Windows 7 CPU Usage @ 50% idle

[Mister_K]

So for some reason my CPU is always at around 50% idle. It says there are 54 processes running yet I can only see around 15 in the Processes tab... Anyway to fix this?

Hmm i used Temp Files cleaner, restarted, ended the process like LCORE for keyboard, razer, hamachi, poweriso and alike and it was 5% idle. Anyway, Firefox also tends to freeze up quite often too. I think my HDD could be failing but I am not sure, anyway to test HDD health?

 

[gbhall]

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...toid=720bd20cacdec010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD links to SeaTools, which can deep-test several makes of HDD, not just Seagate.

Heavy CPU usage can indeed mean a HDD is dying (slowly). I expect it is something else though. Look at the the processes tab and click the 'show processes from all users' checkbox. Update your networking driver software to the latest version. Don't allow install of the singing-and-dancing bits of networking software. (The monitoring in other words - networks work or dont work in a pretty obvious way)

Also look at the services tab for most of what is going on.

This link https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic172991.html#post1103669 is for similar but not identical problems, and worth looking at for the techniques involved in sorting the problem out. Especially note Process Explorer post#4

 

[Mister_K]

Cheers for the reply.

I am a palm.. didn't see the checkbox lol...

Anyway few instances of svchost.exe which are running at around 12k, then some more at around 5k and below. But main of all, one svchost.exe run by SYSTEM is running at 85K which I am not sure is normal...

Cheers for reply btw.

 

[Speard]

I had a similar problem with cpu usage constant at 40-50%. I ran processexplorer and then got an xperf to see witch process was giving me greif. it turned out the USBPORT.SYS gave me a whole lot of interrupts.
So i tried and disabled one of the motherboard usb devices (couldn't disable all since i need one for my mouse and keyboard) listed in device manager and cpu usage dropped to 39-45%. So i went out and bought a PCI usb card for around 20$ installed it and disabled all my motherboard USB ports in Device manager, and voila, cpu down to 0%.
So for me it all turned out to be a busted motherboard, but saved me a lot of cash solving it this way insted of buying new gear.
hope it helps in some way, there are good instructions on how to use the processexplorer and xperf if you google it.
//Speard

 

[Mister_K]

Hmm my mobo is quite old, only supports SATA2 and DDR2 ram :X Asus M4N78 SE. My HDDs are quite new, Samsung HD103SH 1TB and Hitachi 1TB both 7.2K RPM with 32Mb cache. U sing the Hitachi as boot driver since iv got that one first....

I experience locking up after some periods of time. Could also be due to OC...

 

[gbhall]

A CPU running constant 50% is likely to get quite hot. A hot CPU will self-defend by slowing right down, which mimics locking-up software. Sorting out your CPU usage will therefore quite likely solve the apparent lock-ups too.

Overclocking is a whole other kettle of smelly fish, and not recommended on old motherboards because continual thermal stress will often cause components to fail early.

 

[TeamworkGuy2]

didn't see the checkbox

It's at the bottom left of the processes tab in the picture you posted.
It's right above the process count right at the bottom of the window.
Once you can see all the processes you should be able to find which one is using up that much CPU time.

I would also agree with gbhall, over clocking is iffy unless you know your machine and know that parts like your motherboard and power supply can handle it.
Could you provide more details about your current overclock.

 

[LookinAround]

I had a similar problem with cpu usage constant at 40-50%. I ran processexplorer and then got an xperf to see witch process was giving me greif. it turned out the USBPORT.SYS gave me a whole lot of interrupts.
<snip>

@Artix

I also agree with Speard. Try ProcessExplorer. See what it reports for Interrupts. Also click the CPU column header to sort by CPU usage. See [post=1097418]Tip: Get more accurate CPU usage data using Process Explorer vs. Task Manager[/post]