I'm dealing with a strange problem on my i9-9900K paired with an MSI Z390 motherboard. Recently, the CPU has been stuck at 100% frequency continuously, even during idle times. I've attempted several fixes including disabling Game Boost, Enhanced Turbo, and Intel Turbo Boost, as well as toggling SpeedStep and C-States. I've reset the BIOS to its defaults and checked for any odd background processes. I also have my Windows power plan set to Balanced and performed a CMOS reset, but nothing seems to work. The CPU does drop to around 3.7 GHz when turbo is turned off, yet monitoring tools still show it at 100% usage all the time. Has anyone experienced this or know what might be causing it? I'd really appreciate any insights!
3 Answers
It sounds like you're on Windows. Try checking the Task Manager's "Processes" tab to see what's consuming your CPU resources. Sort the CPU column to identify any processes that might be hogging the usage.
Have you installed any MSI software like Dragon Center? I had a similar issue where that program would lock my CPU at 100% usage and frequency on one of my MSI laptops. It might be worth checking if that's the case for you too!
I noticed your situation might resemble some malware issues. When you check the Resource Monitor, see what it shows for CPU usage; sometimes, malware can hide from Task Manager and still consume resources. It's worth a look!
Also, if Task Manager shows only 1% usage, it could be worth running some anti-malware scans just to be sure.
Good point! I've seen situations where Task Manager only shows minimal usage, but Resource Monitor reveals more hidden processes.