i5-3570k constantly at 100% usage

Footyslayer · 28 May 2014 at 00:06

Hi everyone,

got a strange one here. Today I installed some more powerful fans to my case (Corsair 540) after doing this I booted up CPU-z to see overall temps of the CPU and I noticed that it is constantly running 100%

It is an i5 3570k overclocked by overclockers themselves to 4.5ghz with a motherboard bundle. I don't know if this has started happening today or if it has been like this a while.

Normally when idle my core speed is 1600.00 mhz and my multiplyer is on x16. However it is constantly at 4500.00mhz and X45 multiplyer.

Can anyone please advise how to solve this?

wazza300 · 28 May 2014 at 00:08

looked in task manager/processes? see whats using the cpu

could be mining virus or power saving/intel speedstep is disabled in the bios

faceman123 · 28 May 2014 at 00:17

inb4 mining botnet

Footyslayer · 28 May 2014 at 00:17

Can't see any processes that look odd, my GPU is fine so surely that' s not mining?

In the details section of task manager "system idle process" has the number 99 under CPU, but system idle process is fine isn't it? It's just how much of my CPU is idle, yet CPU-z says otherwise for usage!

This is actually quite a concern

wazza300 · 28 May 2014 at 01:43

checked in windows power saving options that your on balanced power profile?

Footyslayer · 28 May 2014 at 09:28

Just did, initially it went back to normal and after a few minutes it was back up to 100% usage

I have my SSD set on performance mode in Samsung magician, could this effect it even though I have switched from Samsung performance to balanced in windows power options

Stuen4y · 28 May 2014 at 12:00

Footyslayer said:
This is actually quite a concern

Can you show us the full Processes tab in task manager? It is absolutely normal to have all the idle time of your processor being taken by the System Idle Process, that's what it does, manages Idle processor time.

Regarding the CPU frequency, do you have C1E and Speedstep enabled?

Footyslayer · 28 May 2014 at 12:03

I'll post it up this evening after work...

Just had a thought though. About a month ago I was informed that to improve performance in BF4 I should unpark my CPU cores. Could the fact a my cores are unparked cause the CPU to be running full pelt?

I have read various different opinions, some say in parked cores would still only be used when needed and not 100% all of the time.

JonSmith · 28 May 2014 at 12:08

I'm not sure exactly what you mean. The CPU is certainly at zero utilisation, no doubt about that so I'm not sure what you mean by "running at 100%"

If by "running at 100%" you mean running at the highest clock, then I'm pretty sure unparking CPU cores will do that.

Another thing you can check is sysinternals process explorer, that provides a more detailed overview.

Footyslayer · 28 May 2014 at 12:16

Sorry my terminology may be a bit poor when it comes to CPU's! I do mean it's running constantly at 4.5ghz.

Stuck at work so can't do any investigations till later but I will post up the task manager and sysinternal then.

So by unparking cores I might see an improvement when gaming but I'm actually causing my CPU to run at 4.5ghz 24/7?

Beerbaron · 28 May 2014 at 12:21

Footyslayer said:
I'll post it up this evening after work...

Just had a thought though. About a month ago I was informed that to improve performance in BF4 I should unpark my CPU cores. Could the fact a my cores are unparked cause the CPU to be running full pelt?

I have read various different opinions, some say in parked cores would still only be used when needed and not 100% all of the time.

Unparking the cores shouldn't cause the CPU to constantly run at 100%

Footyslayer · 28 May 2014 at 19:23

Stuen4y said:
Can you show us the full Processes tab in task manager? It is absolutely normal to have all the idle time of your processor being taken by the System Idle Process, that's what it does, manages Idle processor time.

Regarding the CPU frequency, do you have C1E and Speedstep enabled?

Here are the processes, not them all but the ones actually using the CPU currently with it at 4.5 ghz. Also I don't know what C1E and speedstep are...

JonSmith said:
I'm not sure exactly what you mean. The CPU is certainly at zero utilisation, no doubt about that so I'm not sure what you mean by "running at 100%"

If by "running at 100%" you mean running at the highest clock, then I'm pretty sure unparking CPU cores will do that.

Another thing you can check is sysinternals process explorer, that provides a more detailed overview.

Here is sysinternals...

Beerbaron said:
Unparking the cores shouldn't cause the CPU to constantly run at 100%

That is already two different opinions on it in this thread

Andygully · 29 May 2014 at 06:49

undo the core unparking see if that helps?

Admetos · 29 May 2014 at 07:22

Is it the case your CPU load is at 100%, or is it just running at 4.5ghz but not under any load?

If it's the later and at 4.5ghz but not under load than either power saving is disabled in Windows, or power saving is disabled in the BIOS.

joeyjojo · 29 May 2014 at 08:13

JasonM said:
If it's the later and at 4.5ghz but not under load than either power saving is disabled in Windows, or power saving is disabled in the BIOS.

Sounds like this.

Stuen4y · 29 May 2014 at 08:31

Footyslayer said:
Also I don't know what C1E and speedstep are...

Those are the power saving features in the BIOS. Go and enable them and check if it still stays at 4.5GHz at idle. I do not see anything loading the cpu, so there are no hidden processes, viruses or something like that. It is just a matter of settings. I do not know what this "core unpacking" does but I would not be surprised if it asks for a restart and goes to bios disabling all energy saving functions.

Footyslayer · 29 May 2014 at 15:26

Having the cores parked or unparked made no difference, however I managed to track the issue down I think...

I use a couple of Samsung SSD's in my PC and I have them set to run on maximum performance in Samsung magicians OS optimisation. When changing to balanced in windows power options it seems to have solved it although my CPU does bounce up and down to varying speeds.

What damage is being done to my CPU if I was to leave my PC on optimum performance meaning the CPU is constantly at 4.5ghz?

McstylisT · 29 May 2014 at 15:54

You will be doing zero damage ! Lots of people who overclock disable esit and similar features. Your CPU was not running at 100% usage! the clock stayed to its higher frequency that was all from your screen shots.

Stuen4y · 29 May 2014 at 16:01

No damage, it just consumes more energy => dissipates more energy. As McstylisT mentioned, you do not have 100% use, you have 100% frequencies so the difference will be really small, at idle, 5-10W maybe and the system is a bit snappier too, on my opinion.

Footyslayer · 30 May 2014 at 00:01

Thanks for all the help everyone, we got there in the end. Obviously I meant the CPU is running at 4.5mhz and not 100% usage all along

As long as it is fine to constantly run at 4.5mhz I am happy