I recently replaced my dying SSD and reinstalled Windows. Now, every game I try—even some older titles—shows 100% CPU usage, even on the lowest settings. Interestingly, when I open Task Manager, the CPU usage drops back to normal, but as soon as I close it, the issue returns. I can't seem to find anyone else experiencing this problem, so I'm hoping someone here might have some insights!
2 Answers
It sounds like your PC could have a malware infection that masks itself when Task Manager is active. You should consider running a full malware scan to rule that out. It's not likely that the SSD change itself caused this, but it’s worth checking just to be safe.
Are you monitoring other software that might be affecting CPU performance? When Task Manager is off, is it just showing 100% usage, or is the CPU fan working harder too? Sometimes, background processes can cause issues that aren't always visible at first.
Well, as soon as I open Task Manager, it goes back to around 3%, but my monitoring software shows 100% even on game menus where nothing is happening. I don't see any weird programs installed, but the old games aren't running well anymore.
Infected? Like some sort of horror movie situation? Ah, the suspense!