CPU spike problem?

Rolldawg

New Member
High guys, i seem to be having this problem for quite a while now. My laptop's cpu usage spike up to atleast 50% whenever i played older games. older being farm frenzy 1 (the first edition lol), paintball, dota, and counter strike. ive tried doing anything i know and fixes found from the internet, this includes decreasing graphics settings, audio capability? (not sure), resolution, run the game on compatibility mode and have made the computer run on high performance instead of quality. I desperately need your help guys, im in a pinch. Hopefully my system specs will be posted below?

oo yeah, i also know that my laptop isnt built for gaming but with those games im trying to play, i should get decent FPSs as well as lower cpu usage right? :) and also, i still have a lot of space in my hard drive. thats all.

PS
im new to this forum. :D =]

***edited***
my system specs didnt show up, so anywayz, here it is.

Acer Aspire 5720Z
Vista Home Premium 32 bit
Intel Pentium Dual Core @ 1.73 GHZ, 533 MHZ FSB, 1MB l2 Cache
Intel GMA X3100
Mobile Intel R 965 Express Chipset Family
2GB DDR2 Ram
160GB Hard Drive
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5720Z
    CPU
    Intel Pentium dual core processor T2370 1.73 GHZ ~
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel GMA x3100
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1200 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160GB HD
a free bump. i really want to get this sorted. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5720Z
    CPU
    Intel Pentium dual core processor T2370 1.73 GHZ ~
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel GMA x3100
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1200 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160GB HD
i'm not sure...
are you saying the cpu performance goes up and the fps goes down?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer 5735z Laptop
    CPU
    2.0 ghz intel pentium dual-core processor t4200 800mhz fsb
    Motherboard
    Acer CathedralPeak Rev
    Memory
    4gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" HD CineCrystal LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    160gb stock drive. ATA
    Case
    Stock Notebook
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    PS/2
    Internet Speed
    No idea
A slow CPU and dismal on-board graphics - I don`t think you should expect much with this rig. You should also understand that your graphics "steals" up to 384 MB of your only 2GB of RAM.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs 1x60GB OCZ SSD 6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
if your CPU spikes it means that your CPU is doing the work. Because you have integrated graphics, instead of a GPU (with an inbuilt graphics card) doing most of the rendering of graphics, you CPU is doing the rendering. Your PC shouldnt have too much of a problem. that is the same specs of my girlfriend's laptop and she playss CS, Dota and other games fine. I think what you need to do is close any background processes that are running when you play your games and you should see an increase in performance while within your game.
Remember gaming is one of the most taxing things for a computer that the general consumer does, so expect some lacklustre performance on a pc like that - try upgrading your DRAM, it should help boost your performance by 20%
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    Q9550 overclocked to 3.93Ghz
    Motherboard
    XFX 790i Ultra SLI
    Memory
    (8Gb) - 2x2GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator Ram 1600Mhz + 2x2GB DDR3 OCZ 1600Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus GTX 280 + Gigabyte GTX 280 (SLI)
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster Fatality1 TY ultra Titanium
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3x24" BenQ, 22"Viewsonic
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1920x1080, 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    2x 750Gb Samsung Spinpoint Raid 1 array 3x 1TB Western Digital
    PSU
    Antec 1000W
    Case
    Gigabyte low end full-tower
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster V10 for CPU 7 120mm fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9, G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech Dinovo edge, dinovo mini
    Internet Speed
    24mb/s D/L 15mb/s upload - Telstra
    Other Info
    7 Fans - 3 fans integrated 4x case cut to fit and integrated into the case.
Yeah, game playing does indeed push the limits on your computer.

