Loading...
> >

100% CPU Usage Crashing

TheragesmashTheragesmash Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in Daz Studio Discussion

I was wondering if anyone here could help me. I'm using Daz Studio 4.6.0.18 Pro Edition (64 bit) on a system with the following equipment.

Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit)
24GB of RAM
3.7ghz AMD FX Quad Core Processor
1TB Hard Drive

My graphics card is decent too, though I can't remember what it's called and I also have two portable hard drives attached that add another 1TB and 500GB respectively. My actual computer hard drive still has 710GB of it's space left. I have no cooling devices, except the fans that came with the Graphics Card and Processor respectively.

For some reason, and this has only started happening over the last few months, when I'm rendering in DAZ, it takes up 100% CPU usage for a few minutes until my computer cuts out entirely.

I've checked the memory and it's fine, I've checked all the drivers are up to date and I've even taken some RAM out to see if it makes any kind of difference - it doesn't.

Could anyone assist me in troubleshooting this?

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Dean.

Comments

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 97,114
    edited December 1969

    Sounds like a heat issue - maybe your CPU fan is clogged with dust or the vents are blocked, or worst case the thermal compound is breaking down. Try getting a utility to monitor CPU temperatures and see how they go as the render progresses.

  • TheragesmashTheragesmash Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thanks very much for the response.

    You're right, it's absolutely a heat issue. The CPU runs as hot at 73 °C before it finally cuts off. I cleaned all the dust out of it with a blower, took off the fan and cleaned it all out and unbelievably, that made it worse. It then proceeded to heat up to over 80 °C before shutting off entirely whilst doing that much quicker on the render. So it actually made it worse because now I can't render what I could before either.

    It's very strange indeed.

  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,167
    edited December 1969

    things to check:

    is your computer in direct sunlight?
    get it away from light and windows.

    in a dusty corner?
    bad idea.

    are you overclocking the CPU?
    OC and 100% CPU for sustained amounts of time can cause problems under many conditions. The verdict is split on people who do it or don't. IMHO Don't do it, or at least turn it off and see what happens.

    in an unventilated room?
    terrible idea, air-conditioners are a computers best friend.

    in a garage in summer?
    Don't laugh, we had someone here a few years ago who had this problem, no one could figure it out until he mentioned the server was in the garage. Computer in an already hot room = sauna in 30 minutes.

    is the CPU fan engaged when the computer turns on?
    or the fan could not be adequate, especially if you're over-clocking or increasing your voltage to the CPU.

    is the CPU fan on top of the CPU with some kind of thermal grease or paste to conduct heat away from the CPU?
    ]sometimes you need to clean it off and start again with fresh grease or paste depending.

    is some other fan on the motherboard or computer chassis not engaging when power is on?
    this can cripple a computer very quickly.

    is there a cat sleeping on one of your heat vents on the computer chassis and wont move cus he's nice and toasty warm?
    entice cat with dangly string.

  • TheragesmashTheragesmash Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the suggestions man, especially the cat one - I could do with a laugh haha.

    It's not in sunlight or a corner and I've moved it around, opened windows, ect. I tried rendering with a fan pointed at it (with the case open) as well, to see if that made a difference. It's in a bedroom that is mostly cool (I dislike heat) and no other fans are attached except the one that's fixed to the graphics card. I'm not overclocking or anything like that and I currently have no thermal paste applied.

    I'm thinking I need to buy a CPU Cooler (which comes with some Thermal Paste) and apply both. I've not done that before, so I'm not sure it's a necessity, except it seems like the only viable option at this stage.

  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    edited August 2014

    Oh boy. You definitely need some case fans. I currently have 5 in mine (plus the gpu fan and the cpu fan)

    There are a couple ways to set fans up but you must pay attention to which way the fan is blowing. You can either set them up to make a "wind tunnel" by having all the fans on either the front or the back blowing into the case, then all the fans on the opposite side blowing out.

    Or the method I'm currently using, since heat rises, I have all my fans towards the top of the case blowing the hot air out, and all the fans towards the bottom of the case pulling cool air into the case. (Which I guess is kind of a sideways wind tunnel)

    *edit*
    I should mention that even with a cool room, since there are no case fans on the pc
    all the heat generated from the cpu, gpu, hard drives, etc. just sits there floating around inside the case heating everything up even more.

    Something may have been damaged already from the previous overheating which may be why it's working worse now.

    I would definitely check the thermal paste between the fan/metal heatsink and the cpu on the motherboard first.

    if replacing the paste doesn't work, the next step would be to check the hard drive for errors and do a good scan and cleanup of it (corrupted system files can do strange things)

    If both of those fail to fix the problem, then it would be time to start swapping out parts looking for the bad one (I'd start with exchanging the cpu for a known working one) if the problem goes away, you know what part needs to be replaced. If not, move onto another part until you find it.

    Post edited by kaotkbliss on
  • StratDragonStratDragon Posts: 3,167
    edited December 1969

    agreed
    fans are a must not an option. basically you're using your computer like a racing car without engine coolant which is going to shorten the life expectancy of your components., 80C sustained for a CPU is not what you want.

    here's one of dozens of thermal paste tutorials from youtube
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNgFNH7zhQ

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 97,114
    edited December 1969

    If it got worse after reseating the heatsink that sounds as if the thermal compound didn't apply to a clean surface, or is too little or too localised, or even is too much - assuming you use a paste and not a pad, though you still need to make sure the remains of the old are thoroughly cleaned off before applying the new.

Sign In or Register to comment.