100% CPU Usage Issue with AMD CPUs

Bug Report
1

Hey guys. I build and test rigs on a regular basis and Overwatch is a game I often run benchmarks on.

I have noticed lately that AMD CPUs, specifically the Phenom, Athlon and FX series, seem to have some sort of 100% CPU usage bug during gameplay in Overwatch.

It plays out like this.

I enter training mode with a system with, say, an FX-6300 and a GTX 1060.

The system’s FPS is strangely low, like 30-40FPS whereas it should be much higher.

According to HWMonitor and fraps, the CPU is at a constant 100% utilization. (It is noteworthy that it hits 100% before even the title screen appears)

If I turn on and off Vsync and Triple Buffering a few times and leave my character sitting in the training area for 5-10 minutes, the CPU usage jumps down to approximately 50% and, as a result, the FPS also jumps to 70-90.

If I restart overwatch or change the graphical preset, the CPU issue DOES NOT return.

Howevever, I can see how new players might think their system cant run Overwatch when, in reality, its more than able.

This ‘bug’ has appeared on the following CPUs.

  • 1x Athlon X3 450
  • 2x Phenom X4 945
  • 2x Phenom X4 965
  • 3x FX-4100
  • 1x FX-4200
  • 3x FX-4300
  • 1x FX-6100
  • 4x FX-6300
  • 2x FX-6350

It is also noteworthy that these results have happened over the course of about 3 months, all on ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. There is no common denominator in parts other than that the processors are older AMD cpus.

I would be more than happy to get video evidence of this, as I can pretty much guarantee that the next AMD system I test will exhibit the same symptoms.

If anyone has any input on this, it would also be strongly appreciated. This is something I’d like to get to the bottom to, as it slows my testing process

2 Likes
2

Happening to me too. A10-8700P

1 Like
3

Given the known issue that happened with AMD GPU’s before the 17.12.1 radeon drivers, this shouldn’t surprise me, but it does disappoint me.

Have you done any testing on systems with an FX-8320? I get maxed out CPU usage during launch of the game, and it barely makes it to the title screen before Windows 10 just has a fit over their being no CPU resources for it to use and hard crashes and reboots. I know it’s not an overheat issue, because I monitor temps on my second display, and they never get over 50-60°C during the whole process.

Previously I could get around it by closing Battlenet on launch and making sure nothing else was running in the background, and eventually the game would simmer down, but now it just hard reboots.

4

Same issue here. Opening the game, and leaving it minimized for a while helps lower the cpu usage. But the performance ingame is bad, especially in teamfights, a lot of framedrops occur. Best avarege fps in calm situations is 80, in ultimates combos, fps can reach 30, 25. I notice that lower the graphics almost didn’t make any difference.

My specs:
GPU - R7 265
CPU - FX 6300
8G RAM
SSD Kingston 120GB
Motherboard - Asus M5A78LM Plus

5

Hey there!

If you’d like to get support regarding hardware/software it’s recommended to move your issue to #technical-support. There are people there that are experienced with tech and are able to fix any issues and maybe even boost performance!

For in the future, please don’t bump older threads as these issues can be resolved and newer issues may look similar but it’s actually caused by something else.