Processing demands spike during gameplay due to intensive computations and graphics rendering.
Processing demands spike during gameplay due to intensive computations and graphics rendering.
PC: I’m using an ASRock Fatal1ty z97x with a Z97K i5 4690K at 3.5 GHz, paired with an MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G (latest drivers, Windows 7 64-bit). I have 16 GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 RAM at 1600 MHz and a dual monitor configuration: one Acer S243hl via HDMI at 1080p and another Benq GW2765 via DVI at 1440p.
I noticed the CPU usage spikes to 80-100% during Overwatch gameplay, especially when playing in 1080p. I usually run Discord and ShadowPlay alongside it, but only for background recording. Normally, I’m also using Win 7 with Aero design and have seen no similar issues.
During testing on Bioshock Infinite (all settings maxed, over 200 FPS), Windows reported performance problems due to the color scheme. This happened only in that game. In MGS:5, Gronud Zeroes and the Unreal Tournament tournament (full settings) kept CPU usage around 50%. It seems Overwatch is the one causing the high load. Anyone else have similar experiences?
Overwatch demands significant processing power, similar to many modern titles.
Fallout 4 seems to rely mainly on a couple of cores, which means raw clock speed plays a bigger role than simply adding more cores. Still, definitely overclocking is a solid idea. With a K-branded CPU, crank it up to around 4.5GHz or higher for best results.
The i5 4440 helped me decide to upgrade to the 4790K, which supports 4.8GHz at around 1.3V—though I haven’t adjusted it much. For FO4, it uses all eight threads, and even Skyrim runs fine.
Skyrim runs on multiple threads. I was expecting this, as I tested it on my E8500 at 4.4GHz with the GTX 970. Switching to a Xeon X5450 helped a lot, even though it ran at its normal 3GHz clock. Having the i5 4440 on the H87 motherboard nearby made a big difference, especially when paired with the GTX 970 and my 4790K-i7 setup. The performance improvement was quite significant in recent titles.
It seems typical. Are you experiencing any FPS drops or gaming issues? The Windows performance warning was a known issue in Windows 7. You might reduce its frequency by increasing the active pagefile size, though you can't completely turn it off. This isn't about CPU load but about how the pagefile is used. It appears during brief periods when loading new maps or content.