My Ryzen 5 5500 has recently started running at nearly 100% usage while my RX 6600 XT sits around 50% or lower. I noticed the problem in Final Fantasy XIV, especially in crowded cities where my frame rate dropped, but it also happens in other games, including lighter ones. Previously, CPU usage usually stayed below 75%, and higher CPU usage was normally accompanied by high GPU usage. Temperatures look normal, generally staying around 60–70°C. My system has a Ryzen 5 5500, 32 GB of RAM, and a Radeon RX 6600 XT with 8 GB of VRAM. The issue began within the last week, and I'm considering reinstalling the graphics drivers or Windows if necessary. What troubleshooting steps should I try first?
3 Answers
The Ryzen 5 5500 can become a limiting factor in busy MMO areas, but that alone would not explain a sudden increase that affects nearly every game. Since the GPU is barely being used and the behavior is new, investigate background applications before replacing hardware or reinstalling Windows.
First, open Task Manager and sort processes by CPU usage while the problem is happening. Your processor and graphics card are normally a reasonable pairing, so a sudden change across several games is more suspicious than a simple hardware bottleneck. Check whether something running in the background is consuming the processor, and also look at temperatures and clock speeds.
I checked and found that a process called Almarurics Service was using the CPU. It appears to be crypto-mining malware rather than the game. Removing the process brought usage back down, so I’m going to clean the system thoroughly and keep monitoring it.
Check Task Manager outside of the game as well. If the desktop is already showing unusually high CPU usage, the game is probably only exposing an existing background-process problem. Run a full security scan, review recently installed programs and startup items, and avoid simply deleting a suspicious process without checking for persistence.
That was my thinking too. The system never behaved this way before, and the CPU load was much higher than usual even in games that normally run easily.