[SOLVED] Steam using 50% of my cpu. Huh?

tonywong2015

Honorable
Sep 14, 2018
69
1
10,535
My pc:
RTX2080Ti
Intel i7 9700k 3.6Ghz
32GB RAM
Windows 10 64 bit Pro
power suplly 850w termaltek
motherboard asus z390a Prime
 
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Solution
Out of curiosity, I started an update on a game I haven't played or updated in a long time. Guess what? 50-80% disk activity with 100-300MB/s spikes and 50-80% CPU usage despite only having 7Mbps internet.

The relatively massive IO and CPU usage is likely due to Steam using something like bin-diff for patching - download all the patches for a file, read the file to verify integrity, then re-write the file with all of the patches inserted.

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
What version of Windows 10 are you working with? What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard? Thermaltake is the brand of the PSU, 850W is the wattage, it doesn't state what the model of the unit is. Include the age of the PSU. Does the CPU usage drop when you exit Steam app? What sort of usages are you seeing when the system is idle with most startup items disabled?
 

tonywong2015

Honorable
Sep 14, 2018
69
1
10,535
What version of Windows 10 are you working with? What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard? Thermaltake is the brand of the PSU, 850W is the wattage, it doesn't state what the model of the unit is. Include the age of the PSU. Does the CPU usage drop when you exit Steam app? What sort of usages are you seeing when the system is idle with most startup items disabled?
Windows 10 version 2004, bios version 1802, PSU Termalthek ToughPower Grand RGB 850W, the psu only have 2 year, Steam use 50-60% when I download a game, almost all startup is disabled, only steam and discord, the usage is about 9-13% of cpu usage

H8nJqyW.png
 

Amddefector

Reputable
Sep 5, 2020
275
27
4,740
That's just the way steam updates. It downloads a bit of the update then installs it in stages rather than download the whole update and install it after the download. Also I've noticed with mine that the less space that there is available on the drive the more disk/cpu usage I see. Also the update takes longer with less space available on the drive. And as mentioned above, different games update differently. Unless your CPU usage is @ 50% when steam is idle I wouldn't worry about it.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
Out of curiosity, I started an update on a game I haven't played or updated in a long time. Guess what? 50-80% disk activity with 100-300MB/s spikes and 50-80% CPU usage despite only having 7Mbps internet.

The relatively massive IO and CPU usage is likely due to Steam using something like bin-diff for patching - download all the patches for a file, read the file to verify integrity, then re-write the file with all of the patches inserted.
 
Solution