[LogiTekkers]

Hi all,

Thought I would post this as ive been researching and troubleshooting it for some time yet still have no resolution.

I'm getting cpu usage sitting between 90-100% whilst gaming on any games. This then causes lag spikes making it not too nice or smooth to play. Black ops 3 / far cry 4 / gta v. Even older games such as black ops 2 the cpu usage is sitting in the 60-100%. The problem seems to have occurred since I went 2560x1440 @ 144hz, but also around the same date their was a windows 10 update. I did remove the update but made no difference. I'm running windows 10 64bt. I have a good feeling it may be a windows 10 issue but im not too sure.

Set up is:

i5 4690k
980 Strix sli
z97 pro
16gb vengenge 2133
os installed on a 840 pro
games installed on a new 850 pro (also tried them on different ssd and hdd)
ax750
h100i gtx

Originally I had the cpu oc'd to 4.4ghz, stable, for 9 months with no issues, I have since tried it at stock settings, yet makes absolutely no difference to the cpu usage. I have refreshed windows 10, started again with all drivers but made no difference. I have reseated the cooler with fresh TIM after reading somewhere that solved a similar problem but did not fix it for me. CPU temps dont go above 60c.

GPU sli usage is a little bit spikey due to this, between 90-100%, I would expect the gpus to be sitting at 95-100 most of the time with AAA titles at 2560x1440. I have tried removing AA, reducing gfx settings in game, SLI disabled. None of these make any difference. Task manager and MSI afterburner show the same usage spikes. The games .exe in task manager showing 95- 100% when in game, so I dont think it is other applications running in the background. I understand games are becomming more cpu demanding but this shouldnt be happening.

I would love some help with this as Ive run out of ideas.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Formula383]

Just another win10 feature lol, it will go away once it has optimized expect lots of weird behavior out of windows10 and hang on its a fun ride. Things should settle down after a month or so...

 

[LogiTekkers]

Would an update cause this as it worked fine before I got my new monitor, and for the first day or two with it. I removed the update but it still occurred. Could it be something else?

 

[Formula383]

I dont think so. I have only used windows 10 on 2 builds and for me i wont ever use it unless forced too. But ya on both those builds and what i have heard from others the os is really a dog and lots of black screen restarts with out warning for the first few weeks after the get data sorted out it will be more normal behavior.

 

[LogiTekkers]

Just tried with sli disabled, cpu sitting at 100% pretty much constantly.

Anything else it could be other than a windows update? You would assume more people would have this problem if it was an update that caused it but not alot on internet with same issue that I can find

 

[Formula383]

Its not necessarily windows update causing the high cpu usage, i dont know for sure but when i loaded up sc2 in w10 it chewed cpu time for a long while the first few times the game was opened i mean to the point where the game was unresponsive for a few min. Then worked fine.

 

[Just a nickname]

I would personally boot from a clean windows install with up to date drivers and verify if the problem can be reproduced. It might not be the best answer but it could save you the time to find the actual problem. Plus you get a fresh install.

My guess is that you have something running in the background. You can check what program start on start-up (alt+shift+esc => startup). Disable everything that is not needed.

 

[LogiTekkers]

Okay so I have reinstalled Windows 7 64 and i have the exact same problem yet it is now worse! Also tried my old 60hz 1080p monitor and have the same problem. GTX h100i has been reseated with fresh paste just to eliminate that.

I have rolled back nvidia drivers to when it was last working correctly which was december 1st drivers. Currently at stock clocks, on a fresh install, new ssd 850 evo, tried an 840 pro and a hdd, again temps are fine but the game .exe is running at 95-100% cpu usage and causing lag.

I have set nvidia panel to prefer maximum performance (tried adaptive), vsync off, when i turn Vsync on, the cpu usage does go down a bit but i cant play with vsync on, and pointless when i have bought a PG279Q monitor.

It feels as if the cpu is working hard at something like pre rendering extra frames etc in the background which it doesnt need to do as i have sli 980s.

Any other ideas what it could be?
Quote:

Originally Posted by Just a nickname

I would personally boot from a clean windows install with up to date drivers and verify if the problem can be reproduced. It might not be the best answer but it could save you the time to find the actual problem. Plus you get a fresh install.

