CPU being overused for no reason. Already tested malware free too.

Rualani

Posts: 13   +0
Hello tech forums :). My friends computer has been having a very odd issue regarding cpu usage. I noticed it when trying to play DC universe online and noticed big fps issues in character creation (all settings being turned down). After that, I monitored resources to see if anything is amiss and soon enough I saw my cpu usage randomnly spiking. Also it easily hits 100% and is probably trying to use more when DC Universe is on. The other odd thing I saw was that the cpu usually operated at a higher frequency than actually being used in resource manager. I have uninstalled Startup toolbar updater thinking it was using too much resources and have used the malware tech support to see if it was a infestation of any kind. No dice, all scans came up relatively clean. My only other thought is that it might be DMA being reverted to PIO or some software issue. This is my last shot before I reformat this frigging labtop >,<. Only thing stopping me is the possibility that it might be hardware, though I can't imagine why. On another note maybe the cpu is just messed up. Whenever it spikes i don't see a reason why...
 
Okay some new observations. With a room temp of 12 C my CPU idles at 45 C. Mobo is seeing 25 C during this. Also just watching the CPU usage through speed fan for a couple of hours I noticed that it likes to dance between 2% - 5% constantly. Occasionally spike to 30% or 50%. Also, it can't hand DC universe at all. Through CPU-Z The processor seems to be acting normal. It runs at half power when it's not being used much and jumps to normal speed. That might explain a little bit of spikage, but it's performance overall doesn't make sense. It shouldn't be jumping so high when I start DC online.
 
Two words: Process Explorer

You can take a quick read Tip: Get more accurate CPU usage data using Process Explorer vs. Task Manager as well as looking at the links to other thread examples about others who used it to figure out CPU usage questions

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To start, suggest you run it minimized to your notification tray where it displays / you can see CPU spikes in a near real-time graph of your machine CPU usage. Just hover your mouse over the spike in its graph and it tells you what process is using highest CPU at that moment in time. It could well be an update check and.or download from Java, your A/V, etc.

p.p.s IMO: Process Explorer is the best thing since sliced bread :) (and certainly the most powerful single tool i've ever seen) I've been using it for many years and still only know how to use and interpret a fraction of what it can tell you about CPU usage and what;s happening on your machine)
1. I have the same two words as quoted above to someone else: Process Explorer :)
> Process Explorer is the best tool to look at CPU usage

2. It's not at all unusual for the CPU to spike when a new program is first loaded
 
I still don't get why it can't handle DCUO online or handle the temperatures. I mean it's a 2.2 GHz duel core. The labtop is mounted on a cooling dock and it's still hitting these temps. As for processor usage it doesn't seem to be so bad. I think something is weakening the processor somehow. Spybot tea timer uses like 4-5% O.O. Like Proc exp uses around 5-12% all the time. It does not go lower. My system idle is usually 70%.

Is there anything that would cause a processor that operates on average of 20% - 30% to heat up that much? Or is there anything that reduces the efficiency of a processor even though CPU-Z sees everything as normal. I guess another important question is if this labtop can even play DCU online. It meets minimum settings, but I can't be too sure of myself. I'm reinstalling DCU just in case something went amiss there. Can someone tell me if the temps that I posted earlier are normal for a labtop like this? Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Actually it seems more like 5%-30% (according to the windows resource monitor). I guess System idle and actual cpu % used are different. It still heats up to much >,<

Minimizing that tool is darn useful. When downloading DCU online, launchpad takes up about 25% of cpu usage.
 
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