CPU reports 100% usage but doesn't slow down

Var14ble

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Mar 26, 2014
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I've been having this problem ever since I replaced my CPU on my system. I recently switched out my very old AMD chip for a slightly-less-old i5 2500k, and I've noticed the CPU usage in the task manager is always reported as 100%.

As far as I can tell, this doesn't affect the performance of my system at all, and other programs such as AIDA64 seem to report usage correctly, as seen in the following picture (5-6% at the same exact time). I tried booting into safe mode, and it then seems to report usage correctly, so I'm beginning to think it's a bug or issue with some of the installed software/drivers.

muE17Nk.png


I also have a problem where my computer will randomly crash sometimes, either when I'm doing a graphically intense task or just when I'm booting it from sleep, and always because of a video memory management error. I've uninstalled and reinstalled my graphics drivers several times, and changed my power settings a bunch to try and fix it, but to no avail. Maybe these problems are related, maybe they're not, I'm not exactly sure.

I know I should do a clean windows install, but for various reasons that's a less than ideal solution for such a seemingly small problem, so I want to figure out if there's anything I can do to patch it up first. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Solution


So after attempting to run memtest86, I realized it was only allowing me to run in single core mode, which I found quite strange. I tried messing about in both the memtest86 settings and my UEFI settings to no avail. Eventually, the frustration led me to updating the UEFI on the motherboard through the ASROCK tool and, who would have guessed, the issue is all fixed up now.

RbCW5fX.png


I can proudly report normal-looking CPU usage readings. All I can say about the crashes is that it hasn't happened yet, but it has been a short time since I got this working and they were pretty infrequent, so I might have to start another thread for those if they reappear...

Var14ble

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Mar 26, 2014
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That's what I thought too, but the fact that it works fine in safe mode makes me believe it's something that can be easily fixed by changing something in the current windows install, without having to install it all over again. For lack of a better analogy, I want to avoid using a rocket launcher to kill a fly as much as possible.
 

Var14ble

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Mar 26, 2014
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4,520


So I decided to go with the general consensus and reinstall windows. Didn't really help though, cpu is still showing the same readings and the only difference with the crashes is that this time it corrupted my wallpaper when it happened.
8QvImJF.png


Not sure what I should do next, any ideas?
 

Var14ble

Reputable
Mar 26, 2014
16
0
4,520


So after attempting to run memtest86, I realized it was only allowing me to run in single core mode, which I found quite strange. I tried messing about in both the memtest86 settings and my UEFI settings to no avail. Eventually, the frustration led me to updating the UEFI on the motherboard through the ASROCK tool and, who would have guessed, the issue is all fixed up now.

RbCW5fX.png


I can proudly report normal-looking CPU usage readings. All I can say about the crashes is that it hasn't happened yet, but it has been a short time since I got this working and they were pretty infrequent, so I might have to start another thread for those if they reappear. Thank you everyone (esp. Supahos) for your direction.
 
Solution