That was one way we tested the computers at university. The Dean got upset, until we pointed out it was one way to see what the hardware could handle. We just made sure as to not have games on every machine... and to not leave the games on there once we placed it in what ever building it needed to go to.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire X1700
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Memory
    3 gigs
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 1 gig GeForce 210
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Vizio 21" tv
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 resolution
    Hard Drives
    1 terabyte sata in 1 partition
    Cooling
    fans that came with it
    Mouse
    basic USB
    Keyboard
    basic USB
    Internet Speed
    3 megabits on a cable modem, wired
i'm not sure...
are you saying the cpu performance goes up and the fps goes down?

yep. my computer should be able to play those games smoothly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5720Z
    CPU
    Intel Pentium dual core processor T2370 1.73 GHZ ~
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel GMA x3100
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1200 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160GB HD
Hello Rolldawg,
What games are you trying to play ?.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    QX9650 (black box) [email protected]
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Premium
    Memory
    8GB-4x2GB Corsair Dominator DDR 2-1066
    Graphics card(s)
    2 x ASUS EAH 4870 X 2 (Quad)
    Sound Card
    Supreme FX 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Fujitsu Siemens 22inch flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    150 Gig WD Raptor 300 Gig Maxtor 300 Gig Maxtor, (External)
    PSU
    CoolerMaster 1000
    Case
    CoolerMaster N-Vidia stacker 830
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12P x 1x120mm fan, 6x120mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Internet Speed
    20Mbps
    Other Info
    Audio FX Pro 5+1 gaming head set
Hello Rolldawg,
What games are you trying to play ?.

High guys, i seem to be having this problem for quite a while now. My laptop's cpu usage spike up to atleast 50% whenever i played older games. older being farm frenzy 1 (the first edition lol), paintball, dota, and counter strike. ive tried doing anything i know and fixes found from the internet, this includes decreasing graphics settings, audio capability? (not sure), resolution, run the game on compatibility mode and have made the computer run on high performance instead of quality. I desperately need your help guys, im in a pinch. Hopefully my system specs will be posted below?

oo yeah, i also know that my laptop isnt built for gaming but with those games im trying to play, i should get decent FPSs as well as lower cpu usage right? :) and also, i still have a lot of space in my hard drive. thats all.

PS
im new to this forum. :D =]

***edited***
my system specs didnt show up, so anywayz, here it is.

Acer Aspire 5720Z
Vista Home Premium 32 bit
Intel Pentium Dual Core @ 1.73 GHZ, 533 MHZ FSB, 1MB l2 Cache
Intel GMA X3100
Mobile Intel R 965 Express Chipset Family
2GB DDR2 Ram
160GB Hard Drive

there you go ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer 5735z Laptop
    CPU
    2.0 ghz intel pentium dual-core processor t4200 800mhz fsb
    Motherboard
    Acer CathedralPeak Rev
    Memory
    4gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" HD CineCrystal LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    160gb stock drive. ATA
    Case
    Stock Notebook
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    PS/2
    Internet Speed
    No idea
Hello Rolldawg,
What games are you trying to play ?.

High guys, i seem to be having this problem for quite a while now. My laptop's cpu usage spike up to atleast 50% whenever i played older games. older being farm frenzy 1 (the first edition lol), paintball, dota, and counter strike. ive tried doing anything i know and fixes found from the internet, this includes decreasing graphics settings, audio capability? (not sure), resolution, run the game on compatibility mode and have made the computer run on high performance instead of quality. I desperately need your help guys, im in a pinch. Hopefully my system specs will be posted below?

oo yeah, i also know that my laptop isnt built for gaming but with those games im trying to play, i should get decent FPSs as well as lower cpu usage right? :) and also, i still have a lot of space in my hard drive. thats all.

PS
im new to this forum. :D =]

***edited***
my system specs didnt show up, so anywayz, here it is.

Acer Aspire 5720Z
Vista Home Premium 32 bit
Intel Pentium Dual Core @ 1.73 GHZ, 533 MHZ FSB, 1MB l2 Cache
Intel GMA X3100
Mobile Intel R 965 Express Chipset Family
2GB DDR2 Ram
160GB Hard Drive

there you go ;)

In addition, Warrior kings battle, sims, chaos legion, caesar and sims. lol. =]
theyre old games but i love them. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5720Z
    CPU
    Intel Pentium dual core processor T2370 1.73 GHZ ~
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel GMA x3100
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1200 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160GB HD
the old games arent a problem with your system. When your CPU spikes it shows that it is working harder than it normally would for e.g word processing. 3D gaming especially taxes your system, so you should expect a "spike" in the CPU usage when you check out the task manager.

But you CPU spike seems to indicate to me that you are running too many programs or "processes" from programs that you dont know you are running in the background.

