Question CPU usage is at 90%-100% while gaming.

[BlazeStryker]

Hello.

So I've been having this issue for around 15 days or so. I used to be able able to run games efortlessly on high settings, but out of the sudden games stutter and FPS drop to around 10 making fast paced games almost implayable. Games such as Overwatch, Ori and the Blind Forest and CoD MW Beta constantly stutter even though my hardware should be able (and it used to) run them with no problems whatsoever. While playing i am able to check on Task manager and games seem to be sucking up 90% of my CPU and RAM usage, even though i used to be able to play games, while chatting on discord and even having youtube open in google chrome in the background.
I am not that computer savy, and therefore i am seeking help over here.
My specs are: Intel i5 6600K (not overclocked), EVGA GTX 1070, 8GB RAM.
Overheating doesnt seem to be causing the issue, considering that Overwatch runs at about 66º and that i live in a tropical climate country.
I suspect that a dying HDD might be part of the causes, but i have no idea on how to be certain of that.
Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks!

 

[dorsai]

Hard drive companies have utilities you can download on their web sites to test the condition of drives...I would start there.

A full hard drive will also affect your computers operation especially when it starts impacting the Windows swap file size. Many SSDs will start losing performance when you get down to the 5-10% unused space.

 

[BlazeStryker]

Hard drive companies have utilities you can download on their web sites to test the condition of drives...I would start there.

A full hard drive will also affect your computers operation especially when it starts impacting the Windows swap file size. Many SSDs will start losing performance when you get down to the 5-10% unused space.

I checked on both Samsung and Toshiba webpages and could not find the software in order to test the condition fo both drives.
It is also important to note that both drives are at about half capacity, the model numbers are:
Samsung HD105Si
Toshiba DT01ACA100
I've used the "Victoria 4.72b SSD" app in order to check the condition of both drives, and both according to the "SMART Monitor" seem to be in "good" condition.

Further help would be very much appreciated.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I kind of would expect a 4 threaded CPU to stutter in demanding games but not in lesser games. My 4 threaded CPU stutters in GTAv even with a lesser GPU.

But the sudden change is not normal.

What is your ram usage in games?
Have you run a malware scan?"
Have you updated to the latest Nvidia driver?

 

[BlazeStryker]

I kind of would expect a 4 threaded CPU to stutter in demanding games but not in lesser games. My 4 threaded CPU stutters in GTAv even with a lesser GPU.

But the sudden change is not normal.

What is your ram usage in games?
Have you run a malware scan?"
Have you updated to the latest Nvidia driver?

RAM usage is high aswell during gaming sesions, it remains at 90%-95%. I have not ran a Malware scan, what program do you recommend in order to do so?
I keep my GPU up to date regarding sofware upgrades using GeForce Experience.
Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I would run malwarebytes since it is free and pretty effective.

It could be malware eating into ram and cpu.

 

[BlazeStryker]

I would run malwarebytes since it is free and pretty effective.

It could be malware eating into ram and cpu.

Hello, I ran a Malwarebytes test (which took only like 3 minutes, not really sure if it went through everything). It did find about 14 registry errors which were promptly quarentined, however the issue remains. I've ran COD:MW Beta and CPU was consistently at 100% while RAM was around 90%. GPU usage on the other hands was only around 30%-40%

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I have had Malwarebytes take forever on systems with a hdd, but on decent systems with ssds, the scans seem to go fast.

Is it pretty much only the game eating up the CPU if you check in task manager?

 

[BlazeStryker]

I have had Malwarebytes take forever on systems with a hdd, but on decent systems with ssds, the scans seem to go fast.

Is it pretty much only the game eating up the CPU if you check in task manager?

I do have an SSD. Yes, it would seem so, my PC is currently using only chrome and the CPU reamins at around 15%-20%. Once i get into a match it skyrockets. RAM is at 62% while idle.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I do have an SSD. Yes, it would seem so, my PC is currently using only chrome and the CPU reamins at around 15%-20%. Once i get into a match it skyrockets. RAM is at 62% while idle.

This is very unusual.

