GPU maxed out. Even with new higher end ones

Let's get some more information:

Download and run the free version of speccy.

Once you have ran speccy, follow the instructions to upload a snapshot found here.

Please list your power supply unit (manufacturer and model)

Try pulling your GPU and running off the onboard graphics. Do you still get the grey screen?

Where exactly are you looking that says the GPU/CPU are at max?
Are you suffering any performance hits from this? Could you tell if you weren't looking at the monitor?

After looking through the speccy I'm just going to add this, please complete it re-test and generate a new speccy report.


This is my laundry list, it's a good starting point for troubleshooting and hits on a few common problems we see frequently:


1. Try running the following programs, also try to keep at least 25-30% of your disks as free space.

Run Disk Cleanup (check all the boxes) this will delete things such as your recycling bin, so make sure you don't have any files you want to keep.

Run Defragment and Optimize Drives, run this on your drives.



These will free up some space, but you may need to relocate/delete files to reach the suggested free space.



2. Disable any overclocking or changes to power/performance settings

Undo any overclocking you may have done (if any)

Settings > System > Power and sleep > Additional power settings
Make sure your power plan is set to balanced, high performance/ultimate performance is only beneficial on gaming laptops where it needs that extra boost.


3. Check for Operating System Corruption

Right click on the Windows logo in the bottom left and select Windows Powershell (Admin)
Run these three commands separately:

sfc /scannow

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

These will take a while to run, do not close out of Powershell while they are running, if one fails then move onto the next and then loop back around.

Note: It doesn't hurt to make a system backup before you make all these changes, save any important files of folders. While these changes shouldn't cause any issues, better to be safe than sorry.


4. Unplug unnecessary devices.

If you have a gamepad, extra monitor, external hard drive/flash drive, or anything that is not essential to using the computer plugged in, unplug it.


Once you have completed all of these tasks, restart it (using the restart option in the power menu) and re-test.

Do you see any correlation between the low framerates and a change in the utilization?

High utilization is not unusual in games, what game(s) is it?

Bad frames are to be expected from onboard graphics, do you see a similar issue?

Is the same issue exhibited when the GPU isn't installed?

At this point I'm concerned the PSU may be damaged- do you have one you could borrow from a friend or family member?