Question CPU or GPU issue?

andywillz

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Nov 3, 2012
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Looks like you have a resource hogger in play. Most likely some software or incompatible driver.

To see which programs hog your system resources, download and run Process Explorer,
link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Guide on how to understand it,
link: https://www.howtogeek.com/school/sysinternals-pro/lesson2/
Hi Aeacus,

I appreciate your post - thank you. I have read the guide and downloaded the software and ran it whilst trying to run a game and browse the web.

I dont believe it is identifying any partcicular problem. When the game runs, CPU is influx between 2-6. The only other notable number is 'system Idle Process' which is between 92-98, even when there is no game running. All other CPU figures are either suspended or showing as <0.01

Is there any other figure I should be looking out for, or perhaps a report I could run?
 

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
I just want to be able to play a few games with my friends with no issues

Clean Win install most likely fixes any software issues you have. And if you don't know how to do it, haul your PC to PC repair shop and pay them to do it for you.
Note: you'll be loosing all personal data on your OS drive.

looking at this is overhwleming and very new to me.

Hence why i linked a guide for you, so you can start learning and understanding on how to use Process Explorer. :)

its funny, you pay so much money for a computer and 90% of the time they dont work properly. It's happened with every PC i've had, genuinely better off with a 60fps console no hassle dealing with this rubbish

PCs, actually, run butter smooth, IF you do not neglect them and keep them in optimal working condition.

Same is with cars. If you drive your car on daily basis, while doing 0 to take care of it, parts of the car will wear out and start breaking. Then, you'd be in the same situation, with same complaints of: "i just want to drive my car, but it constantly breaks down". <- Well, yeah, it will, if you do not take care of it.

Back to PCs;
Moving forwards, OS/software maintenance/optimization, for smooth operation of PC, would include (following is what i do with my system):
Temperature monitoring
HWinfo64 (detailed + has logging feature),
link: https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php

Application monitoring
Process Explorer (to see which programs hog the system resources),
Download link and guide i linked above.

Application fine-tuning
Autoruns (to configure which programs automatically start when PC boots into OS),
link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

CCleaner (to clean your PC from temporary files, including registry cleaning),
link: https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download

Malware protection
MalwareBytes Premium (also protects during web browsing by blocking infected sites),
link: https://www.malwarebytes.com/

MalwareBytes has 3 versions:
Standard (after 14 day trial has ended) - good for manual scans of your system.
Trial (14 days free Premium) - adds all Premium features over Standard version (Browser Guard, scheduled scans, real-time protection etc).
Premium (costs money) - complete package (everything that was in 14 day free Trial). There's even VPN package if you're into that.

Web browser
Besides those stand-alone programs, i also use web browser plug-ins to protect my PC further. What i use are:

  • HTTPS Everywhere (Firefox plug-in)
  • Decentraleyes (Firefox plug-in)
  • uBlock Origin (Firefox plug-in)
  • MalwareBytes Browser Guard (Firefox plug-in, part of MalwareBytes Premium)
  • NoScript (Firefox plug-in)

Here, i'd classify all what i use, into 3 levels of complexity:
  1. Casual user - HWinfo64, MalwareBytes (including Browser Guard), HTTPS Everywhere
  2. Power user - Process Explorer, Decentraleyes, uBlock Origin
  3. Super user - Autoruns, CCleaner, NoScript

You can start with Casual User level applications, which include temperature monitoring, malware scan and simple web browser protection.
  • MalwareBytes Trial gives you 14 day free Premium subscription, so you can test it out fully for 2 weeks, and see all the goodies it offers. Once the Trial ends, you still can do manual system scans, but Browser Guard, Scheduled Scans etc are disabled, since these are part of Premium suite. I have Premium suite in use, with my main PC (Skylake), on my missus'es PC (Haswell) and also in my smart phone.
  • HWinfo64 is great for monitoring temperatures and you having a laptop, most likely means you have high temps, probably even thermal throttle, that can affect your FPS within your games.
  • And HTTPS Everywhere is nice browser plug-in, to force every site you visit, to use far more secure HTTPS connection, over the old and vulnerable HTTP protocol.

I also suggest that you look into Power User level of software.
  • Process Explorer would be the 1st thing i'd start learning on how to use. Since this is 10x times better than the Task Manager that comes with Win. Also, while Task Manager shows you "select few" running applications, Process Explorer shows them all. I also linked you a guide on how to understand it.
  • Decentraleyes and uBlock Origin, both, essentially remove the ads you see when browsing (almost all malware can come through the ads placed on websites). For the most part, they work without any user input. But some sites may detect you using them and if you want access to a webpage, you need to temporaly disable them. Hence why i put them under this category.

But what i do not suggest you to use, are Super User level of software.
  • Autoruns and CCleaner can corrupt your OS, if you don't know what you're doing. There are guides out there to understand how to use them, but i suggest that you 1st make sense on how to use Process Explorer.
  • And NoScript will tank your web browser, by automatically blocking all scripts running on all websites. Though, while it does break websites from operating properly, with it, you also have an option to manually allow every single script to run. With it you'd have absolute control over each and every website and it's you who decides if the script on that website is safe to run or not. While most complex to learn, it also offers the most power over your web browsing.
Out of all those programs, NoScript plug-in for mozilla-based browsers (e.g Firefox, Tor) is the single best piece of software that keeps my PC clean of any malware. NoScript automatically blocks all scripts running on all websites. Though, while it does break some websites from operating properly, with it, you also have an option to manually allow every single script to run. With it you'd have absolute control over each and every website and it's you who decides if the script on that website is safe to run or not.

Regarding consoles.
Sure, they come as a complete package and you need to hook up the cables to use it. But do you think consoles are free of any software issues/errors? No, they are not.
Ever heard of Xbox Red Ring of Death? If not, Google it to find out what it is. But for a hint, i can say that Xbox'es RRoD is a cousin of Windows'es BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) and GNU/Linux'es Kernel Panic.

Besides Xbox'es RRoD, there's also the issue of hardware not being able to upgraded. Best you can do, is expand the storage space with external USB data drive. But CPU, RAM, GPU and PSU can not be upgraded. So, you'd be stuck with what Xbox has. And by looking the interval of when new Xbox'es are released, every 10 years or so, after ~5 years, Xbox will be basically floored by every PC out there. Even today, some PCs are more powerful than Xbox Series X is.
So, you have a trade-off to consider:
  1. Go with Xbox that you can neglect, while being stuck with what little it can offer.
  2. Stick with PCs, start learning on how to take care of them and enjoy all the superb performance PCs offer.