I have 8gb ram and see around 2.2gb used at idle and 2.8gb used with 1 chrome tab open.
Usually, CPU usage with chrome open is under 10%, and I have a 4c/4t CPU.

I am using Windows 10 Pro.

 

[BlazeStryker]

Indeed it is strange. Any other thoughts on what might be causing it?.

UPDATE: While running the Malwarebytes scan again, CPU usage skyrocketed to 100% (while the programm was scaning). Not sure if this info helps at all

 

[NightHawkRMX]

While running the Malwarebytes scan again, CPU usage skyrocketed to 100% (while the programm was scaning).

I believe that is normal.

When Idle go to task manager, click on the memory % at the top and it will sort the programs using the most ram to the top. What does it show and how much ram are the programs using?

 

[BlazeStryker]

I believe that is normal.

When Idle go to task manager, click on the memory % at the top and it will sort the programs using the most ram to the top. What does it show and how much ram are the programs using?

At idle (RAM at 65%), the first program is chrome taking 507 mb, then "Runtime Broker" at 250mb, Malware bytes 184 mb, Chrome again 100 mb, Antimalware Service Executable 82 MB

 

[NightHawkRMX]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027837/windows-10-runtime-broker-is-using-too-much-memory
Try this.

 

[BlazeStryker]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027837/windows-10-runtime-broker-is-using-too-much-memory
Try this.

I've closed the task, RAM remains high at 63%, the program that is taking up the most is Chrome at 15%.
EDIT: I restarted my computer, here is the ram usage

https://imgur.com/Z8r4Ev4

View: https://imgur.com/Z8r4Ev4

 

[dorsai]

"I've ran COD:MW Beta and CPU was consistently at 100% while RAM was around 90%. GPU usage on the other hands was only around 30%-40% "

I would have to guess that you're simply CPU and / or RAM bottle-necked...it is strange that the performance drop suddenly happened though. Have you tried looking at the Windows page file size ? I'd be curious to know if it is too small in size...generally it's set to "system managed" meaning Windows will increase or decrease the page file size as needed to try and keep things running smooth.

You can check the page file size by typing "advanced" in the Windows search bar and selecting "view advanced system settings" and then navigating to the Advanced tab and hitting the Settings button under Performance. Once again select the Advanced tab and this time hit the Change button under Virtual Memory...generally you'd want the page file to reside on a single fast drive of your choice since Windows will use the page file as virtual ram...in your case having only 8gb of system memory means Windows is likely hitting the page file all the time. Leave it on "system managed" or put it on that if it's not already and then you'll need to reboot for any changes to take affect...otherwise if everything looks ok just cancel out of all the open windows.

 

[BlazeStryker]

"I've ran COD:MW Beta and CPU was consistently at 100% while RAM was around 90%. GPU usage on the other hands was only around 30%-40% "

I would have to guess that you're simply CPU and / or RAM bottle-necked...it is strange that the performance drop suddenly happened though. Have you tried looking at the Windows page file size ? I'd be curious to know if it is too small in size...generally it's set to "system managed" meaning Windows will increase or decrease the page file size as needed to try and keep things running smooth.

You can check the page file size by typing "advanced" in the Windows search bar and selecting "view advanced system settings" and then navigating to the Advanced tab and hitting the Settings button under Performance. Once again select the Advanced tab and this time hit the Change button under Virtual Memory...generally you'd want the page file to reside on a single fast drive of your choice since Windows will use the page file as virtual ram...in your case having only 8gb of system memory means Windows is likely hitting the page file all the time. Leave it on "system managed" or put it on that if it's not already and then you'll need to reboot for any changes to take affect...otherwise if everything looks ok just cancel out of all the open windows.

Thanks for your reply. I had come to the conclusion that i might be bottlenecked both CPU and RAM wise, however it does not make sense the fact that i used to be able to play efortlessly for around 1 year until that bottleneck became apparent. Games such as OW, Forza 4 and Ori and the Blind Forest should not be stuttering considering my hardware (and the fact that they did not use to).

Ive checked the windows page file size using the steps you have provided, it was already on system managed.
It gives me the following info:
Minimum allowed 16MB
Recommended 1904 MB
Assigned 11264 MB