CPU Usage

[fLum0x]

I have an AMD 64 3600 chip in a gigabyte k8ns pro. The computer runs flawlessly for an extended period of time (anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours). Although, at one point, a ticking sound comes from the machine and my CPU usage skyrockets. I have closed every process possible after this and i am still at 90+ % usage. I cannot get it to go down without rebooting. This also happens when i am gaming. The FPS then goes from 60+ to roughly 10. Basically the CPU is running something that is taking all of its processes but I cannot find it. When i go to performance it is really high but when i look at the specific processes...the only one taking more than a few % is idle. Which obviously isnt the problem. I have also looked in the system log and it is not reporting anything. Thanks for the help in advance.

~Adam

 

[themusgrat]

I've never heard of the 3600, must not pay enough attention. Please explain the ticking sound more and try to see if it is coming from the hard drive.

 

[fLum0x]

Well, the tick is random so i can't just sit at my machine and wait patiently for it to tick ;p

I ment to type 3400 btw. Anyways, I have thought about removing all of the cdrom drives and such because that would be the only other thing making this type of noise. The last option would have to be the hard drive in this situation.

also, if someone knows of a link to a WD hard drive tester or something, i would appreciate it.

 

[themusgrat]

I would suspect the HD, is it by chance a WD Raptor? Here are some things to try.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1759901&enterthread=y

 

[IVB]

Ditto on the HD.

This exact thing happened to me on my regular Seagate Barracuda before the dreaded clicking started, Within 2 days it died and I was sad.

Then I replaced the HD, and I was happy again.

 

[mechBgon]

Some thoughts:

1) viruses etc. Want to check? Try this: http://www.omnicast.net/~tmcfadden/scan.txt <--follow precisely

2) auto-defrag by Windows XP, it does it by itself.

3) scheduled antivirus scan, except you'd probably notice the coincidence. Mine runs at 8PM exactly and can bog my gaming rig down, it being single-core

 

[BadThad]

Could be a hardware issue, but if you'd post a hijackthis log it'd be easier to narrow down.