[gtx 1080] excesively high gpu usage

[ingenious_zhu]

Hi, a few days ago, I noticed that my new high end rig was unable to run civilization 6 and a youtube tab at the same time. My rig also struggled to run fortnite at low settings at more than 40 fps. So I started investigating what data I could gather and here is what I think might be a part of the issue:

1. my gpu usage has some sudent peaks at idle (like suddenly 40%usage) and while in game, (fortnite) I saw that at low settings 25% of 1440p my gpu usage was sitting at 99-100%

2. a few days ago, I inserted an old usb drive from when I was 10 and played minecraft. and my pc froze. I tried to reboot it and got error messages from windows at boot. I had to remove the usb drive and then reboot my pc for it to boot properly.

3. I have also looked at the thermals and the operating speed of everything and it all seemed okay

 

So what could it be ? well I once had the problem but whit my cpu usage and I saw shady mining processes overloading my pc and I had to reset my OS and lose all my files but this time I see no processes that shouldn't be there only peaks in apps that are sometimes windows related. So here is my take on what I might have:

1.either it's a more sophisticated mining virus like the one I previously had, that hides it's request to the gpu"s in my other games (at lest to the task manager)

2. my old USB drive messed with my OS  or drivers somehow

 

So I was wondering if I need to go full on and reset my computer or any of you guys have some sort of magic trick that might do it ( or anyone experience with the same symptoms as me)

 

here is my rig for those who might be wondering if I just can't build a proper pc ( it has been working just fine since september and through august with an asus GTX 660):

CPU : ryzen 1700X clocked at 3.6 ghz
Cooler : Fractal Design celsius s36

GPU : Gigabyte GTX 1080 blower

RAM : 16(2x8)Gb of ripjaw.V DDR4-3200mhz

SSD (OS drive) : 500gb WD blue M.2

HDD : Seagate 4Tb 5.4krpm

PSU : EVGA platinum 650w P2

Mobo : Gigabyte AX370 gaming 5

Monitor : AOC 144hz 1440p AG271QX

 

Sorry for the English, I'm from quebec

 

[Mick Naughty]

No such thing as high gpu usage. Just full utilization which is what you need. So that isn't a problem. 

[Zmax]

I would recommend a full clean install with formating, This should get rid of any stuff.

 

Not fun, but it is the best way, in my opinion. Make sure to use a good anti-virus

[Blademaster91]

I'd agree with a full reinstall,it sucks though the OS reset probably didn't clean out the mining virus.

[OnionRings]

I third the clean install. If it still doesnt work then you can start looking at possble hardware faults.

[ingenious_zhu]

well, thank you everyone for your replies. I know what's left to do now (capture's from reading a simple youtube video)