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Double checking myself - CPU issue, right?

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Paeniteo

PCHF Member
Sep 30, 2019
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PC Components:
CPU - Ryzen 5 2600
MoBo - Gigabyte ab350 gaming
GPU - Nvidia 1660
RAM - 24 GB Corsair Vengence
Storage - OS & drivers are on Kingston SSD. Games and programs on Western Digital 7200 RPM HDD.

Lately, I have been having an issue where I will be playing a game (Hunt: Showdown) and talking to a friend on discord and my voice connection just goes to crap. I have tried the same exact set up of things on a different game and haven't had the same issues. I am wondering if it is because that game is more CPU intensive that my computer is running out of processing power. Here is the scenario I tested it under:

4 programs running: Discord - Steam - The game itself - hardware monitoring program
Ran three separate games under these conditions: Hunt: Showdown, Sea of Thieves, and CoD Modern Warfare.
Results: The only 2 components of my PC that ever hit 100% were my CPU and GPU and my GPU was far less often in all cases (which isn't unusual from what I understand).

On top of this, I have been experiencing a very noticeable slowdown in terms of general processing speeds (Internet, Program loading times, multi-tasking, etc...) so I ran some PC benchmark tests and found that my CPU is the only component underperforming based on other results from the benchmark (like the bottom 10% of all scores, low).

What I am looking for is either affirmation that my suspicion (I need to start looking at CPU's) is correct or that there is something else I need to be testing/looking at first.

I appreciate any help or input this forum has always been great to scroll through and so respectful of others.
 
first up, what about some general, or even intensive, maintenance.
CCleaner for starters, Windows 10 inbuilt Storage app - that sort of thing.
next, are all games being compared equally - that is, same graphic levels, resolution, frame rates etc.
 
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first up, what about some general, or even intensive, maintenance.
CCleaner for starters, Windows 10 inbuilt Storage app - that sort of thing.
next, are all games being compared equally - that is, same graphic levels, resolution, frame rates etc.
Thank you for the help @Bruce. I am familiar with CCleaner, not as much with the storage management app, but I just looked into it and believe I ran it/used it to clean up the unnecessary files the right way.

The way I tested it was under the normal conditions (medium graphics, 1080p, framerates capped at 144 but they usually sit between 90-110) that I ran the games before I started having issues. I only have issues with communicating on discord when I am playing Hunt: Showdown the games still run fine. I will retest stuff this afternoon and attach some pics of my results. I'll cap frames at 60 FPS since I know I'll get that consistently with no issue and I'll make sure I can recreate the issue after doing the disk clean-up. I'll get back with some better (Hopefully more in-depth) results for you guys.
 
So I ran some more tests trying to recreate the problem and then solve the issue and look at processing power. Here is what I found:

Hunt: Showdown on normal settings
Recreate issue with discord: yes
Total CPU load max: 94%
Max temp: 67.4°C
Single Core: 100% usage

Hunt: Showdown on lower settings (Low graphics, 60 FPS cap)
Recreate issue with discord: Minimal, but yes
Total CPU load max: 67.4
Max temp: 62.4°C
Single Core: 100% usage

Sea of Thieves on low settings (Also capped at 60 FPS)
Recreate issue with discord: No
Total CPU load max: 75%
Max temp: 60.3°C
Single Core: 100% usage

I used CCleaner and Microsoft Storage Management to clear space on my hard drives before running these tests. I had only the necessary programs running while testing. None of the games performed poorly while playing, but I did have one crash occurrence while playing SoT. Also in each of these instances, the game was played for about 15 minutes in order to conduct the test (This is about the time of one match).

I hope this data helps, but if not I understand. My gut reaction is that my CPU just isn't performing well enough to rub the games where I would expect it to be running, but I do have a habit of looking at hardware failure as an easy scapegoat for issues. I would love to hear that I am wrong, but just really appreciate any help offered. @Bruce @veeg
 
I'd also be trying to help the PC in the performance area as much as possible.
things like, moving the pagefile to your HDD, and your Temps folders, adjusting Power Management to high performance, turn off Restore Points and hibernation, and reinstalling your games onto the SSD, at least the game in question.
 
I'd also be trying to help the PC in the performance area as much as possible.
things like, moving the pagefile to your HDD, and your Temps folders, adjusting Power Management to high performance, turn off Restore Points and hibernation, and reinstalling your games onto the SSD, at least the game in question.

That makes sense. Some of this I just need to do research on on to understand it better because it's an area I am weak in. Again much appreciated. I'll start doing this stuff tomorrow.
 
there's a couple of programs to help you.
O&O's ShutUp10 and SSD Fresh by AbleSoft are a couple of free, good ones I've used for years.

in Control Panel (change View By to icons), system, Advanced system settings, Environment Variables button, change the TEMP and TMP variables for User and System to a HDD folder.

while on the Advanced tab, click the Settings button within Performance, Advanced, Change, untick Automatically manage page file. Select C: and tick No Paging file, click Set. Click D: (if that's the HDD), select Custom and set initial to 512 and max to 16384. click Set.
OK out of that, back to the Systems Properties window (ignore restarting for now).
in the System Properties window, go to the System Protection tab, cick C:\ drive, Configure and select Disable.

back in Control Panel, Power Options to change the power plan.

then it'll be uninstall the game from the HDD and reinstall on the SSD.
 
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