Question High CPU usage while gaming

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matthewperacio

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Dec 21, 2018
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Hey guys, so basically the title. Idk if its being locked due to other hardware or its just kinda old.

Current specs:
cpu: i7-9700K OC'ed at 4GHz
Ram: 2x8 gb 3200
gpu: 6650 xt
mobo: Z370M gaming pro ac
psu: 650W seasonic

Any suggestions on what I should do?
 
CPU utilization depends on many factors. E.g if game is CPU bound or GPU bound. Then, how many background tasks you're running. Also, if you have FPS cap in-game or not.

But good way to see if you're held back by CPU or GPU, is to:
Take 2-4 of your games, on medium/high setting (or settings you play at, other than low/min) and look the FPS you're getting.
Then, reduce the in-game graphics to low/min and look if you had FPS increase.
You may even want to reduce reso (e.g from 1080p to 720p or 1440p to 1080p) to see if you gain FPS. But idea is to put lower load on GPU, to see if there is headroom in system or not.

If FPS did increase (more than ~10 FPS), then it means your CPU has headroom and better GPU can give more FPS.
But if FPS remained same (+/- 5 FPS), then your GPU is held back by the CPU and better GPU gives 0 in terms of performance. Whereby, better to look at CPU upgrade (that is, if CPU isn't bogged down by bloatware).

matthewperacio said:
e. Idk if its being locked due to other hardware or its just kinda old.
Click to expand...
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.pcworld.com/article/406...ee-supercharged-task-manager-alternative.html

matthewperacio said:
psu: 650W seasonic
Click to expand...
Model of the unit is? How old it is? And was it bought new or used/refurbished?
 
Aeacus said:
CPU utilization depends on many factors. E.g if game is CPU bound or GPU bound. Then, how many background tasks you're running. Also, if you have FPS cap in-game or not.

But good way to see if you're held back by CPU or GPU, is to:
Take 2-4 of your games, on medium/high setting (or settings you play at, other than low/min) and look the FPS you're getting.
Then, reduce the in-game graphics to low/min and look if you had FPS increase.
You may even want to reduce reso (e.g from 1080p to 720p or 1440p to 1080p) to see if you gain FPS. But idea is to put lower load on GPU, to see if there is headroom in system or not.

If FPS did increase (more than ~10 FPS), then it means your CPU has headroom and better GPU can give more FPS.
But if FPS remained same (+/- 5 FPS), then your GPU is held back by the CPU and better GPU gives 0 in terms of performance. Whereby, better to look at CPU upgrade (that is, if CPU isn't bogged down by bloatware).


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.pcworld.com/article/406...ee-supercharged-task-manager-alternative.html


Model of the unit is? How old it is? And was it bought new or used/refurbished?
Click to expand...
my psu is this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-SSR-650FX-Modular-Warranty-Compact/dp/B073H33X7R?th=1
bought new around 7-8 yrs ago, same as my mobo
 
matthewperacio said:
my psu is this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-SSR-650FX-Modular-Warranty-Compact/dp/B073H33X7R?th=1
bought new around 7-8 yrs ago, same as my mobo
Click to expand...
👍 Good quality PSU. 10 year warranty.

I too have Focus unit myself, powering my old AMD build. But mine is 550W and 80+ Platinum efficiency (full specs with pics in my sig).

Though, you could slowly start to look towards new PSU. But Seasonic units are known for their reliability and i wouldn't worry (much) once PSU hits 10 year mark.
 
CPU is just showing its age. Its not a bad CPU by any standard, but newer games just aren't that optimized anymore so theyll pound at your CPU. What games are you playing that makes this happen exactly?
 
Aeacus said:
If system is well taken care of, then being old isn't an issue.

E.g my main build, Skylake, uses 6th gen Intel CPU. Being 3 gen older than OP's CPU. Yet, my system operates like a well-oiled machine. :)
Click to expand...
A CPU isn't like a vehicle. Just because you take care of it, doesn't mean it doesn't age. An old gen CPU is exactly that. It may still function, but it falls way behind in performance compared to new CPUs.
 
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drivinfast247 said:
A CPU isn't like a vehicle. Just because you take care of it, doesn't mean it doesn't age. An old gen CPU is exactly that. It may still function, but it falls way behind in performance compared to new CPUs.
Click to expand...
That’s so true. Even if you get a brand new gen 6 Intel chip from its factory sealed box, it's still an old CPU that will perform like an old CPU.
 
matthewperacio said:
Hey guys, so basically the title. Idk if its being locked due to other hardware or its just kinda old.

Current specs:
cpu: i7-9700K OC'ed at 4GHz
Ram: 2x8 gb 3200
gpu: 6650 xt
mobo: Z370M gaming pro ac
psu: 650W seasonic

Any suggestions on what I should do?
Click to expand...


depends what resolution are you playing.
but what is going to become a issue is ram 2x8 isnt enough with windows hogging between 4-6gb or more depending on what software you have running in the background. some games love more system ram then others.

at 1080p cpu tends to work a bit harder.

1440p its a mix bag of cpu and gpu.

when you hit 4k it then becomes more gpu driven.

depends on the game.
 
beyondlogic said:
depends what resolution are you playing.
but what is going to become a issue is ram 2x8 isnt enough with windows hogging between 4-6gb or more depending on what software you have running in the background. some games love more system ram then others.

at 1080p cpu tends to work a bit harder.

1440p its a mix bag of cpu and gpu.

when you hit 4k it then becomes more gpu driven.

depends on the game.
Click to expand...
Yeah I play on 1080p 100% of the time, as for the memory atm i plan on upgrading it, but atm I just use mem reduct to reduce my background ram
 
drivinfast247 said:
A CPU isn't like a vehicle. Just because you take care of it, doesn't mean it doesn't age. An old gen CPU is exactly that. It may still function, but it falls way behind in performance compared to new CPUs.
Click to expand...
Yes, newer CPUs that come out, do outperform older chips. Else-ways, there's no point to release new CPUs.

As far as actual use case goes, i haven't seen that my CPU is holding performance back. If anything, what i have, is still more than enough for my needs.
 
Randi Poling said:
but newer games just aren't that optimized anymore so theyll pound at your CPU.
Click to expand...
That's extremely bad wording.
Just because a game can use 8 cores fully doesn't mean one thing or the other, if it uses the same amount of CPU power but has much worse performance then you can call it badly optimized.
But modern games running without FPS limit and using 8, or even more cores, by itself is no indication of anything, you have to look at what FPS they are getting and if it is in line with other games or not.
 
matthewperacio said:
How do I check to see if its boosting?
Click to expand...
Download and run HWinfo64,
link: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

Sensors mode will show you ALL the telemetry PC has to show you, including individual core frequencies, temps, voltage, among plethora of things.
HWinfo64 also has logging feature, that you can enable to record the telemetry. Afterwards, you can look from log file what was going on.
 
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