[Solved] Intel i7-6700K being bottlenecked by Windows Updates! HELP!!

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SpecsGuy

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Sep 12, 2013
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This is the most horrible issue I've ever faced. I spent about 8 hours in total trying to fix this but ended up formatting the entire system a few times and couldn't get it fixed (unless I never download any updates or only some of them that do not cause the problem, which I don't know anything about).
Not sure if you believe this but when I first upgraded from FX-8320 to i7-6700K, I noticed (using the "CPUID HWMonitor" software) that the i7 reaches 100% max under the "Utilizations" section for all the the CPU #0-7 (all of them). Everything was extremely smooth, Twitch video on Source quality seemed to be using my system, 0 lag, 100% smooth, including in games and the PlayStation game emulators. Now not even a single one of them can reach 90% while the rest are stuck in 60s and 70s.

Now the stuttering is back like it was with my old FX-8320 (except it's slightly better now thanks to i7). I thought FX was originally like that but no, it's the damn Windows Updates. After I downloaded and installed about 200+ updates, it began throttling everywhere including Twitch at full screen, browsing in general and in gaming.
The problem is known here but I can't find any solution!! 🙁 I just have to avoid the Windows Updates but that doesn't help my system either since there are some that really help such as the Framework updates, etc. Now even though I've only installed about 50 updates, the 100% performance is gone. It's only going away after I download Windows Updates.

Now my CPU is underperforming. While gaming it's using about 60-89% of its performance per core instead of 100 each. I beg you guys if you know a solution that can really help and bring back my CPU the way it was. The only solution at the moment is to format and avoid the Windows Updates.

Also I haven't overclocked or even touched the motherboard BIOS from the beginning.

System specs:
Intel i7-6700K (stock speed)
MSI Gaming Z170A M5 motherboard
G.SKILL TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3200
Radeon HD 7870 2GB
WD Caviar Blue 1TB
700W Power Supply
Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

P.S. I see lots of benchmarks on YouTube showing this CPU's cores using 100% of their performance and the gameplay is smooth. It was like that before the updates. 🙁


Sorry for the wall of text!! Best regards.


SOLVED / FIXED
This problem had nothing to do with the CPU cores usage/utilization. I went to my motherboard's BIOS and disabled an option called "Intel Adaptive Thermal Monitor" that was throttling my CPU. For some odd reason my motherboard was thinking that my CPU is overheating even at idle temp and locked the speed at 800MHz and was throttling it. Now it's back again performing as intended and the core speed is now stable at 4.0GHz all the time.

Thanks to everyone here who tried to help me. Greatly appreciate your time and help!
Best regards.
 
Solution
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Fixed the problem! I wanna thank everyone here for their time and effort trying to help me. I really really appreciate your help.

It was my motherboard. For some odd reason it was thinking that my CPU is overheating when even at idle temp. OMG, the 2 weeks of nightware are finally over. It was bottlenecking my CPU by decreasing its usage and core speed.

How I fixed it: I simply went to the BIOS and disabled an option called "Intel Adaptive Thermal Monitor" that stops the CPU from performing well when it's overheating.

Now its speed no longer gets locked at 800MHz. It's finally stable at 4.0GHz all the time. As for the cores usage reaching 100% without opening apps, I think that was a software bug in Win8.1. I thought that had...
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If you open task manager, have it show processes from all users (if necesarry) and look at their usages, are any odd processes using up a lot of CPU or HDD power?

What about if you run a CPU benchmark, does it go up to 100%?

It's unlikely any game will really be able to push all your CPU cores to 100% though.

Theres a setting under windows power settings that lets you set the minimum processor power, you could set it to 100%, and the the CPU will always run at 100%, but that kinda wastes a lot of power.
 
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Hello James. Thanks for the reply! Nothing is odd in the Task Manager, everything is at low usage and working really fine. I tried the MSI Afterburner and the CPU utilization (of all the 8 CPU cores) went too high (which is what I want) for a second or two when the game started then dropped down greatly for no reason. The bottleneck is very slight but still noticeable at some point. It was really good before the Windows Updates messed everything up.

I tried to set the CPU to 100% in the power options (for both minimum and maximum), those were the results I got. For the entire time the CPU cores utilizations/usage is low at 20-80%. On YouTube many guys got their CPU cores working at 70-100% (while staying at 80s/90s most of the time). I don't understand why this is happening to me. I would switch to Win10 if it could get fixed but I cannot do that without a clue.

BTW, I didn't mean the CPU cores should stay at 100% usage. I meant that they used to stay at a high usage like 80s and 90s before the updates while hitting 100% sometimes.

Cheers.
 
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GPU maxed out means it's working at its finest (check out YouTube's benchmarking videos). It runs to max MHz when gaming. It's been like this for 4 years and before the CPU bottleneck started. GPU has nothing to do with anything here. The CPU utilization (for the 8 cores) has dropped down so badly after the windows updates and that's how all this started.

I've formatted the Windows like 10 times already. Lastly I formatted my HDD from scratch (removed and re-installed Windows again), still nothing. Now I even have dll missing issues. The Windows is nothing but a piece of **** and terribly optimized. But what other "better" option do we have.
 
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Yeah I did download and install the latest Intel Chipset Driver from my motherboard's website. It's really driving me insane seeing how the CPU cores are not performing as intended. 🙁

There are many other Intel drivers. I might install them too (but I have no clue what they do).
 
