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Concerns with CPU usage/temp

Deehjay

Deehjay

Deehjay

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Joined
16 Nov 2011
Posts
1,526
Location
Nottingham
Hi. First off I'd just like to clarify that I don't have much knowledge of CPU's with regards to my issues, so please excuse me.
My current CPU is a little outdated as far as I'm concerned - it's an i5-2500 (non K), and I've had my PC for about a year and a half so far. What I'm currently concerned with is my recent notices of high CPU usage and CPU temps. I haven't cleaned my PC on the interior since I've gotten it so I've ordered some compressed air in order to clean all of the excess dust from inside of the case, this should, logically, lower the CPU temps due to the fact that it will allow for a lot more air flow inside the case. My current CPU temps can reach up to 85-88 degrees Celsius when playing a game (WarZ can actually force it into the 90s which is really bad I think, I got told before that there is some point within the 90s in which the PC will automatically shut down in order to prevent serious damage). When I'm just browsing the internet, like now for example, I have 4 tabs open on Chrome - one being a stream from Twitch which I'm watching in 720p+. My temps as a package right at this second are 45 degrees, which isn't actually bad I don't think.
TL;DR - CPU temps are higher than before both when idle and when browsing the internet/playing games. Playing games can bring the CPU temp anywhere from 70-85 degrees and sometimes upwards of 90 degrees. Wat do?

As far as CPU usage is concerned, when simply watching one stream like I am now with only a couple more tabs open, my usage for my i5 ranges from 15-20%. I'm really concerned with this due to the fact me and my friend compared our usages and we both opened 4 streams from Twitch.tv, all running at 1080p. Baring in mind he has an i5-2400, a slightly inferior CPU to mine his CPU usage was only 30% with these 4 streams open at 1080p. When I did the same, my CPU usage was a staggering ~60%, which is what I'm worried about. Sometimes when I'm playing games the usage can raise to +80%. I'm not sure if there's any possible way to lower CPU usage other than the obvious, but it'd be nice to atleast gain some sort of acknowledgement as to why it's happening or what has caused it.

Thanks
 
Is it overclocked? What's the cooler?

The most likely problem is the cooler isn't making good contact with the CPU. You should examine it to see if this is the case, take it off and remount it with new thermal paste. A good dusting will help too. Also worth checking the fan is still spinning.

P.S. an i5-2500 is not outdated.
 
defo clean that beast a year n half of dust can lead to a lot of problems, once thats done come back to us and let us know how your doing

Also try cleaning your computer up (CCleaner) , remove un-needed start items, clean up your system restore that kind of junk can clog up your system and lastly restart once per day to clean the ram up

And like the previous poster once the cooler is cleaned make sure its seated correctly (If its the stock cooler the pins can come lose over time)
 
joeyjojo said:
Is it overclocked? What's the cooler?

The most likely problem is the cooler isn't making good contact with the CPU. You should examine it to see if this is the case, take it off and remount it with new thermal paste. A good dusting will help too. Also worth checking the fan is still spinning.

P.S. an i5-2500 is not outdated.
Click to expand...

He has a non-K processor so i doubt its clocked higher than stock?
 
joeyjojo said:
Is it overclocked? What's the cooler?

The most likely problem is the cooler isn't making good contact with the CPU. You should examine it to see if this is the case, take it off and remount it with new thermal paste. A good dusting will help too. Also worth checking the fan is still spinning.

P.S. an i5-2500 is not outdated.
Click to expand...

It's the non K version so no it's not overclocked. The cooler is the stock Intel cooler that ships with the processor. Once the compressed air stuff arrives I'll take the side of the case off and clean everything out then report back with updated info.

Any idea on the CPU usage part?

Thanks
 
When you was comparing with your friend, was he using the same browser as you?

Does he also use the same GPU as you as that will affect the hardware acceleration, and in turn, affect the CPU usage depending on how well the GPU can decode the streams.
 
Orcvader said:
When you was comparing with your friend, was he using the same browser as you?

Does he also use the same GPU as you as that will affect the hardware acceleration, and in turn, affect the CPU usage depending on how well the GPU can decode the streams.
Click to expand...

We were both using Google Chrome, latest version. His GPU is a 6870 and I have a 560 Non Ti. I haven't updated by drivers for my GPU recently, would that be worth a shot?. It's not like it's just for the streams though, we compared more things such as in games and his CPU was on ~30% and mine nearly double that. Sorry for being a bit vague.
 
Sounds like a cooler seating issue there. It shouldn't be hitting 90 when gaming. I had similar recently where my 2600 suddenly started hitting 90 when encoding. Turned out the plastic securing the heatsink had perished and gone fragile. Replaced it with an Antec Kuhler and temps are now 30 degrees less when under max load.

Also, as has been said, a 2500 is still a good proc!
 
durbs said:
Sounds like a cooler seating issue there. It shouldn't be hitting 90 when gaming. I had similar recently where my 2600 suddenly started hitting 90 when encoding. Turned out the plastic securing the heatsink had perished and gone fragile. Replaced it with an Antec Kuhler and temps are now 30 degrees less when under max load.

Also, as has been said, a 2500 is still a good proc!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. How should I go about the cooler then? I don't have any experience with PC parts since this PC was made for me from a local shop where they customise and build PCs etc. Not sure about what I should be doing in this situation.
 
Deehjay said:
Thanks for the help. How should I go about the cooler then? I don't have any experience with PC parts since this PC was made for me from a local shop where they customise and build PCs etc. Not sure about what I should be doing in this situation.
Click to expand...

Might be best to replace the Intel stock cooler. There will be instructions and thermal paste supplied with 3rd party ones.

As for the usage, just rechecking, you both were using the same quality settings in the same game to compare right? Could be some crazy chance his GPU is actually bottlenecking the CPU and limiting performance. Do you get similiar/more framerates than him?
 
Orcvader said:
Might be best to replace the Intel stock cooler. There will be instructions and thermal paste supplied with 3rd party ones.

As for the usage, just rechecking, you both were using the same quality settings in the same game to compare right? Could be some crazy chance his GPU is actually bottlenecking the CPU and limiting performance. Do you get similiar/more framerates than him?
Click to expand...

Both get 60 fps in the game and the same quality settings. It's not always just being in games it's just generally I seem to have high CPU usage in my opinion. The game we were on was LoL.
 
have you monitored the programes running when you get high usage?

As far as im aware arma can cause issues when running low graphical settings as it uses the cpu rather than the gpu so bumping up the settings makes it run better? not sure if thats true or not though.

When did you last check for viruses and do you have loads of bloatware? things like "performance enhancing" programs and other guff that you don't need?
 
I found my temps went up due to the cpu fan/heatsink gathering a shed load of fluff and dust, just by cleaning that off they dropped by over 10c
 
Something Else said:
have you monitored the programes running when you get high usage?

As far as im aware arma can cause issues when running low graphical settings as it uses the cpu rather than the gpu so bumping up the settings makes it run better? not sure if thats true or not though.

When did you last check for viruses and do you have loads of bloatware? things like "performance enhancing" programs and other guff that you don't need?
Click to expand...

Yeah; I get high usage when playing any game and/or watching a stream on the internet. For example at this second in time I am watching a stream in 1080p and have 40% usage. Haven't tried changing the settings in any of the games I've played, always leave them at default. As far as I'm aware I don't have any bloatware and the last time I checked I didn't have any viruses. I'll do a scan now though just to make sure.
 
40% usage while watching a 1080p stream is probably not far off the mark tbh. especially with all the other things windows keeps the cpu busy with. I sit at about 20% usage (up and down) with a 720p youtube video and my 2500k is clocked to 4.7
 
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