Question Is it normal for the RX580's wattage and GPU usage to fluctuate?

[radicusramin]

Hello, I bought an RX580 from a garden sale (one of the famous American things), it’s very clean and works fine. I replaced the thermal paste and ran a few tests. In the tests I conducted, the wattage drawn by the graphics card constantly fluctuates. While it usually draws 140W, it drops to 90-100W for 1-2 seconds and then goes back up to 140W, continuing like this. At the same time, the GPU usage, while running benchmark, drops from 100% to about 50%. When the system is idle, the usage that is at 0% suddenly jumps to 100% for 3-5 seconds and then drops back down immediately. Is this a normal chronic issue for an old RX580, or is it a serious problem that could eventually cause my entire system to fail?

Idle: (No apps in the background, discord etc.)

Benchmark: (This is a slightly more optimistic result than the previous test I did, where the drops were more severe, and there were 4-5 instances of a 10% drop.)

 

[stonecarver]

If you use Chrome that is exactly what happens your browser pegs your GPU all day long.

When the system is idle, the usage that is at 0% suddenly jumps to 100% for 3-5 seconds and then drops back down immediately.

 

[radicusramin]

If you use Chrome that is exactly what happens your browser pegs your GPU all day long.

No, while I was doing the tests, there was not a single application open in the background, not even Chrome installed on my computer.