CPU spikes on a core i7

[tombo12345]

Hello all,

This place is usually my last resort after searching long and hard to find fixes for a problem. You guys are always so helpful.

So I have an Asus laptop, with a first generation core i7 in it. I had a few hardware issues with it during it's warranty, and never really thought it was worth it to send it in (The touchpad is too sensitive, and I have to open a program called "throttlestop" for turbo boosting to work).

Well now, about a month after it's 1 year warranty expired (Murphy's law), I started getting CPU spikes. This is VERY annoying. They are random, no rhyme or reason to it. I will be playing a game, and all of a sudden everything starts skipping, the sound starts glitching, and then everything back to normal for about 15 seconds, and it does it again.

Before anybody suggests it, I have EVERYTHING in msconfig disabled other than microsoft services.

I have a couple theories about what's causing it. For example, I have noticed that at the same time I started to have CPU issues, I also started to have Wi-Fi issues. In my hours of google searching I came upon this link

http://www.techspot.com/community/topics/system-cpu-spikes-from-20-to-50-every-second.168036/

In it, he describes a similar problem, and he says that it was his ethernet card. After looking in my device manager, I have the EXACT same model ethernet card he does. So I tried disabling it. Still didn't fix it. I tried uninstalling it, and it still didn't fix it. But I still believe that the CPU issue is connected somehow to the networking issue, because they both **** out at the same time.

Another thing, reseting ALWAYS fixes it, at least temporarily. If the CPU keeps acting up, or I need internet, I can always reset the computer. Sometimes it will go hours after a reset without a CPU spike, other times it will last 5 minutes before everything starts going haywire again. I can't find any rhyme or reason.

Does anybody have any idea what could be causing this? Or extra steps I can to permanently remove the ethernet card? (I don't need it. I've probably used it once.) Any ideas are apreciated.

 

[Janus67]

In order to try to rule out the operating system possibly having an issue, can you try downloading and burning a LiveCD of Ubuntu and see if the issue appears? About how long does it take for the issue to show up?

Also, have you checked your CPU temperatures using an application like RealTemp or CoreTemp? Maybe using throttlestop is preventing the CPU from idling and it is overheating? Thus throttling the CPU which would cause spikes?

 

[tombo12345]

In order to try to rule out the operating system possibly having an issue, can you try downloading and burning a LiveCD of Ubuntu and see if the issue appears? About how long does it take for the issue to show up?

Also, have you checked your CPU temperatures using an application like RealTemp or CoreTemp? Maybe using throttlestop is preventing the CPU from idling and it is overheating? Thus throttling the CPU which would cause spikes?

I tried booting into ubuntu twice, and kept running into problems. Problems very similar to my CPU spike problem, but I can't really be sure without the proper analytical tools.

My wi-fi crapped out, and a few windows kept freezing, and I wasn't able to quit them. Leading me to believe that something weird was going on. Needless to say I didn't get very far with ubuntu, but I'll try again tomorrow.

Also, as far as the CPU overheating, I had considered that, but it's not something that I can recreate. Sometimes I turn the computer on, and throttlestop isn't even running, (therefore turbo boost is not working as well), and it will still give me problems, and wi-fi craps out.

If it was as simple as the CPU overheating, I would be able to run a CPU intensive program, and it would happen consistently, but this is not the case. I ran the temps up to 80 degrees celsius, with no degredation in performance, but I will keep a closer eye on temps the next time the CPU spikes happen. I could be wrong.

 

[Janus67]

Could try running memtest86 and a hard drive diagnostic test as well, maybe either the memory has issues eventually or maybe the hard drive is crapping out.

 

[Los Frijoles]

One thing with laptops is that they generally do get heated up and although they try to match the board to the part, if the board gets too hot it may unseat itself just a little bit from the parts due to expansion. It could be that some of your parts have just worn out from the heat expansion and contraction.

 

[tombo12345]

Could try running memtest86 and a hard drive diagnostic test as well, maybe either the memory has issues eventually or maybe the hard drive is crapping out.

I don't think it's the RAM or HDD, because when the CPU spikes, I'll be in a project in ableton live, and the CPU meter shoots up to 500% or higher sometimes, for about 2 seconds.

If the HDD was acting up, I would run into an entirely different set of problems.

I will do the memtest just in case though.

One thing with laptops is that they generally do get heated up and although they try to match the board to the part, if the board gets too hot it may unseat itself just a little bit from the parts due to expansion. It could be that some of your parts have just worn out from the heat expansion and contraction.

Man I hope you're wrong. Maybe I should invest in a laptop cooler?