"Hardware Interupts" CPU~100%

[fogus]

Hello,

Its me again with my computer problems. This time my CPU hits 100% after most windows boots (on both 32 bit OS's on my comp. havent tried my x64 yet). I thought it might be a software issue at first, but on multiple OS's its seems unlikely. It becomes very hard to work with 100% CPU. I just want to know if this problem will go away with a reformat. I have a suspiction that it might have something to do wiht having two OS's on one hard disk with no seperate partition. I found "partition magic" and I am planning on making 4 partitions total on two 120 disks.

I have tried to unplug some of my periferals, such as a video capture card and a USB card that had given me much greif in the past, but the problem remains. I also got a huge number of check disk errors when i last booted.

My running processes in process explorer says that Hardware Interupts are taking my comp down while task manager tells me that "System Idle Process" is the culpret.

Fforce 3, 250 GB, Lanparty UT mobo
2X120GB SATA hard drives (in the 25-27 degree temperature range usualy)
AMD 64 processor
Geforce 6600
1 GB RAM
500 W powersupply

I have also noticed that my comp gets stuck in the bios once in a while and sometimes gets stuck while loading windows.

Like I said, I am planning on reformatting both drives and then installing two coppies of windows, maybe a x64 edition, and perhaps linux. If this would solve my problems then please let me know.

If there is something hardware (like i suspect) involved please let me know.

[fogus]

just noticed that my chipset is very hot. im giong to take a measurement with a laser devise, hang on... ok, its 57 C, or 135 F. Is that too hot? how should i cool it off?

[TheSovereign]

do u have norton antivirus installed?

[wpublic]

if "System Idle Process" is at or around 100% (usually 99) it means your cpu is idle. 57C is pretty hot for a chipset. if that board came with a chipset fan, it may be going out on you. overheated chipset will affect stability. maybe try an aftermarket chipset cooling setup.

also check your settings in bios. try to "load optimized defaults"

[FlyingPenguin]

"I also got a huge number of check disk errors when i last booted."

Well I'd say this is your problem. Sounds like your HDD is failing or maybe you have a bad cable. I bet if you check the Event Viewer I'll bet you'll find a lot of IDE errors in the system log.

Replace the ribbon cable. Then download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic utility. Run the FULL (Advanced) diagnostic test to see if the drive passes factory certification.


And yes, that is rather hot for a Northbridge chipset. That could also be causing data corruption on the IDE bus and other busses. Make sure the heatsink is flush to the chip. Does it have a fan and is it running? If it doesn't have a fan does it have a proper fanless heatsink on it like a long-finned Zalman?

[fogus]

my chipset did not have a fan, and that worried me. the chipset heatsynk was flush to the chipset, but it was simply too hot. i put a 120mm fan inside my case blowing directly on my chipset and that lowered the temp to about 30 C. now everything is very smooth compared to before. burning CDs used to take max CPU but now i can burn in two drives at once with not much CPU.

yeah, system idle process is usualy 99% for me, but that is always relative to the CPU in use. so if i idle at 2% CPU then system idle process is usling like 1.98% of my capacity, right? well, this was different, system idle process, the parrent of hardware interupts, was using 99% of 100%.

i have norton client security, you should too. there is no antivirus program quite like it. it assumes you know about viruses and about firewalls.

my HDDs are quite new and the one that it happened on is only a month old and it is usualy about 28 C, so i dont think that is the problem. they are both SATA drives, 120 GB, exact replicas.

all OS's boot fine now and are much much faster than before.

looks like mobo makers dont always know what they are doing. the hottest surface temperature anything else in my case is 37 C. with this weather my CPU is probably only around 45 C.

its crazy how many hours i spent on this problem and to think that all i needed to do was blow more air on the chipset .

wpublic, you just reminded me to set my ram speed up after i loaded "fail safe defaults". heh, im not getting my moneys worth out of my 400MHz ram.

thanks for the help, you can assume that the problem is fixed.

[FlyingPenguin]

i have norton client security, you should too.

No thanks. I'll pass on the bloatware. I don't need Norton's 140Mb+ monster eating up my resources when AVG + MS Antispyware does the job just fine. AND for free

Glad you solved the problem. You should run a thorough scandisk and then a defrag on all your drives. You might still have file corruption from when it was overheating.

[fogus]

i will. your crazy cat eats up CPU like nuts BTW . my version of client security is very submisive. its not the same as the regular norton antivirus. i stopped using norton antivirus a while back because i found client security. much less resources. plus it auto installs with my windows install. O&O defrag also installs with windows, so i will run that.

[Jim Z]

yeah, system idle process is usualy 99% for me, but that is always relative to the CPU in use. so if i idle at 2% CPU then system idle process is usling like 1.98% of my capacity, right? well, this was different, system idle process, the parrent of hardware interupts, was using 99% of 100%.

yes, this is proper operation. when your system is doing nothing, "System Idle Process" should be up around 99%. This isn't a process per se, but how Windows accounts for processor time requested by other threads. A high number for "System Idle Process" means there are fewer actual processes asking for CPU time.