100% cpu usage...without any major application being used

[19mafios94]

hi all
i am currently using a compaq presario CQ40 with a core 2 duo T6600 processor. its been doin decently well till now but recently the cpu has started shooting up to 100%utilization, specially when playing games.
i first noticed this when playing operation flashpoint: dragon rising. i've tried removing all unwanted programs and cleaned up and defragmented my disc drives but nothing seems to help. what do i do??

 

[GhOsT1321]

Check task manager when you are not running any programs. What is your usage? Look at "Processes" are any processes using an unusual amount of CPU or RAM (Memory)?

The problem could also be that your processor is old. Your processor is 3 years old, so a performance impact should be noticed in comparison to how fast it used to seem.

 

[19mafios94]

thats the surprising part...no process seems to be using much cpu under normal circumstances.
and the processor being old would have made sense, except that it was running even assassins creed(albeit on low graphics settings) perfectly upto a week ago. then, BAM!! it doesnt even run nfs most wanted properly now
n the cpu does this only when i start playing a game

 

[-RockMan-]

When you get chance put your game in windows mode and start up task manager.
Next, I need you to look at task manager and hit show all processes from users.
Slowly look at that list while having your game loaded and find out which one is spiking up to 100%.

What OS are you using and did you or the OS install any new updates ?

 

[19mafios94]

i'm using windows 7 home basic...n i havnt installed any updates for quite some time now..

 

[-RockMan-]

i'm using windows 7 home basic...n i havnt installed any updates for quite some time now..

How to Fix svchost.exe using 100% CPU / Memory Leak | Technibble
Wierd CPU usage spikes - Windows 7 Forums
Give this read for now, I suggest you start updating windows 7 as it will patch up somethings your computer maybe very vulnerable to.

Also you might want to update the graphics card driver, you never when you might have a unstable one, and it could be the main source of the problem you got.

 

[19mafios94]

ok, something very wierd happened.
i updated windows 7, no issues there, but when i upgraded my graphics card driver(to ver 285.62) from the nvidia site, two things happened.
1->the cpu usage spiked to 98%
2->the screen seems to hav gone a bit grey...
wierd...

 

[GhOsT1321]

The color may change a bit as the driver tells the video card how to display visuals. If your CPU usage problems happened suddenly and it's not gaming related, I would guess that your CPU may be overheating when under load and throttling down.

I would try replacing the thermal paste on your CPU, and making sure that the heatsink is making proper contact with the CPU.
Check out The animated guide to Building a PC. Learn to build a PC from scratch with PCitYourself! for a detailed guide on how to do this. The "Building" tab shows you how a computer goes together, as well as, how to install a heatsink.
Carey Holzman shows how to install thermal paste in a more detailed way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eC3...xt=C3c8158fUDOEgsToPDskKW6_TKlzpkJ2BMyXxBiVOI