 care beta and Defender...

 

[Scarchunk]

Well setting up a RAID array and flashing a new bios can both cause unforseen issues. I usually reinstall windows after major changes like those to get a fresh install if nothing else. As far as no anti-virus goes, most computers that I come across without any virus protection will eventually pick up something. Not to state the obvious but, you need some kind of protection on that comp if your going to connect to the internet especially if you're connected all the time. As far as Intel cpu's throttling due to heat, I am not aware of any kind of throttling that AMD processors employ. What are your temps on cpu and gpu?

 

[uber_g]

un-install and re-installl your ATI drivers

 

[RajivHighfeather]

I don't know if any of you have trackmania nations, but this is what taskmanager and asus pc probe tell me when starting the game, not even playing it. Just opening it and leaving it idle in the main menu.

Screenshot

The cpu temperature went up 8°C in about 90sec.

Oh, and about the virusscanners. I frequently do a complete reïnstall and have all my important data backuped, so I'll take my chances on the viri.
In the last 8 years I haven't had virus protection, except for the occasional scan, and have been connected to the internet constantly.
Have only had 1 virus so far. Dumped fake data on the drive, completely filling it.
I tried deleting a GB of games and installing mcaffee before it was filled up again. But as soon as I ran mcaffee I got the error that mcaffee was infected itself and had to shut down... :s So thanks but no thanks. I'd rather have my data safely outside of my comp.