My guess is that you have something running in the background. You can check what program start on start-up (alt+shift+esc => startup). Disable everything that is not needed.

Always have checked that and their is nothing else running that isnt needed. wish it was that simple!

 

[Cyro999]

grab hwinfo ( www.hwinfo.com )

open graphs for CPU core clock speed, max core temperature etc. Make 100% sure that they're as expected during gameplay when you're having the issue.

Look at the CPU usage per process in task manager to see what programs are using what % of CPU load

 

[Formula383]

Ok so your on windows 7 and your saying any game you play uses 90%+ cpu utilization in task manager for that exe? What game can you submit a screen shot showing us? How about a game like starcraft that is primary single threaded?

Other thoughts take out the SSD's and use a HDD. Test with a different power supply. Try using only one gpu at a time also. Like acutaly remove a card so only one card is in the system at a time try them both one at a time. have you tried only one stick of memory at a time?

 

[Just a nickname]

Have you updated the mobo drivers?
I noticed you have a ssd raid. What about trying on a single drive? You can make a partition on any drive in your house and boot from it.
You said the driver roll back made it worst. That is something strange. I would definitively try with a single gpu and have the simplest set up. No raid and no sli.

 

[LogiTekkers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just a nickname

Have you updated the mobo drivers?
I noticed you have a ssd raid. What about trying on a single drive? You can make a partition on any drive in your house and boot from it.
You said the driver roll back made it worst. That is something strange. I would definitively try with a single gpu and have the simplest set up. No raid and no sli.

Yeah I have tried with just an ssd on its own, the OS on an ssd itself, with the game on a seperate ssd yet yields the same result. Tried artionioning the ssd also made no difference. I have tried each card individually, it makes no difference to the high usage.

Yeah all drivers are the latest up to date drivers.

It is very strange and proving difficult to solve. At the moment I have made the issue slightly better by using older nvidia drivers from before the issue arose, reinstalling fresh version of windows 10 on a new ssd, and setting the max pre rendered frame to 1. I still have high usage in the high 90's, and occasionally hits 100 with still causes lag.

 

[Just a nickname]

Maybe your usage is normal... yet it seems quite high. The last suggestion I have is to try different bios version.
I feel your pain! I have had a weird issue aswell, I thought I was slowly going crazy.

 

[LogiTekkers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just a nickname

Maybe your usage is normal... yet it seems quite high. The last suggestion I have is to try different bios version.
I feel your pain! I have had a weird issue aswell, I thought I was slowly going crazy.

Yeah im starting to think it could be a mobo/bios issue, or possibly my cpu has gone bad. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of that I have the time to do at the moment.

I dont think that the usage is normal, as the problem has never arose before. Usage used to hit 60-70s in games but nothing like this. I have a friend who lives nearby with a 4770k, I may try borrow that and see if we have a similar problem. I just dont have alot of free time to spend, I just want to play on my new monitor without having to spend hours of time troubleshooting.

 

[rdr09]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LogiTekkers

Yeah im starting to think it could be a mobo/bios issue, or possibly my cpu has gone bad. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of that I have the time to do at the moment.

I dont think that the usage is normal, as the problem has never arose before. Usage used to hit 60-70s in games but nothing like this. I have a friend who lives nearby with a 4770k, I may try borrow that and see if we have a similar problem. I just dont have alot of free time to spend, I just want to play on my new monitor without having to spend hours of time troubleshooting.

If you ever get a chance to try your friend's cpu . . . turn off its HT and see if you get similar results. Compare HT on and off.

 

[Just a nickname]

His gpu and ram wont be of great use with no cpu. Be careful with static electricity. Dont put electronic into a plastic bag. Paper is fine.

 

[Formula383]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LogiTekkers

Yeah im starting to think it could be a mobo/bios issue, or possibly my cpu has gone bad. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of that I have the time to do at the moment.

I dont think that the usage is normal, as the problem has never arose before. Usage used to hit 60-70s in games but nothing like this. I have a friend who lives nearby with a 4770k, I may try borrow that and see if we have a similar problem. I just dont have alot of free time to spend, I just want to play on my new monitor without having to spend hours of time troubleshooting.

