[SOLVED] System interrupts at 100% cpu usage for no reason?

[citizen_oz]

Hello, I'm new to the forums and I hope this is the right place for this question. I found similar problems mentioned online but none of the solutions worked so far.

I have been having some CPU usage problems with my PC lately. It first began with random web browser crashes which has never happened before. No matter what browser I use (Chrome, Firefox, Opera etc.) they often crashed without a specific reason that I managed to find. I solved this problem by disabling hardware acceleration since but after that I started monitoring the cpu/gpu usage via ARX Control of Logitech from my old smartphone. Interestingly, after 10 to 15 minutes of using Firefox I noticed that ARX shows that my 1st and 3rd cores are running at 100% and when I open up task manager to see what program is using the CPU after a brief moment it suddenly drops to zero both in task manager and in ARX. I managed to take a screenshot and the program that using my CPU was "System interrupts".

I thought about the possibility of cryptojacking and did a full scan with windows defender and malwarebytes but found nothing. This keeps happening when I use a web browser. Also, when I leave the task manager open while using a web browser I see no CPU usage anomalies which confuses me. I did not experience any BSOD, stuttering or overall performance issues but I just want to find the reason. Thanks in advance.

My specs:
i7 7700k 4.2 ghz CPU
24gb RAM
gtx 1070 graphics card
asus z270h motherboard

 

[InvalidError]

Cryptojacking wouldn't cause much interrupt load since most GPU-based miners run almost fully autonomously on the GPU once started. I would suspect a defective component spamming interrupts and start with disconnecting and disabling all non-essential hardware.

A bad driver not exiting its ISR in a timely manner would also be a possibility.

 

[citizen_oz]

Cryptojacking wouldn't cause much interrupt load since most GPU-based miners run almost fully autonomously on the GPU once started. I would suspect a defective component spamming interrupts and start with disconnecting and disabling all non-essential hardware.

A bad driver not exiting its ISR in a timely manner would also be a possibility.

Then, how can I find that defective component exactly if that is the case? Is this something serious? or should I be worried for my PC?

 

[InvalidError]

Then, how can I find that defective component exactly if that is the case? Is this something serious? or should I be worried for my PC?

I already told you how to: you remove all non-essential hardware to see if that makes it go away.

If the high interrupt usage is still there, then it is caused by something you cannot remove or disable, which would be highly unusual. Having an extremely high interrupt load will cause the CPU to keep running in a higher power state wasting power it shouldn't need to use and may also cause performance issues since any other hardware that needs to use interrupts will need to compete with whatever rogue hardware is hogging CPU time. CPU time consumed by the rogue interrupt source is also CPU time robbed from whatever else you use your PC for.

It may not harm your PC in terms of hardware lifespan but it will likely degrade your overall user experience.