A6 6400K CPU usage/performance Windows 10

[TycStyle]

hi all,

I setup a HTPC a couple of years ago, which I hadn't used in a while. So I thought to give it a go with Geforce Now, as it should be able to handle requirements.

So, I installed Windows 10 without any issues, upgraded mobo bios and drivers to latest available.GeForce Now installed without issues again incl. rainbow six siege.

During the game, at certain moments, the connection speed would drop significantly, so I went ahead and performed a speedtest on the regular sites (speedtest.net, fast.com , dslreport, big file download etc.)On there, the machine would not achieve more than a absolute max. of 100-140mbps (wired with cat. 5e) out of the max 250, which is achieved with other machines.After a lot of testing, ruling out etc. I noticed the CPU would max at 100% when starting these tests, but only when running the download, not the upload.

I have also performed a dos based speedtest, which actually reaches max performance (250mbps), with NO impact on the CPU.Now, what I'm struggling with is to understand why the CPU usage spikes when executing that webbased speedtests and what the further implications might be when running GeForce Now.The CPU usage totals in Task Manager also do not match the sum of the parts, which is very frustrating and stange (yes the list is sorted by usage).

So when writing this, the CPU usage keeps jumping up and down (actually when typing...). And in "idle" it sits between 60-70% without any heavy stuff running. But after a (long) while goes into "normal" mode below 10%, except for the increase when typing(???!!). But when starting the speedtest, it's peaktime all over again.

Any ideas on this behavior? The CPU performed very poorly in benchmarks (1552!? vs. 2317 avg.), but does not fail testing and the whole system in general boots like it should. But something strange is messing with the CPU for sure...

Could it be related to the fact it's an APU? All help is welcome.

 

Thanks in advance.

TycStyle

 

Setup:

Board: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H

CPU: AMD A serie A6-6400K - 3.9 GHz - 2 cores - 2 threads - 1 MB cache - Socket FM2 - Box

Cooler: Scythe Shuriken Rev.B SCSK-1100

Mem: Crucial - 4 GB - DIMM 240-pins - DDR3 - 1600 MHz / PC3-12800 - CL11 - 1.5 V

HD: Samsung 840 EVO Basic - Solid state drive - 120 GB

PSU: Be quiet! System Power 7 300W

[Sir0Tek]

Hey, nice to know this fellow does work with GeforceNow.

Is it just 1 dimm of ddr3/1600, at 4gb? If you happen to have a 2nd one plug it in as well, dual-channel for an apu isn't a luxury-gadget. Also, you may run the memory overclocked. 1866 may work out of the box with these dimms, maybe increase vdimm to 1.55/1.6v

Now back to that behaviour of Windows with the cpu at 70%. You'll probably noticing that the harddisk/ssd is in use as well, my guess is it is indexing/scan-works from windows itself and the virus-protection software on your computer (which is at least defender). Indexing can be prohibited in the settings for windows search.

Additionally, windows does telemetry from the get go. You may want to grab a tool to disable all these unwanted services.

[TycStyle]

10 minutes ago, Sir0Tek said:

Hey, nice to know this fellow does work with GeforceNow.

Is it just 1 dimm of ddr3/1600, at 4gb? If you happen to have a 2nd one plug it in as well, dual-channel for an apu isn't a luxury-gadget. Also, you may run the memory overclocked. 1866 may work out of the box with these dimms, maybe increase vdimm to 1.55/1.6v

Now back to that behaviour of Windows with the cpu at 70%. You'll probably noticing that the harddisk/ssd is in use as well, my guess is it is indexing/scan-works from windows itself and the virus-protection software on your computer (which is at least defender). Indexing can be prohibited in the settings for windows search.

Additionally, windows does telemetry from the get go. You may want to grab a tool to disable all these unwanted services.

Check thanks! 

Will have a peak at these tips. It's 1 dimm and looking for a second one for testing purposes. I was checking usage during running the game and cpu seems to stay within 90%, but still at a certain point I see stream quality just dropping into pixel wonderland, which seems to indicate it can't handle/achieve full data transfer?
Do you know what the system is doing when running those speedtests making it jump to 100%? Because that behavior is occuring 100% of the time?

[Sir0Tek]

1 minute ago, TycStyle said:

Check thanks! 

Will have a peak at these tips. It's 1 dimm and looking for a second one for testing purposes. I was checking usage during running the game and cpu seems to stay within 90%, but still at a certain point I see stream quality just dropping into pixel wonderland, which seems to indicate it can't handle/achieve full data transfer?
Do you know what the system is doing when running those speedtests making it jump to 100%? Because that behavior is occuring 100% of the time?

You'll need a better tool than taskmanager to monitor the cpu, like for example CPU Thermometer. Regarding the stream it may be some driver-issue. This Snappy Driver Installer tool should find/install necessary drivers.