HardwarePost any questions related to hardware here.
Mission Statement
WindowsBBS is an online community dedicated to easily accessible technical support for those using Microsoft operating systems and other Windows software.
Our goal is to become the leading resource for computer users that require assistance with their day-to-day computer usage, including full support for networking PC's, virus & malware removal, system upgrades and general support questions.
Im having problems with my cpu which i feel is overheating, i have read previous threads but im not sure they answer the questions.
More and more recently when i turn my computer on i get a minimum cpu usage of at least 50% in my task manager after all processes have been loaded up, only occasionally having the 3-5% that i have been used to.
When i game (call of duty 2 especially) after about 15 minutes my game freezes for a minute then comes back and i cannot load the next map up and i have a cpu usage of 100% after i close the program and have to cold restart to get it back to the 50% cpu usage.
Ive tried everything i can think of extra fans, side panel off, front panel off turn up cpu fan speed etc but to no avvail. Its getting extremely tedious
I have had new motherboards recently due to stupid faults with them and doing the correct procedure when installing the cpu into it removing all thermal compound and apply a thin even layer of new thermal compound.
My cpu is a 3.2ghz p4 with ht tech my motherboard is the asus IS-85 with 1.5ghz ram and nvidea 6600 agp
I feel my cpu maybe knackered and need a new one but would rather seek help before buying a new one before maybe findind out i dont need to
thanks for your time
Didn't find the information you thought to find? Check out these Similar Threads
It doesn't sound like your cpu is bad or going bad. It doesn't sound like you have heating problems. It doesn't sound like you have a bad motherboard or bad memory. You probably don't need more fans or more cooling.
Having said all that the problem appears to be some bad programming, probably a virus or some such. After you boot up and all the processes are loaded your cpu should be cruising about 1 or 2%. You might have a virus checker running in the background that accounts for the 50% load after you boot up but probably not.
After you boot up I would load the task manager and see what's running. Shut down what you can one at a time and see if you can find what's causing the 50% load. Clicking on Applications to see what's running and then Performance to see what the cpu load is will give you an idea.
Whatever is causing the 100% load after you run some games is causing your cpu to heat up. Find the software that's running and you'll solve that. As long as the cpu is loaded the other software you run will be slow and that's probably what's causing the freezing. The cpu is just busy on something else.
Sounds like your computer is running fine and you have no hardware problems, just some software that should'n be running. Look for some malware, virus, adware, etc.
what would you suggest to check for the malware etc as i have adaware ediwo antimalware and mcafee virus at the moment finding nothing. One thing i should also mention is recently i took my motherboard out of case other day it was extremely hot and id presume the cpu would be too but would this happen due to the 100% usage? thanks
Yes, the motherboard can get very hot with 100% usage. Those other chips on the motherboard work with the cpu and when the cpu is running they are running also. Something is running on your computer that is causing the cpu to run full out. On my computer, even with the normal background stuff, Mailwasher, Ashampoo Magic Defrag, Proxomitron, Nod32 Antivirus, Volume Control, Armor2net Personal Firewall, and Wallpaper Master, my cpu is bouncing between 1% and 2% usage and that is with the normal Windows programs loaded.
You need to find out what is running. I would download and install something similar to "Process Explorer" which you can get here.
There are quite a few programs out there that the adware, etc programs cannot detect. Also it might be a legitimate program. If Windows is defraging it would cause your cpu to go full out in most cases.
Your entire trouble appears to be some program that is running your cpu flat out.
You might ask the Admins to move this thread to one of the "Security" categories. You'll get some fairly concentrated help there.
Look at updating all your drivers, starting from the motherboard/chipset and graphics drivers. Look in Device Manager for any problems listed.
Windows will say "These drivers are working properly", but that only means that Windows can run them, it does not mean they are running the hardware correctly.
In Device Manager also go to View -> Show Hidden Devices and check if there are any problems listed (updating higher level drivers should overcome those unless you are using hardware that does not have compatible drivers).
If you have changed the graphics card with this install of Windows, the old graphics drivers may be causing problems with the new ones. Graphics are very CPU intensive and both have to work in harmony. If you think there may be old graphics drivers hanging around, you may want to use the removal tools in the sticky at the start of this forum, or try removing all the graphics drivers and related software in Safe Mode.
Use graphics drivers that are recommended by the manufacturer of the card, they may be a different version to the ones at Nvidia. You can also do a google search for the model (6600??) and see what version of the drivers the gaming forum people recommend.
I agree that is highly unlikely to be the hardware itself, but I think you should investigate the drivers, especially those major ones like the chipset and graphics.
When the system is running at 100% or so key Ctrl/Alt/Del at the same time and bring up the Windows Task Manager.
Click on "Performance" and you'll see what the cpu is doing (actually both cpus). Then click on "Processes" and go up and down the list and see if you can see what program is running the cpu on high. The last entry will tell you what the idle process speed is. It should sit around 99% most of the time. If you find something that is running high either all the time or intermittent let us know the program listed at the left.
While you have it up and running, click on "Applications" and let us know if anything is listed there.
i downloaded the everest program and looked at my cpu and it says i have 2 cpus one uses about 90% the other about 10-20% is that because i have a ht cpu?
Yes, it's because you have an ht processor. I'm running the same thing, two cpus built into one chassis. (You might want to be sure you're running dual channel memory. It makes it fairly faster.)
The fact that one cpu is running high and the other low probably means it isn't Windows programming that is causing the usage on the cpu. Windows would probably split it evenly between the two. You have something running that shouldn't be running. Be sure and follow through on my last suggestion about bringing up the task manager
The important thing here is to spot what is running that is using the cpu full tilt.
no process called that mate, went through all of my processes and deleted each one at a time and still no effect, ill ask a computer friend of mine to have a good look at it cause i cannot get this to sort out whatsoever, thanks for the help
right ive found my problem. Although i installed it after i had my cpu problems i managed to deleted a program called U-Guru_event-receiver and i now have 0-5% usage. Thanks for help all, ill recommend if anyone has problems
Congatulations - glad to learn you found it. I'm not an Intel guy but when you mention that utility, Abit comes to mind and I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate on your findings. I personally tend to stay away from most of the "automatic" tweaking software, opting instead to do things the old fashioned way with a little more permanence. Thanks for any more info you might be able to provide.
I would be interested to hear from anyone in regard to this posting. Please look at my posting problem in Overheating problems and please, please , help me. Many thanks, neil.