Or maybe you just never had a second screen or just never looked at how much your cpu was being used or never bothered by the cpu usage. I cant say for sure but the games you talked about will most defiantly use alot of cpu cores especially with a fast gpu 60+ fps. While it could be cpu causing lag i highly doubt it. more likely a driver issue or possibly a IO issue like a hdd that is slow, or else maybe just lack of video ram for higher game settings.

What i can say is i5's that i have seen typically do see high cpu usage in modern games. And if i was buying top end gpu i would not use 2 of them on a mainstream platform that is for sure. It would be on a x99.

One other thing i was going to ask did you look to see what your cpu frequency is at when it is running a game at 90-100% load?

 

[Cyber Locc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LogiTekkers

Yeah im starting to think it could be a mobo/bios issue, or possibly my cpu has gone bad. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of that I have the time to do at the moment.

I dont think that the usage is normal, as the problem has never arose before. Usage used to hit 60-70s in games but nothing like this. I have a friend who lives nearby with a 4770k, I may try borrow that and see if we have a similar problem. I just dont have alot of free time to spend, I just want to play on my new monitor without having to spend hours of time troubleshooting.

Do you have 2 monitors connected when this is happening? Also did you use HWmonitor or CPU Z to watch the clocks while gaming?

 

[LogiTekkers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Formula383

Or maybe you just never had a second screen or just never looked at how much your cpu was being used or never bothered by the cpu usage. I cant say for sure but the games you talked about will most defiantly use alot of cpu cores especially with a fast gpu 60+ fps. While it could be cpu causing lag i highly doubt it. more likely a driver issue or possibly a IO issue like a hdd that is slow, or else maybe just lack of video ram for higher game settings.

What i can say is i5's that i have seen typically do see high cpu usage in modern games. And if i was buying top end gpu i would not use 2 of them on a mainstream platform that is for sure. It would be on a x99.

One other thing i was going to ask did you look to see what your cpu frequency is at when it is running a game at 90-100% load?

I suppose it could be quite normal pushing up to 144fps @ 1440p in the newer demanding games, I just thought it would be utilising the 980s more, as they do not seem to sit at full usage during these games. If i use just one card then it is at max usage.

Yes on monitoring the cpu diuring games, the cpu is pushing it rated speeds while it is happening, wether stock or overclocked. Next upgrade I will definitely be going ethusiast, wether it be x99 or the next chipset equivelent.

Thanks for the input!
Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyber Locc

Do you have 2 monitors connected when this is happening? Also did you use HWmonitor or CPU Z to watch the clocks while gaming?

Good question! The very first time I had two monitors connected, the games would just run horrendously...like barely usable. Even in the game menus it would be dropping to 5fps! This baffled me and I didnt spend too much time looking into it and just disconnected it. I had sli enabled, and both monitors connected to the top GPU. The new monitor via display port, and my 1080p 60hz on DVI. Come to think of it, this issue has been happening since this happened...however this was within the same few days of getting my monitor...does this help do you know what that could have been?

 

[Cyber Locc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LogiTekkers

I suppose it could be quite normal pushing up to 144fps @ 1440p in the newer demanding games, I just thought it would be utilising the 980s more, as they do not seem to sit at full usage during these games. If i use just one card then it is at max usage.

Yes on monitoring the cpu diuring games, the cpu is pushing it rated speeds while it is happening, wether stock or overclocked. Next upgrade I will definitely be going ethusiast, wether it be x99 or the next chipset equivelent.

Thanks for the input!
Good question! The very first time I had two monitors connected, the games would just run horrendously...like barely usable. Even in the game menus it would be dropping to 5fps! This baffled me and I didnt spend too much time looking into it and just disconnected it. I had sli enabled, and both monitors connected to the top GPU. The new monitor via display port, and my 1080p 60hz on DVI. Come to think of it, this issue has been happening since this happened...however this was within the same few days of getting my monitor...does this help do you know what that could have been?

If you have them both hooked up while gaming that will raise your resource needs.

However reading what you just said above and seeing how they are 980tis, I think your CPU is bottle-necking your cards, unless they are giving a constant 144fps. If they are giving a constant 144fps and not being fully utilized then try to up the settings to the very max in the most demanding game you have. Then see if they have they have full usage, Valley would be good for this see if Valley maxed pegs the cards.