High CPU usage when gaming.

[Codey2k]

As the title says I have very high CPU usage when playing games. It doesn't matter what the game is. It could RDR2 or Overwatch or Valorant the CPU usage is always high. But when playing demanding games like RDR2 the CPU usage goes up to 100% while for other games it goes up to 70%. Now this wouldn't be a problem if my temps weren't so high. Also wanna mention that it's not CPU bottleneck since the GPU is also sitting at 100% usage. How can I fix this?

 

My specs:

i7 9700k @4.4GHz

RTX 2070 Super
16gb dual channel memory 3200MHz

MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus motherboard

Cooler Master MasterLiquid M120L

[Enzo1001]

Is the CPU and the GPU throttling down? How much are the "high temps?"

[Codey2k]

Just now, Enzo1001 said:

Is the CPU and the GPU throttling down? How much are the "high temps?"

No neither of them are throttling. The GPU temps are fine (around 68 degrees after playing an hour of RDR2). The CPU goes up to 90 degrees celcius. It probably would go higher if I keep playing.

[Enzo1001]

1 minute ago, Codey2k said:

No neither of them are throttling. The GPU temps are fine (around 68 degrees after playing an hour of RDR2). The CPU goes up to 90 degrees celcius. It probably would go higher if I keep playing.

What voltage is the CPU at? I see that you OCd

[Enzo1001]

Its Probably because your cooler cant keep up with the overclock, its a 120mm cooler and its just not made for OCing try turning off the OC and check your temps than

[Codey2k]

Just now, Enzo1001 said:

What voltage is the CPU at? I see that you OCd

It's at 1.239V

[Enzo1001]

try turning off the OC as mentiond above (OC means overclock if you didnt know

[Enzo1001]

Oh and please tell me if it worked

 

[Codey2k]

Just now, Enzo1001 said:

Oh and please tell me if it worked

 

Alright thanks will try it out. But one thing I still don't get is why it's happening now. It didn't use to happen before. I've had this OC for like 6-7 months now.

[SavageNeo]

12 minutes ago, Codey2k said:

As the title says I have very high CPU usage when playing games. It doesn't matter what the game is. It could RDR2 or Overwatch or Valorant the CPU usage is always high. But when playing demanding games like RDR2 the CPU usage goes up to 100% while for other games it goes up to 70%. Now this wouldn't be a problem if my temps weren't so high. Also wanna mention that it's not CPU bottleneck since the GPU is also sitting at 100% usage. How can I fix this?

 

My specs:

i7 9700k @4.4GHz

RTX 2070 Super
16gb dual channel memory 3200MHz

MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus motherboard

Cooler Master MasterLiquid M120L

Cooler is bad, it is meant for stock clocks even if that...

 

And 9700k at 4.4ghz is expected to run around 60-90% at games. 

 

13 minutes ago, Codey2k said:

Also wanna mention that it's not CPU bottleneck since the GPU is also sitting at 100% usage

They are pretty balanced.

[Enzo1001]

oh so this is a recent problem

 

[Codey2k]

1 minute ago, SavageNeo said:

Cooler is bad, it is meant for stock clocks even if that...

 

And 9700k at 4.4ghz is expected to run around 60-90% at games. 

 

They are pretty balanced.

huh wouldn't have expected the CPU usage to be that high. But it's also been worse as of late. But you're right the cooler is pretty bad.

[emosun]

18 minutes ago, Codey2k said:

Now this wouldn't be a problem if my temps weren't so high

if your cpu is hitting 90c then it's not happy

theres a big difference between "cpu is running hot" and "cpu is going to shut the machine off to save itself". I'm assuming you are looking at the thermal limit of the cpu and determining that's the safe limit it can run at 24/7 , which is kinda a common mistakle new pc users make a lot.

the cpu shouldnt even be going over 80 if its on water. So if your cpu is running hot , then it's trying to slow down to reduce the temp and thus is probably running far slower than if you weren;t overclocking and hitting resonable temps in the first place.

[SavageNeo]

2 minutes ago, Codey2k said:

huh wouldn't have expected the CPU usage to be that high. But it's also been worse as of late. But you're right the cooler is pretty bad.

It wil be that high. it has 8 cores and 8 threads. I assume that Op is playing at 1080p and he is playing kinda cpu heavy games too. If OP would play at 1440p+ then it would be different.

