Very high power usage [Task manager]

[Harels]

Hello,
In the last few days I have been experiencing problems with my desktop. Some of the things that have been happening: Screen flickering and returning to normal after a few seconds, random restarts and computer freezes.
I tried to solve it in a few ways: Cleaned the computer from inside, updated windows 10 to a newer version, removed graphic card drivers and installed newest version(The computer still didn’t flicker in the last hour after last action but I can see on task manager that power usage spikes to “very high” every time I visit “heavy” website or changing focus to game client. So I’m sure it will happen again soon).
Also other stuff that are happening with it on task manager are high CPU usage and also at times high GPU usage.

I have Intel(R) Core™ i7-4790K CPU @ 4.00GHz 4.00 GHz, 16 GB RAM. Graphic card is GeForce GTX 760. Using Windows 10 Home edition.

Can I please get any help investigating what might be causing it?

Thank you!

[Harels]

I am adding the URL from Speccy

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/cop7tDTSosU0enFwhQxBIOH

[Harels]

MY PSU is Thermaltake sps-530AH3CCB

[veeg]

Hello

You have a lot of remote internet connections going on.. I would suggest that you shut down your remote access to the internet..
Also you should update Win 10..

[Harels]

Thank you for the reply.

It happened on a different network when I was the only one connected to it.
And I updated my windows 10 today and it still happened after.

Anything else I can do?

[veeg]

@Bruce @Bastet

[Bastet]

Have you ruled out any malware infection?
You can try running Malwarebytes & AdwCleaner, if anything is found but not removed then post in the malware removal forum.
How old is the hard drive?
I would run chkdsk on it to ensure that isn’t the problem.
Open powershell with admin & type: chkdsk C: /scan this will check the disc, if any problems are found then run: chkdsk C: /spotfix to run a quick repair.

[phillpower2]

MY PSU is Thermaltake sps-530AH3CCB

Not a good brand of PSU and this particular model was released way back in 2013 and was only covered by a three year warranty.

See if you are able to borrow a known good PSU from a proven brand such as Corsair, EVGA or Seasonic, anything 500W or above will do as long as it is a minimum of Bronze efficiency rated and has the required supplemental power dongle for the GTX 760 add on GPU.

[Harels]

I ran Malwarebytes and AdwCleaner. There were no items that couldn’t be deleted/quarantined.
Hard drive is about 6 years old.
I ran chkdsk on command prompt because it didn’t let me on powershell.
Response said "No further action is required.
@Bastet

[Harels]

Not a good brand of PSU and this particular model was released way back in 2013 and was only covered by a three year warranty.

See if you are able to borrow a known good PSU from a proven brand such as Corsair, EVGA or Seasonic, anything 500W or above will do as long as it is a minimum of Bronze efficiency rated and has the required supplemental power dongle for the GTX 760 add on GPU.

I can’t really borrow one.
Do you suggest swapping it anyway?

[phillpower2]

That`s a pity as testing before purchasing is always suggested first.

Honest answer is that the present PSU should have been swapped years ago, all of your hardware relies on a good quality PSU that provides clean and stable power and you will not get that from Thermaltake.

Suggest you get your PC tested by a tech who will have the appropriate PSU available, ask how much they will charge first though.

[Rustys]

found this information…

https://superuser.com/questions/1381230/task-manager-shows-high-power-usage-while-gaming

This is not an issue with the power supply. What you’re seeing in Task Manager is a feature introduced with Windows 10 version 1809 intended to help users determine which applications are likely to be using more power, based on the application’s CPU and GPU load over time.

On laptops, this information can be used to help determine which applications are draining the battery the most. It’s of less concern with desktop PCs, so unless your system is somehow shutting down or otherwise actually experiencing a problem under load, you can ignore this field on a desktop system.

[Harels]

My computer is pretty old(about 6 years old) but I think overall most parts are in decent shape(aside from PSU :giggle so maybe if it’s actually a PSU issue it’s definitely worth to swap it instead of buying a new computer altogether.
If there is nothing else I can try before doing that, then we can close the thread.
I hope new PSU will solve all the problems
I think after all the actions that were taken, the computer is doing better. I still see “very high” power usage but today only once the screen flicker has occurred.
Thank you all for your assistance!

[Harels]

found this information…

https://superuser.com/questions/1381230/task-manager-shows-high-power-usage-while-gaming

I saw this thread too.
Maybe it is right and high power usage is not a sign of a problem.
Maybe me experiencing the screen flickering led me to assume wrongfully that this very high power usage was the source of the problem.

[phillpower2]

random restarts and computer freezes.

Classic signs of something overheating and this includes a PSU that is overheating which is something that there is no monitoring software for, poor quality and especially older PSUs are prone to this.

Still your best course of action is;

Suggest you get your PC tested by a tech who will have the appropriate PSU available, ask how much they will charge first though.