Cpu problems

[boden08]

hi all,
my cpu seems to be running at 95-100% when running detailed games at high graphics. For a example playing Dawn of war 2 with max setting starts to gat a bit jumpy. i didnt seem to have the problem before running amy games and now i do. they problem gets worse if i am multitasking like running a game and using windows media player.

my specs: amd athlon 64 x2 5000+ 2.6ghz
nvidia 6100sm-m2 mobo
corsair xms2 2x2gb 800mhz ram
460w gigabyte super psu
9800gt oc'd 1gb gpu

Im not sure if anything is being bottlenecked, the only other problem is i installed the new nvidia gpu driver (257.21) but still did not have the problem at first.

I have checked all the temps on my pc and they all seem fine. gpu 62-67 on load, cpu core (both 43 max) on load, processor temp 25 on load, main board 33 on load.

any help will be great, thanks

 

[exela]

The recommended processor requirements is AMD Athlon 64x2 4400+ or any Intel Core 2 Duo , which you have , so if you play it with max settings your cpu is using all its resources ... try on medium settings and check how it goes.

 

[boden08]

ok thanks mate,
I understand that it isnt a good processor for gaming but i have always ran this game on max and had no problems before. the cpu was running at about 60-70% 2 weeks ago but now running at 100%.

Ok have tried it on medium and it runs slightly better but not great, cpu running at 85-95% and temps a little lower. but still does not explain y it is running at 100% now and not before and i have not made any changes. thanks for your help exela

 

[COLGeek]

Other than updating your GPU drivers, have you installed anything else that may be running in the background? Are there any apps running (verify with Task Manager) that shouldn't be? What anti-virus program are you running and when does it perform background scans?

 

[ksampanna]

Maybe, another exe file is engaging the CPU, like virus, etc. Run a virus/malware/spyware scan.

 

[enzo matrix]

Two important questions:
1. Are you noticing a framerate drop because of this CPU problem?
2. What resolution are you playing at?

 

[boden08]

COLgeek, nothing else has been installed or updated and just the normal stuff running in background, virgin pc gaurd is my anti-virus and had it for a while and i perform the checks each week.

Ksampanna, I have ran all virus, spyware and malware scans and defrag and disk cleanup and all other programs i can do and still no change.

Enzo Matrix, yes there has been a frame rate drop by about 8 fps with all setting on max but sometime has a jump and i lose about 25fps and jumps back up. resolution is only 1280x1024.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[boden08]

ok checked the frame rate - old frame rate was Min-16.43, Avg-37.61, max-77.98.

New frame rate - Min-9.14, Avg-21.35, Max-55.33.

As you can see a great difference on frame rate and loading time take longer too.

Thanks

 

[enzo matrix]

And as you told us by the temperatures, definitely not a heating issue.
Can you check your CPU usage when you are doing nothing? Just to make sure you don't have something like a virus eating it up. But really, that's all I can think of. I suppose you could also check with CPU-Z to make sure your clockspeed is correct when you are gaming.

 

[boden08]

Enzo Matrix,
Hi mate, cpu usage is 0% when just running desktop and task manager to see the usage, i will check with cpu-z for the clock speed and post back the results.

Thanks

 

[boden08]

Hi,
ran cpu-z and all seems fine. tried to upload some pics of it but dont know how to on this forum, if some one can let me know i will upload then.

thanks

 

[COLGeek]

OK, try this as something is obviously putting a load on the system when gaming. I want you to do a before and after look at your task manager. First, you will need to establish the baseline of the system by seeing what is running before you launch your game.

Then launch the game and see what task manager says is running. If anything, other than the game is fired up, then that is where you may be able start determining what is going on.

Something has obviously changed, but we haven't determined what it is yet. BTW, what version of Windows are you running?

 

[boden08]

hi im running windows 7 ultimate x64, on system idle with 1.63 gb, when game is running it is bouncing between 92 and 100% and using2.86 gb ram. before the game is running there is nothing in applications on task manager and when the game is running it just has dow2 thats it. the only thing that was changed was the nvidia drivers (257.21) now i have had another update ti 258.96 and it is running better but the cpu usage is still running the same, but as i said it is a bit better and less lag.

Thanks