My Ryzen 5 5500 has recently started running at nearly 100% usage while my Radeon RX 6600 XT sits around 50%. I noticed it first in Final Fantasy XIV, where my frame rate became unusually low in crowded areas, but the same CPU-heavy behavior is now happening in other games, including lighter ones. This only started within the past week. Temperatures seem normal, generally staying below 60–70°C. My system has 32 GB of RAM, and the graphics drivers are version 26.8.1. I was considering reinstalling the drivers or Windows, but I'd like to know what other troubleshooting steps I should try first.
3 Answers
A Ryzen 5 5500 paired with an RX 6600 XT should generally be a reasonable combination, and a sudden change across multiple games doesn't sound like a normal hardware bottleneck. Since this began recently, check for unwanted background software, recent installations, scheduled tasks, and malware before reinstalling Windows. Run a full security scan and remove anything suspicious.
Open Task Manager and sort the Processes tab by CPU usage. The important thing is finding out whether the game is actually using all the CPU or whether another process is consuming it in the background. Also check CPU temperatures and clock speeds while the problem is happening.
The temperatures looked fine, but checking the individual processes revealed that the game wasn't the main cause. A suspicious crypto-mining service called Almarurics Service was using the CPU.
If the problem only affected one MMO, crowded areas could potentially expose a CPU limitation, but seeing it in nearly every game points elsewhere. Compare CPU usage with the game closed, check startup applications, and watch for a process that immediately returns after being stopped.
That turned out to be the issue. Removing the mining process brought CPU usage and game performance back to normal, though I still need to clean the system thoroughly and monitor it.