[Codey2k]

yeah

[SavageNeo]

2 minutes ago, Codey2k said:

yeah

Get a better cooler so you can get near 5ghz OC. 

[Codey2k]

3 minutes ago, emosun said:

if your cpu is hitting 90c then it's not happy

theres a big difference between "cpu is running hot" and "cpu is going to shut the machine off to save itself". I'm assuming you are looking at the thermal limit of the cpu and determining that's the safe limit it can run at 24/7 , which is kinda a common mistakle new pc users make a lot.

the cpu shouldnt even be going over 80 if its on water. So if your cpu is running hot , then it's trying to slow down to reduce the temp and thus is probably running far slower than if you weren;t overclocking and hitting resonable temps in the first place.

But the thing is my CPU normally stays at around 60-70 degrees. This is a recent problem. Even tested with AIDA64 and Cinebench R20. I did thorough stress testing after I OC'd. The temps were decent back then so that's why I'm wondering why it's happening now.

[emosun]

Have you checked and replaced the thermal paste?

Also keep in mind that components run hot when they are not running efficiently , so too little or too much voltage will make them run hot like motors do.

You may have got to enjoy the benefits of an overclock for a few months and are now getting the latter half of the overclocking equation. Something on the cpu or board is no longer happy being ran past it's specs and can no longer function. Only takes one bad cap or vrm to really end a systems ability to continue , seems like you could be at that point if it never cools down.

[-rascal-]

6 minutes ago, Codey2k said:

But the thing is my CPU normally stays at around 60-70 degrees. This is a recent problem. Even tested with AIDA64 and Cinebench R20. I did thorough stress testing after I OC'd. The temps were decent back then so that's why I'm wondering why it's happening now.

 

~100% CPU usage is fine.

It depends on how many cores / threads the games will/can use.

If only 4-cores are used to 100% (e.g. your 9700K is 8-cxores), Task Manager would show 50% CPU usage....

 

If your CPU is throttling, and causing the usage to be 100%, that's a different story.

 

When did you do this overclock + stress test?

Thermal paste will age, dry, and degrade over time...radiator + fans will slowly build up dust, etc.

Ambient / room temperature increased?

[Codey2k]

3 minutes ago, emosun said:

Have you checked and replaced the thermal paste?

Also keep in mind that components run hot when they are not running efficiently , so too little or too much voltage will make them run hot like motors do.

You may have got to enjoy the benefits of an overclock for a few months and are now getting the latter half of the overclocking equation. Something on the cpu or board is no longer happy being ran past it's specs and can no longer function. Only takes one bad cap or vrm to really end a systems ability to continue , seems like you could be at that point if it never cools down.

My PC's not even a year old though

[Codey2k]

1 minute ago, -rascal- said:

 

~100% CPU usage is fine.

It depends on how many cores / threads the games will/can use.

If only 4-cores are used to 100% (e.g. your 9700K is 8-cxores), Task Manager would show 50% CPU usage....

 

If your CPU is throttling, and causing the usage to be 100%, that's a different story.

 

When did you do this overclock + stress test?

Thermal paste will age, dry, and degrade over time...radiator + fans will slowly build up dust, etc.

Ambient / room temperature increased?

I OC'd about 6 or 7 months ago. It's using all 8 cores. My CPU isn't throttling. The ambient temperature has decreased now. But I do have a suspicion that it might be the thermal paste because the guy who built my PC (yes I had it built) used way too much thermal paste. I should've said something but I didn't.

[emosun]

7 minutes ago, Codey2k said:

My PC's not even a year old though

yeah and the surface components are speced to run within their rated range , there's no expected lifespan past their rated range so the machine either survives another 20 years or dies in 6 months.

Start by replacing the paste and hoping that works , after that you get into replacing stuff territory. 

[Codey2k]

Actually I went into my BIOS and realized my voltage was set to 1.16V not 1.24V. So I changed it to 1.30V and now it seems to be fine. I've been playing for a bit and my CPU usage hasn't gone above 70%. My overall CPU temps are a bit lower as well. Thanks everyone. And I guess I will mark @emosun's answer as the solution since she mentioned the undervoltage thing. I will do further tests and let you guys know. And thanks again.