[SOLVED] I7-9700k Very Poor Performance after cleaning PC

[vister]

Hi,

I'm having issues with what i think is caused by my I7-9700k usage constantly spiking (even when few applications are running - no tasks seem to be causing this in task manager) which I think is causing stuttering in Firefox when watching media e.g. Youtube (though strangley not in Edge or personal videos), and it has made playing games impossible due to freezing upon launch (usage up to 100%) on games such as Warzone, which ran perfectly a few days ago.

I'm concerned that I cleaned my PC of dust 2 days ago which was around the time it started, but worried that I might have damaged something despite me not dissasembling any parts except for obviously unplugging everything and loosening one of the case fans and wiping the fan blades with a dry cloth. The temperatures stay below 60c even under a stress test so I don't think it's anything to do with CPU Cooler.

https://i.ibb.co/f9BFmGT/21-1-24-issue-firefox-YT-playing-1-Copy.png Attached is a pic when generally browsing.

Does anyone have any idea if i've done something to my CPU? Or am I just going crazy and it's something completely unrelated?

As of now I have tried the following with no success;

• Checked that CPU Cooler is properly installed
• Change Power Plan from Balanced to High Performance
• Ran MalwareBytes, RogueKiller Anti Malware and Windows Security scans with nothing found
• Ran LatencyMon (No issues detected)

Specs:
Windows 10 Home 64 bit
Intel I7-9700k 3.60GHz (not overclocked)
MSI GeForce GTX 2080
32GB Ram
650W PSU
250gb SSD
500gb SSD
1Tgb HDD
8gb HDD
Disk Drive
Dual Screens ( DisplayPorts 27” 144hz 1440p & 24” 144hz 1080p)

 

[mdd1963]

Does HWMonitor show the CPU ramping to as high as 4.6 GHz all-core turbo under load, or, do you perhaps appear to be stuck at 800 MHz? (Normally in Balanced Power mode the CPU will fluctuate from 800-2000 MHz just loafing at desktop)

Does Chrome or Edge work correctly?

 

[vister]

Thanks for responding,

Yes HWMonitor is reaching 4.6 GHz where it seems to mostly stay when doing tasks (see bottom) and does fluctuate.

Chrome and Edge both work fine - I can watch the same YouTube videos I watch on Firefox with no issues. Last night I noticed that I get the same stuttering issue on Telegram videos and video games also. I've also tried Firefox in safe mode without mods.

When I booted up this morning all seemed fine for 10-15 mins when using Firefox and testing booting up Warzone, then the spiking began again 5 mins later (see below) and has gradually gotten worse. I've also just loaded up Zoom and noticed that my webcam/mic was failing to detect on and off as well, similar pattern to the video stuttering. One of my USB drives kept disconnecting also so that could be related.

Another thing i've noticed is on 2nd pic below, the service CPU Usage seems much lower than the total CPU usage, not sure if that is abnormal?

 

[vister]

Does HWMonitor show the CPU ramping to as high as 4.6 GHz all-core turbo under load, or, do you perhaps appear to be stuck at 800 MHz? (Normally in Balanced Power mode the CPU will fluctuate from 800-2000 MHz just loafing at desktop)

Does Chrome or Edge work correctly?

Sorry forgot to include you in reply, see above

 

[vister]

I've tried the following today with no success;

1. Update BIOS
2. Install Drivers for all components
3. Unsync OneDrive
4. Remove Intel Optane Memory Pinning
5. Run disk cleanup
6. Install Windows updates

I'm not sure if this could more be power related due to some devices disconnecting? A bit at a loss really, as the spiking seems to come and go and only seems to affect certain tasks.

 

[mdd1963]

I'd probably nuke an pave at this point, getting a fresh 'everything', adding only hardware and apps you need one or two at a time to test for stability/fluidity in frame rates...

Run with just an NVME SSD of adequate size, even an ordinary SATA SSD if needed, then span out in your experimenting...

 

[vister]

So a few days ago I tried unplugging peripherals, including my webcam and since then my CPU seems stable and I have had no major issues. Firefox is loading slightly slower than usual but it's nothing troublesome like it was, no issues with games and other applications.

My conclusion is it could have been my Webcam acting strange and hogging the CPU, which simply re-plugging in seems to have fixed. Either way I think I can consider this as resolved now.

Thanks to everyone who posted help!