F5F Stay Refreshed Software PC Gaming Low CPU usage means games play smoothly with high frame rates

Low CPU usage means games play smoothly with high frame rates

Low CPU usage means games play smoothly with high frame rates

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207
03-09-2026, 07:24 PM
#1
A few months ago i posted about this on Far Cry 5 when my fps would randomly drop to 5-10. I never really found a fix, so i just played through the game with it. Now i'm playing CoD:WWII and RainbowSix again, and the same thing is happening here. Everything feels normal except for my cpu. When the game runs smoothly, it uses 100% usage. But then it drops to 50%, and that's where the big fps drops start. Any ideas what could cause the cpu to act like that? Is it even the cpu's fault?
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Darling_Doctor
03-09-2026, 07:24 PM #1

A few months ago i posted about this on Far Cry 5 when my fps would randomly drop to 5-10. I never really found a fix, so i just played through the game with it. Now i'm playing CoD:WWII and RainbowSix again, and the same thing is happening here. Everything feels normal except for my cpu. When the game runs smoothly, it uses 100% usage. But then it drops to 50%, and that's where the big fps drops start. Any ideas what could cause the cpu to act like that? Is it even the cpu's fault?

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zackrelswift
Member
160
03-09-2026, 09:07 PM
#2
It's probably not a CPU problem. Open Task Manager or Performance Monitor to see what's happening when things break. Check the Windows power settings and make sure the processor is set to high performance, not balanced mode. In Advanced Power Options, look at how much the processor uses compared to its max speed. Is your "K" setting too low? Or maybe you haven't even overclocked yet? Try updating the BIOS on your motherboard just in case that helps fix things.
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zackrelswift
03-09-2026, 09:07 PM #2

It's probably not a CPU problem. Open Task Manager or Performance Monitor to see what's happening when things break. Check the Windows power settings and make sure the processor is set to high performance, not balanced mode. In Advanced Power Options, look at how much the processor uses compared to its max speed. Is your "K" setting too low? Or maybe you haven't even overclocked yet? Try updating the BIOS on your motherboard just in case that helps fix things.

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DRAGON91160
Member
108
03-17-2026, 04:01 AM
#3
If your computer gets too hot, it lowers the speed or turns off. This usually happens when things get around 100 degrees Celsius. Let's look at your cooling setup. I guess a good cooler will keep temps down to about 10 to 15 degrees above normal when you are just sitting there doing nothing.
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DRAGON91160
03-17-2026, 04:01 AM #3

If your computer gets too hot, it lowers the speed or turns off. This usually happens when things get around 100 degrees Celsius. Let's look at your cooling setup. I guess a good cooler will keep temps down to about 10 to 15 degrees above normal when you are just sitting there doing nothing.

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226
03-17-2026, 10:19 AM
#4
it might take a while because some game textures aren't loaded fast enough. you could move the games to an SSD, but that won't help much since both World War II and Red Faction 6 are about 90 gigabytes big.
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X_Impossible_X
03-17-2026, 10:19 AM #4

it might take a while because some game textures aren't loaded fast enough. you could move the games to an SSD, but that won't help much since both World War II and Red Faction 6 are about 90 gigabytes big.

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lamellamamama
Member
58
03-18-2026, 11:41 AM
#5
If your computer gets too hot, it slows down or turns off. That temperature is about 100 degrees. Let's check how well you are cooling things. A good cooler should only be 10 to 15 degrees above room temperature when nothing else is running. Evenvan1715: maybe the graphics cards are a bit slow? You could try making sure games go on your hard drive instead of the SSD, but installing Warhammer II and Red Faction 6 takes up too much space (90 GB each). I did change Windows again, but this still happens. It must be something wrong with my computer... :/
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lamellamamama
03-18-2026, 11:41 AM #5

If your computer gets too hot, it slows down or turns off. That temperature is about 100 degrees. Let's check how well you are cooling things. A good cooler should only be 10 to 15 degrees above room temperature when nothing else is running. Evenvan1715: maybe the graphics cards are a bit slow? You could try making sure games go on your hard drive instead of the SSD, but installing Warhammer II and Red Faction 6 takes up too much space (90 GB each). I did change Windows again, but this still happens. It must be something wrong with my computer... :/

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BanaanBerry
Senior Member
253
03-25-2026, 01:27 AM
#6
It is really unlikely the computer's processor is broken. Try opening Task Manager and see what else is running when things go wrong. Check your Windows power settings to make sure High Performance is chosen, not Balanced. In the more advanced Power Options menu, verify that CPU performance is set to 100% and check if the maximum clock speed matches or exceeds any overclocking you did. Did you actually overclock your "K" processor? Have you updated your BIOS for your motherboard?
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BanaanBerry
03-25-2026, 01:27 AM #6

It is really unlikely the computer's processor is broken. Try opening Task Manager and see what else is running when things go wrong. Check your Windows power settings to make sure High Performance is chosen, not Balanced. In the more advanced Power Options menu, verify that CPU performance is set to 100% and check if the maximum clock speed matches or exceeds any overclocking you did. Did you actually overclock your "K" processor? Have you updated your BIOS for your motherboard?

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RepoRizer
Posting Freak
872
03-27-2026, 06:25 PM
#7
geofelt : It is really unlikely that your cpu is broken. Open up task manager or performance monitor when things go wrong and check what else might be happening there. Look at your power settings in windows. Did you pick the high performance option? Maybe you aren't using it at full speed. In the advanced power options, are your processor settings set to 100 percent instead of normal? Is the max hertz rate higher than your overclocked rate? Or maybe you've already tried to "k" your cpu. Have you updated your motherboard's bios? I changed the power option to high performance now and tried updating my bios, but it just froze every time i try. No, I haven't actually overclocked the cpu yet. Trying that would have required way too much cooling so it wasn't worth it = fans made too much noise.
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RepoRizer
03-27-2026, 06:25 PM #7

geofelt : It is really unlikely that your cpu is broken. Open up task manager or performance monitor when things go wrong and check what else might be happening there. Look at your power settings in windows. Did you pick the high performance option? Maybe you aren't using it at full speed. In the advanced power options, are your processor settings set to 100 percent instead of normal? Is the max hertz rate higher than your overclocked rate? Or maybe you've already tried to "k" your cpu. Have you updated your motherboard's bios? I changed the power option to high performance now and tried updating my bios, but it just froze every time i try. No, I haven't actually overclocked the cpu yet. Trying that would have required way too much cooling so it wasn't worth it = fans made too much noise.

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Shardgale
Senior Member
547
03-27-2026, 06:46 PM
#8
Don't dig into old ideas. Some of them are just junk science at best.
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Shardgale
03-27-2026, 06:46 PM #8

Don't dig into old ideas. Some of them are just junk science at best.