ntoskrnl.exe causing spikes frequently..

[bigmaraippo]

Under Task Manager it comes up as System but then I open file properties it displays the following;
Name: ntoskrnl
Type of file: application (.exe)
Description: NT Kernal & System

Why would this be causing an issue?

I ask this because when I play Elden Ring (or even load any game in that matter), this specific application causes my CPU temperatures spike up to the high 70s for a few seconds and then jump back down to its normal temperature of 39c. Meanwhile when this happens, my GPU power and clock drop down heavily and they also return to the normal levels shortly after a few seconds. Both of these interactions cause the screen to freeze and the FPS dropping to single digits.
Important things to mention possibly;

• I have undervolted my 3090 to 787mV x 1695MHz
• Power mode on my PC is set to Power Saving, essentially lowering the temperatures of my CPU and reducing the clock speeds.

Just to confirm, this also occurs without the undervolt profile. I have also reinstalled the drivers for the GPU via DDU.



AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
24GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
United Kingdom - English Language
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

 

[SpyderTracks]

Under Task Manager it comes up as System but then I open file properties it displays the following;
Name: ntoskrnl
Type of file: application (.exe)
Description: NT Kernal & System

Why would this be causing an issue?

I ask this because when I play Elden Ring (or even load any game in that matter), this specific application causes my CPU temperatures spike up to the high 70s for a few seconds and then jump back down to its normal temperature of 39c. Meanwhile when this happens, my GPU power and clock drop down heavily and they also return to the normal levels shortly after a few seconds. Both of these interactions cause the screen to freeze and the FPS dropping to single digits.
Important things to mention possibly;

• I have undervolted my 3090 to 787mV x 1695MHz
• Power mode on my PC is set to Power Saving, essentially lowering the temperatures of my CPU and reducing the clock speeds.

Just to confirm, this also occurs without the undervolt profile. I have also reinstalled the drivers for the GPU via DDU.



AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
24GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
United Kingdom - English Language
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Can you give a bit more information? When does this occur, does it occur during gameplay, or just when you're loading the game?

What AV are you using?

Why have you undervolted the GPU and throttled the CPU? What reason?

Can you open powershell as administrator and run the following command:

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate | Format-Table –AutoSize > C:\InstalledPrograms-PS.txt

Then upload the "InstalledPrograms-PS.txt" file that will be in the root of C

 

[bigmaraippo]

Can you give a bit more information? When does this occur, does it occur during gameplay, or just when you're loading the game?

What AV are you using?

Why have you undervolted the GPU and throttled the CPU? What reason?

Can you open powershell as administrator and run the following command:

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate | Format-Table –AutoSize > C:\InstalledPrograms-PS.txt

Then upload the "InstalledPrograms-PS.txt" file that will be in the root of C

CPU temperatures 99% of the time remain around the 39/40c mark; 1720MHz.

- Initially when a game loads (main menu screen), the CPU spikes up to the high 60s/70s for up to 30 seconds, then returns to its normal temperature range; whether I carry on into the game or not the spikes reduce. Have experienced this on loading up Fortnite, Elden Ring & Warzone. For now only like this when I first load up the game.

- Another instance is mainly seen on Elden Ring, occasionally I would get the following mentioned below, at the same time; and then return to normal after a few seconds. The following 3 combinations causes the screen to freeze.
- FPS drops down to single digits
- GPU power drops to 0
- CPU temperatures jumping from 39 up to the 70s

Anti Virus: Kaskersky


I have undervolted the GPU because the memory junction temperature has no active cooling and the GPU runs way too hot..if I undervolt, undervolting helps reduce the temperatures on the VRM chips where they have no active cooling support.

These two settings have been fine for me up until the last few days.
The CPU, I have not altered with anything in the BIOS nor have I overclocked anything. All I have done is change the power plan to Power Saving because the CPU would be in the 50/60s in idle and in game whereas now it would be in the high 30s.

 

[Martinr36]

AV=Anti virus

 

[bigmaraippo]

Can you give a bit more information? When does this occur, does it occur during gameplay, or just when you're loading the game?

What AV are you using?

Why have you undervolted the GPU and throttled the CPU? What reason?

Can you open powershell as administrator and run the following command:

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate | Format-Table –AutoSize > C:\InstalledPrograms-PS.txt

Then upload the "InstalledPrograms-PS.txt" file that will be in the root of C

Uploaded as requested, in my first response to you. Thank you!

 

[SpyderTracks]

- Initially when a game loads (main menu screen), the CPU spikes up to the high 60s/70s for up to 30 seconds, then returns to its normal temperature range; whether I carry on into the game or not the spikes reduce. Have experienced this on loading up Fortnite, Elden Ring & Warzone. For now only like this when I first load up the game.

This is not an issue though, there's absolutely nothing untoward about this. Especially if you're playing online. As CPU is utilised, cpu temp will rise, that's expected behviour.

Are you experiencing this in game at all?

- Another instance is mainly seen on Elden Ring, occasionally I would get the following mentioned below, at the same time; and then return to normal after a few seconds. The following 3 combinations causes the screen to freeze.
- FPS drops down to single digits
- GPU power drops to 0
- CPU temperatures jumping from 39 up to the 70s

When is this happening though? Is this in game?

Anti Virus: Kaskersky

I would recommend fully uninstalling Kaspersky, there's no requirement for it, and it will reduce performance generally.

I have undervolted the GPU because the memory junction temperature has no active cooling and the GPU runs way too hot..if I undervolt, undervolting helps reduce the temperatures on the VRM chips where they have no active cooling support.

What are you considering to be too hot though? Can you provide some screeshots? What makes you think the VRM doesn't have any active cooling? What do you think the fans are for on the GPU? Is this something you're reading on the internet, if so can you provide links?

These two settings have been fine for me up until the last few days.
The CPU, I have not altered with anything in the BIOS nor have I overclocked anything. All I have done is change the power plan to Power Saving because the CPU would be in the 50/60s in idle and in game whereas now it would be in the high 30s.

Setting on powersaving will reduce the clocks on the CPU, that's called downclocking. It's reducing performance and totally unnecessary on a healthy system.

If the CPU is at 50/60 on idle, there's something wrong that needs addressing, downclocking is not the answer, you need to address the cause at the cooling. What profile do you have the pump on, it needs to be on a minimum of balanced, if it's on Silent it will overheat.

Can you take screenshots with HWMonitor on CPU and GPU on idle (that means with zero open) and under load with Heaven benchmark? This needs to be done with GPU on default clocks and power setting on best performance (these should be set on any gaming desktop).