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Windows 10 CPU usage 100% when Nvidia GPU enabled

Anonymous
2018-02-24T23:44:17+00:00

After recent Windows 10 update, my Alienware laptop's CPU usage is always 100% right after boot.

Can't open games, or even close task manager.

But once disabled Nvidia 970m in device manager, CPU back to normal and games can be opened with Intel HD graphics.

Laptop in nearly new condition, didn't play games on it heavily, most of time using desktop. Found this problem last weekend.

My laptop's specs:

CPU: i7-4720HQ, RAM: 16G, GPU: nvidia 970m, Hard Drive: 256 SSD + 1TB HD

Tried following methods but all failed to solve CPU 100% when Nvidia GPU enabled.

  1. Reset, reinstall Windows 10

2. Update latest Nvidia drivers

  1. Update BIOS
  2. Stop superfetch and all startup services
  3. Modify maximum processor state from 100% to 99% in power options advanced settings
  4. Bring laptop to Microsoft store, passed all hardware tests in Windows.
  5. Contacted Alienware and passed all hardware tests in BIOS diagnostic

I don't know what else can I do, seems there is no problem on either software and hardware.

Any one had this issue? Please give me some advice.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-03-01T07:44:19+00:00

    We appreciate you getting back to us. We apologized for the delayed response. Since the issue still persists. We would suggest that you run DISM and System File Checker in Windows 10. It is a utility available in Windows 10 that checks for system file corruption. To do this, here's the link.

    If that didn't work, turn off ClearPageFileAtShutDown from the registry.

    Note:  The method to fix the issue will have Registry modification. Before you modify the Registry, make sure to back it up and understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. Kindly refer to this link on How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

    1. Press Win + R to open Run dialog and type: Regedit
    2. Hit Enter
    3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
    4. Look for: ClearPageFileAtShutDown and set its value to 1
    5. Restart computer and then CPU high usage issue should go away.

    We would appreciate an update about how it went.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-05-11T02:15:55+00:00

    The system interrupt 100% happened to me if one of my risers gone bad. 

    Check your riser, USB3.0 cable and both sock boards first.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-02-25T21:16:27+00:00

    Hi Marilou,

    Thank you for your reply.

    I tried both clean boot and completely reinstall the newest Nvidia driver, but the problem still exists.

    I'll attach some pictures FYI.

    Right after clean boot with all startup services disabled, the task manager sometimes shows high CPU usages because of system interrupts sometimes doesn't.

    After disabled Nvidia 970m in device manager, CPU back to normal with Intel HD Graphic:

    And then if I enabled the Nvidia 970m back, the CPU works as normal:

    But it still takes forever to open and load games like Dota2 in steam, and no performance showed in Nvidia GPU:

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-02-25T09:12:36+00:00

    Hi Haoyul,

    An outdated or incompatible driver can be one of the factors as to why you're experiencing this issue. To assist you with your concern, we recommend performing a clean boot. This will help eliminate software conflicts that may have occurred when you updated Windows. SeeHow to perform a clean boot in Windows for the steps. 

    Furthermore, we would also suggest you to completely uninstall the NVIDIA driver then install it again.

    Let us know how that turned out for you.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-03-06T07:46:24+00:00

    Hi Marilou,

    Thank you for you suggestions.

    I tried both methods but didn't solve the issue.

    The DISM and System File Checker didn't find any problem after scanning.

    Change ClearPageFileAtShutDown from 0 to 1 and restart:

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