What I recommend installing is Startup inspector. This program lets you choose which processes you want to load up at startup, this is often the reason why pc's slow down - because they have so many background processes running that it taxes your RAM and on your CPU. (if you choose to limit non-essential applications at startup you can find a performance boost in gaming) most people dont choose to open applications from the startup tray anyway so limiting some of these at startup should increase login times and increase overall system performance. This is because you are using your CPU to render graphics and use the RAM as the graphics memory - causing more strain on your CPU and taxing your RAM.

Program is here, typical things you can disable are updaters ie Mozilla; Google chrome, safari, plugins for internet browsers, apple updater (itunes), apple help and support, quicktime (because who uses that?), printer software and other non-essential services and programs that you can manually start yourself.
It is perfectly safe and can free up the extra RAM bottleneck that many accumulate with more applications.
This software is free, check it out.

Startup Inspector for Windows - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    Q9550 overclocked to 3.93Ghz
    Motherboard
    XFX 790i Ultra SLI
    Memory
    (8Gb) - 2x2GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator Ram 1600Mhz + 2x2GB DDR3 OCZ 1600Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus GTX 280 + Gigabyte GTX 280 (SLI)
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster Fatality1 TY ultra Titanium
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3x24" BenQ, 22"Viewsonic
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1920x1080, 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    2x 750Gb Samsung Spinpoint Raid 1 array 3x 1TB Western Digital
    PSU
    Antec 1000W
    Case
    Gigabyte low end full-tower
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster V10 for CPU 7 120mm fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9, G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech Dinovo edge, dinovo mini
    Internet Speed
    24mb/s D/L 15mb/s upload - Telstra
    Other Info
    7 Fans - 3 fans integrated 4x case cut to fit and integrated into the case.
the old games arent a problem with your system. When your CPU spikes it shows that it is working harder than it normally would for e.g word processing. 3D gaming especially taxes your system, so you should expect a "spike" in the CPU usage when you check out the task manager.

But you CPU spike seems to indicate to me that you are running too many programs or "processes" from programs that you dont know you are running in the background.

What I recommend installing is Startup inspector. This program lets you choose which processes you want to load up at startup, this is often the reason why pc's slow down - because they have so many background processes running that it taxes your RAM and on your CPU. (if you choose to limit non-essential applications at startup you can find a performance boost in gaming) most people dont choose to open applications from the startup tray anyway so limiting some of these at startup should increase login times and increase overall system performance. This is because you are using your CPU to render graphics and use the RAM as the graphics memory - causing more strain on your CPU and taxing your RAM.

Program is here, typical things you can disable are updaters ie Mozilla; Google chrome, safari, plugins for internet browsers, apple updater (itunes), apple help and support, quicktime (because who uses that?), printer software and other non-essential services and programs that you can manually start yourself.
It is perfectly safe and can free up the extra RAM bottleneck that many accumulate with more applications.
This software is free, check it out.

Startup Inspector for Windows - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Tried it and still didnt work. =/. i turned off lots of stuff. does it help if my computer shuts down after 1 hour of playing, and my laptop is unusually hot. =/
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5720Z
    CPU
    Intel Pentium dual core processor T2370 1.73 GHZ ~
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel GMA x3100
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1200 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160GB HD
So that sounds like you have a heat problem. Download Core Temp ( Core Temp ), minimize it to your task tray and observe the temp. If it goes above 70C, then you need a coolpad (costs about $20).
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs 1x60GB OCZ SSD 6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
you also might want to clean out the cooling unit in your pc, get an air compressant (can that just squirts air) this can clean out some dust in your laptop and help it out a bit. - cost you less than $5
It would've been helpful if you told us that your computer overheated earlier
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    Q9550 overclocked to 3.93Ghz
    Motherboard
    XFX 790i Ultra SLI
    Memory
    (8Gb) - 2x2GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator Ram 1600Mhz + 2x2GB DDR3 OCZ 1600Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus GTX 280 + Gigabyte GTX 280 (SLI)
    Sound Card
    Creative Soundblaster Fatality1 TY ultra Titanium
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3x24" BenQ, 22"Viewsonic
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1920x1080, 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    2x 750Gb Samsung Spinpoint Raid 1 array 3x 1TB Western Digital
    PSU
    Antec 1000W
    Case
    Gigabyte low end full-tower
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster V10 for CPU 7 120mm fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9, G7
    Keyboard
    Logitech Dinovo edge, dinovo mini
    Internet Speed
    24mb/s D/L 15mb/s upload - Telstra
    Other Info
    7 Fans - 3 fans integrated 4x case cut to fit and integrated into the case.
Sorry guys, i didnt think it was relevant to my problem. but does how does my laptop's fan affect my cpu?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5720Z
    CPU
    Intel Pentium dual core processor T2370 1.73 GHZ ~
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel GMA x3100
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1200 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160GB HD
Sorry guys, i didnt think it was relevant to my problem. but does how does my laptop's fan affect my cpu?