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Your stuttering and performance issues are due to the fact you are using a 1Tb spinning terabyte hard-drive in 2016. Your setup is constantly waiting to access the hard-drive. When you update Windows, you fill it up with a bunch of crap, subsequently bogging down the system.

Upgrade to an SSD and be blown away.
 
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Your commend kinda gave me some hope. Is the WD Blue that bad / causing such issues? I think you're right that it's crap. I mean, 1TB for $60. lol
 
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All spinning hard-drives are now obsolete and are only used for extreme storage purposes. Get rid of that thing ASAP and reap the benefits of a SSD
 
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Him having a 7200rpm HDD wouldn't cause stuttering though, unless it was stuck at 100% usage, which it shouldn't be unless something like BITS is using up the resources (hence why updating kinda causes it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4vINDVVibw
 
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I'll buy one! Thanks for helping, everyone!
That might explain why it's giving me DLL files missing issues after every format.
 
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Hmm I think you're right too. I'm just afraid that I would see the same issue after getting an SSD. Damn my life.
 
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Np. You have an absolute beast of a CPU, the GPU isn't too bad either. I can't see either of those components causing issues.


 
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If he actually has an WD Blue, and assuming there isn't anything wrong with it:
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Maybe benchmark it as well to make sure it's working right:
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskMark/index-e.html (should be like 100ish MB/s read for sequential)

Then it shouldn't really hold him back.

It's true an SSD would make Windows "snappier" but it wouldn't affect game performance.

Also try running a memory test:
http://www.howtogeek.com/260813/how-to-test-your-computers-ram-for-problems/

Also try the Intel Burn Test, see if you computer crashes:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/intelburntest.html

What about your CPU temps though, what are they like?

GPU Stress Test:
https://unigine.com/products/benchmarks/valley/

 
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In regards to FPS you're right, it won't affect it. However he's talking about stuttering, and the hard-drive is definitely accessed during gaming. If the system has to wait for the hard-drive it will cause a stutter effect.

The average SSD is currently 400/400mb transfer rates and that's being modest. Essentially four times faster than the WD blue.

Good call on the temperatures. That could most definitely cause him stuttering if they're out of spec.

 
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Thanks! I'll give the HDD benchmark a try. I also kinda agree with Themastererr that it might cause stuttering. I'll see if nothing works at all I'll be a getting a 500GB Samsung SSD. As for the CPU temps, in games it's around 52 max. It's not overclocked and I have a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO on it.
 
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Which version of Windows are you using, and where did you get it?
Since your GPU is pegged at 100%, try lowering settings and/or resolution until that comes down. Does your CPU usage go up any? If so, perhaps due to driver differences, you do indeed have a GPU bottleneck.
 
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Hi Onus. I'm using Windows 8.1 64-bit. I have both Windows 7 and 8.1. My dad bought them (don't know from which store, I'm in Canada) and I am the one using the 8.1 now.

There's something in my system that's causing stuttering and it USED TO freeze it by raising the CPU usage to 100% with my old AMD system before I upgraded to Intel i7.

Although I've already ordered MSI RX 480 Gaming X 8G to replace my old 7870, I do not think my GPU is bottlenecking. I mean, when I first installed the Windows after the system upgrade, my CPU cores usage/utilization (notice I said cores usage, not the CPU usage. CPU usage is different and it will cause system freeze when too high or maxed out) was very stable and it used to reach 100% at times when needed.

Everything was very smooth till I downloaded Windows updates (there were 234+ updates). After that I got "We couldn’t complete the updates, Undoing changes" message. I think I was stupid because I forced restart from my PC case once the updates were over. I thought it froze at "Restarting" but it was not. Even though I've been formatting the system it's no use anymore.

One more weird problem is I've been having dll missing issues after I did a restore point. After constant formatting it's still the same, I'm very surprised it didn't get fixed. My system is kinda messed up at the moment (or at least the hard drive, which is where everything goes to). 1TB Caviar Blue could be causing all those problems from the beginning to the end. I'll get an SSD soon and come back with the results.

Best regards.
 
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Just wanted to make something clear: The bottleneck in my Browser(Firefox), Twitch, etc. is more than in games I play. It all happened since the CPU cores usage became unstable and low.
 
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Unfortunately nothing is working. I even got a new SSD (Samsung 850 Pro) and still having dll errors (I did a fresh Windows install on the SSD and did NOT transfer anything from the HDD), CPU cores low usage and utilization. Something's weird in my system. Oh and whenever I re-install Windows or format, when it sends me to the desktop, after like 10 seconds and it does an auto-reboot (where the power turns off and on at the same time).

Another odd problem from the motherboard BIOS where I cannot enable the "Windows 8.1/10 WHQL Support" feature. It will give me an error and automatically disables it again. I've even updated my mobo's BIOS to the latest one. Some guy with the same issue had fixed it by replacing the CPU (not sure if he meant just taking it out and in or replaced it with a new one... :S ).

I'm literally going crazy. Spent weeks trying to fix these stupid problems that appear after another. My last bet would be getting a Windows 10 and see the results. If that doesn't work then I'll have to contact the MSI technical support (my motherboard's brand). If they can't help me either then I'll have to return both the CPU and the motherboard and get new ones of the same models.


Greatly appreciate your time and help, guys. Best regards.
 
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Are you sure your windows8 iso is completely ok? If there is an problem with windows setup files. It also can cause problems and it gets worse with updates. You may think windows installed properly but there might problem. If your files are ok i would say its an hardware issue.
 
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