Arch Linux

bfletch

Member

Registered: 2018-04-14

Posts: 1

High CPU usage from everything

I have a modern Intel i5 CPU and a new Arch install. Everything I do on my machine results in a very high CPU usgae. For instance, scrolling up and down in Firefox results in a 50% load.

I thought it may be due to Xorg not using my GPU, but I think it is (not sure). Toggling settings in "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-amdgpu.conf" seems to work. For instance, disabling "TearFree" results in tearing. I've changed every setting in that file to no avail. Here is a copy of my configuration:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-amdgpu.conf

Section "Device"
  Identifier "AMD"
  Driver "amdgpu"
  Option "DRI" "3"
  Option "TearFree" "true"
EndSection

To further rule out acceleration issues, I've played a high-bitrate file smoothly with little increase in CPU usage. Right now, the high CPU usage culprits are: Sublime Text, Firefox, Spotify, Xorg, htop... the list goes on.

Any ideas?

Edit: Forgot to mention, everything feels buttery smooth, but I'm worried about when I have to start running some CPU intensive tasks.

Last edited by bfletch (2018-04-14 01:54:42)

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 78,849

Re: High CPU usage from everything

You have high CPU load in the htop process????
Or does the cpu load increase when  simply running htop? In what particular process?
What desktop shell/compositor and display server (xorg or wayland) do you use? ("loginctl session-status")

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R00KIE

Forum Fellow

From: Between a computer and a chair

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 4,734

Re: High CPU usage from everything

If you are on a laptop that xorg.conf file most probably is worth nothing because the gpu being used is the Intel integrated one and not the discrete AMD card you might have.

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R00KIE
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