it will blast cool air onto the cpu and will blow the heated air out of the back. it is a way of keeping the cpu cool ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer 5735z Laptop
    CPU
    2.0 ghz intel pentium dual-core processor t4200 800mhz fsb
    Motherboard
    Acer CathedralPeak Rev
    Memory
    4gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" HD CineCrystal LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    160gb stock drive. ATA
    Case
    Stock Notebook
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    PS/2
    Internet Speed
    No idea
Sorry guys, i didnt think it was relevant to my problem. but does how does my laptop's fan affect my cpu?

it will blast cool air onto the cpu and will blow the heated air out of the back. it is a way of keeping the cpu cool ;)

what i meant was how it would affect my laptops performance? whenever i turn on my laptop from a long sleep (after i sleep), playing a game directly would still give me high CPU usage even though it isnt hot yet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5720Z
    CPU
    Intel Pentium dual core processor T2370 1.73 GHZ ~
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel GMA x3100
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1200 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160GB HD
Sorry guys, i didnt think it was relevant to my problem. but does how does my laptop's fan affect my cpu?

it will blast cool air onto the cpu and will blow the heated air out of the back. it is a way of keeping the cpu cool ;)

what i meant was how it would affect my laptops performance? whenever i turn on my laptop from a long sleep (after i sleep), playing a game directly would still give me high CPU usage even though it isnt hot yet.

i just think that it needs to work harder as it is not one of the fastest cpu's. i have an old aspire 1260, with 40gb hdd, 192 mb of ram and a 1.66ghz cpu (amd sempron). it was constantly working hard and even just browsing around the internet it was topping 80 percent cpu usage, and the fans blowing their bearings off.
but, as the others said, it is more likely to be a heat problem, but i don't know why the cpu should be working harder when it is overheating :confused:
just my two cents, Dom.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer 5735z Laptop
    CPU
    2.0 ghz intel pentium dual-core processor t4200 800mhz fsb
    Motherboard
    Acer CathedralPeak Rev
    Memory
    4gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" HD CineCrystal LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    160gb stock drive. ATA
    Case
    Stock Notebook
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    PS/2
    Internet Speed
    No idea
Has it always done this, or has it just started ?.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Build
    CPU
    QX9650 (black box) [email protected]
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Premium
    Memory
    8GB-4x2GB Corsair Dominator DDR 2-1066
    Graphics card(s)
    2 x ASUS EAH 4870 X 2 (Quad)
    Sound Card
    Supreme FX 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Fujitsu Siemens 22inch flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    150 Gig WD Raptor 300 Gig Maxtor 300 Gig Maxtor, (External)
    PSU
    CoolerMaster 1000
    Case
    CoolerMaster N-Vidia stacker 830
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12P x 1x120mm fan, 6x120mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Internet Speed
    20Mbps
    Other Info
    Audio FX Pro 5+1 gaming head set

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I5 3570K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
    Memory
    4 x 4GB corsair ballistix sport DDR3 1600 Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX 660 TI
    Sound Card
    creative x-fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary CiBox 22" Widescreen LCD ,Secondary Dell 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    Both 1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500G HD (SATA) 1 x 2TB USB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
    Case
    Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
    Cooling
    3 x 80mm tri led front, 120mm side 120mm back, 200mm top
    Mouse
    Technika TKOPTM2
    Keyboard
    Logik
    Internet Speed
    288 / 4000
    Other Info
    Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers Trust Graphics Tablet
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