Why is my GPU's "3D" usage spiking so wildly when I'm not even playing a game? It keeps throttling up and throttling down and the noise is extremely annoying

Submitted ⁨⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

https://lemmings.world/pictrs/image/6b6cefb0-dd2c-45c7-9664-d1dc26c2d99c.png

It sounds like a motorbike throttling up and down. very very annoying. I’ve scanned with MalwareBytes, nothing. I’ve updated my drivers and this is still happening. I’ve even underclocked and undervolted my graphics card and set it into a low power mode to try and strangle the usage but to no avail.

is there any way I can literally force the 3D usage down while my computer is idle? My computer isn’t running any program that uses 3D models right now. but it’s like my GPU thinks it’s running some 3D game. hella weird

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SolOrion@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

the noise I’m hearing is a more grind-y noise like a motorbike or propeller airplane that keeps going in and out

Do you have any HDDs? Because that sounds like a bad hdd.

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Romkslrqusz@lemmy.zip ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
The “3D” graph is really just GPU utilization. There are other aspects of the system that will utilize the GPU, like the Desktop Window Manager or Hardware Acceleration in your web browsers.

You’re going to want to make sure the noise is indeed coming from the graphics card. CPU will also fluctuate in load / frequency and most fans’ speed logic is bound to that.

I’ve found that, a lot of the time, this repeated “revving” is the result of something crossing a threshold in the fan curve. Adjusting the fan curve can help avoid that crossing that “cusp” back and forth.

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RejZoR@lemmy.ml ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
In Task Manager under Details, you can enable GPU collumn, use it to see if any app in particular is constantly using it.

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Lasherz12@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
What video card is it? (Vendor too)

What processes are running?

What CPU do you have?

Have you modified any fan curve settings or overclocked? Do you have any software that may do that behind the scenes (x1 or afterburner for example). Have you messed with the card’s heatsink?

Does it need dusting? How’s the airflow? Is the computer in a good spot?

Are there any vbios updates from the vendor? Drivers up to date?

That’s all the basic considerations I can think of. I also know that it’s normal for windows to utilize 3d settings for transparency on windows gui and other random background tasks. Not to the extent it would sound like a vaccuum cleaner, but that may be able to be addressed by a software fan curve. My evga 3090 is horrible at managing its own fan temps and I had to set a much more aggressive curve to avoid lost frames and obnoxious fast then slow fan speed that destroyed 2/3 of my fans before I caught it cycling (I run folding in the winter so mine is rarely idle)

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Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Add the gpu or 3d column to the process list to see what’s using it.

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- frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  It’s Desktop Window Manager and Client Server Runtime Process
  
  usage will be at 0% for a few seconds then bam, sudden huge spikes in unison with one another
  
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  - vapeloki@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Maybe AI garbage? Just guessing. There is an easy fix: remove windows from your system. Also good for privacy
    
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  - Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Yea, I wouldn’t expect to be able to kill either of those - they’re kind of necessary for the system.
    
    Something is requesting activity from them. When did this start? Is the timing related to a new app or a change in the system?
    
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Diurnambule@jlai.lu ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Didn’t they add recall in windows ? Maybe it is doing OCR

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fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

edit it’s not the fan making the noise either, I’ve manually activated the fan to see if the fan is causing the noise, and it’s a separate nose to the one annoying me. the noise I’m hearing is a more grind-y noise like a motorbike or propeller airplane that keeps going in and out

If manually limiting your GPUs fan speed doesn’t change it then GPU usage isn’t the cause. The spike in usage is just a symptom.

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d00ery@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Start the computer in safe mode and make sure there’s no apps running in systray or anywhere, hopefully fan will remain quiet.

Run msconfig and start the applications in the startup list one by one until you find the culprit.

intowindows.com/how-to-view-all-startup-programs-…

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- frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I did this and it’s much better now! tysm
  
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  - Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    What turned out to be the problem application?
    
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forrgott@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Do you have an Nvidia card? I found this post on Microsoft’s support forums. I am a Linux nerd myself, so I’m not sure how useful this will be. Definitely sounds like something to do with your driver settings, though.

Best of luck figuring it out!

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countrypunk@slrpnk.net ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Do you have an HDD or a SSD? If it’s an HDD it’s the disk inside of it making that noise and you should get a new one immediately.

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- frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  SSD
  
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  - countrypunk@slrpnk.net ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    You could have multiple fans especially if it’s a desktop. Check if there’s another one.
    
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lordnikon@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Do you have steam open at all. You may have shaders compiling outside of game.

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- frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I don’t have Steam
  
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  - lordnikon@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Ah well that was my best guess. Best of luck figuring it out
    
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Boomkop3@reddthat.com ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
A lot more than just 3d rendering is lumped into that chart. The 3d would be better labelled as “some other stuff”

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