Desktop windows Manager takes all my GPU (100%) -- Makes using a browser and gaming impossible | Linus Tech Tips | Page 1

junior sphinx Jul 9, 2024, 10:58 PM

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Hello to the people I'm having quite the trouble today. (actually for a few months)

Currently, dwm.exe is taking all of my GPU ressources. Whenever I stream on discord, play any game (Elend Ring, overwatch, Valorant, Roblox, you name it) My gpu spikes to 100% and continues down the chain until I close all of my applications. Writing this, have experienced pc shutdown!

What I have done:
New and Old drivers
windows update
windows update go back
Windows reinstall
disabled hardware accel. in windows and discord
Change power draw to best performance in Nvidia control panel
every little thing on the internet

Mobo: Z690I AORUS ULTRA DDR4
CPU: i5 12600K water cooled
RAM: 32gb 3200mts
GPU: RTX 3080 TI
Windows is on an m.2

Would anyone know anything about this?!!

obtuse laurel Jul 9, 2024, 11:39 PM

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What is your framerate in Elden Ring and what are your graphics settings?

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Asking about that game specifically because it's the only one that should use the GPU of those (Any meaningful load I mean)

junior sphinx Jul 9, 2024, 11:43 PM

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obtuse laurel Asking about that game specifically because it's the only one that should use th...

The game doesn't really matter, i can be in roblox with graphics set to 1 (lowest setting) and it's at 90-100%

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3 days ago i was playing elden ring on MAX (motion blur turned off), no ray tracing and solid 60-90 fps

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I can be watching a my little pony video on youtube and it'll max out

obtuse laurel Jul 9, 2024, 11:45 PM

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@junior sphinx Right, but the issue is that DWM does a lot more than you would think. It's what is responsible for making the desktop "3D" which is what allows GPUs to record the desktop. This makes it so that software sometimes gets confused and think that DWM is what is doing the load.

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It also makes it so that recording software can show as DWM load, and depending on which software you use, it might show 100% load when it's the encoder at load and not actual cores.

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That's why I ask about the framerate in a somewhat heavy game graphically

junior sphinx Jul 9, 2024, 11:47 PM

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over 60fps average in elden ring max settings!

obtuse laurel Jul 9, 2024, 11:47 PM

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If the framerate isn't affected, it's likely a bug in reporting

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Because DWM does so many things

junior sphinx Jul 9, 2024, 11:47 PM

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but when the dwm takes over, it goes to nothing and i get 2-3

obtuse laurel Jul 9, 2024, 11:48 PM

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Do you have something that makes it happen?

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If yes, go do it

junior sphinx Jul 9, 2024, 11:49 PM

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i'm trying right now but it's not wanting to happen

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it's pretty intermitent

obtuse laurel Jul 9, 2024, 11:50 PM

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@junior sphinx The next time it happens, open Task Manager, go to the Performance tab and select the GPU

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Do you see the video encode and video decode fields?

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Check the load on these. If that's high, it's probably misinterpreting encoding/decoding load as actual load

junior sphinx Jul 9, 2024, 11:52 PM

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will do

junior sphinx Jul 10, 2024, 8:34 PM

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@obtuse laurel another thing is this

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opera Gx is not open on my pc

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but it shows as open and using ressources

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in actually, a game i s open

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junior sphinx Jul 10, 2024, 9:10 PM

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currently on 15 fps

junior sphinx Jul 11, 2024, 9:00 PM

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junior sphinx Jul 11, 2024, 11:34 PM

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obtuse laurel Jul 12, 2024, 10:06 AM

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junior sphinx

How was the performance here?

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I mean, it's a 3080 in GTA V so it shouldn't be that hard pressed unless it's like 200 FPS with mods

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The screenshot above though, which shows 100% load at 56°C makes me wonder if there is some power state bug, that it's stuck in a lower power state.

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100% load in a low power state means that it's working at way less than 100% of maximum capacity

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Also try disabling the DVR feature in Windows, it sometimes bugs out causing high GPU load

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Which would be attributed to DWM

junior sphinx Jul 13, 2024, 12:15 AM

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obtuse laurel I mean, it's a 3080 in GTA V so it shouldn't be that hard pressed unless it's li...

gta online

junior sphinx Jul 13, 2024, 12:39 AM

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obtuse laurel Also try disabling the DVR feature in Windows, it sometimes bugs out causing hig...

Just did, will restart in a few mins

junior sphinx Jul 17, 2024, 12:59 AM

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obtuse laurel How was the performance here?

the problem is back 😦

junior sphinx Jul 17, 2024, 11:36 PM

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bump for anyone

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:25 AM

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obtuse laurel How was the performance here?

Sorry to bother, would you still have any ideas?

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 12:36 AM

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How did you reinstall windows?

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:36 AM

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image from windows website, usb key

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brand new image and product key

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 12:36 AM

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Hmm

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Bad game performance?

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:36 AM

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yes and no

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4 hours ago I had 130 fps in bo6

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no I had 30 and insane input lag etc

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very intermitent

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only "fix" is no premantantly set the Power mode in nvidia control panel to "Prefer Maximum Perfomance"

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right now, completly IDLE

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:38 AM

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junior sphinx only "fix" is no premantantly set the Power mode in nvidia control panel to "Pre...

which is what I have all the time but it still happens

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 12:40 AM

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Do you have your iGPU disabled

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:44 AM

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Probably not

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 12:44 AM

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Sorry I’m just thinking of anything

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I have no idea what is causing this behavior, it really shouldn’t have kept happening between windows reinstalls

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:45 AM

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THAT'S WHAT IM SAYING!!!!!

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im thinking hardware but I really dont want it to be hardware

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 12:46 AM

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Do you have the 3d mark demo?

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:47 AM

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no but I could make one

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but right now, its working all fine and tops 5% usage throught the system

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 12:47 AM

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Download it from steam

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Run the demo, and send a photo of the results

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:51 AM

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well it is 45$ CAD on steam..

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 12:51 AM

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Scroll down, free demo

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 12:51 AM

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ah!

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 1:00 AM

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wooden night Run the demo, and send a photo of the results

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second test for good mesure

wooden night Sep 2, 2024, 1:06 AM

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Does it say individual scores? Like cpu and gpu?

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Also if you wouldn’t mind, scroll down so I can see clocks and temps?

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 1:14 AM

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junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 1:15 AM

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wooden night Also if you wouldn’t mind, scroll down so I can see clocks and temps?

^^

empty furnace Sep 2, 2024, 10:16 AM

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junior sphinx ^^

Even though it doesn't sound like a hardware issue, when reinstalling Windows doesn't work, I tend to lean into the hardware, I would try to reseat all components.

a quick fix you can try is opening cmd as admin and typing sfc /scannow

Full scan in Windows defender is a good idea as well

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And hopefully you're not overclocking?

junior sphinx Sep 2, 2024, 3:56 PM

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0 overclocking to my knowledge

#Desktop windows Manager takes all my GPU (100%) -- Makes using a browser and gaming impossible