PBM: CPU usage stays above 10% though System Idle Tasks are 99% !

[Vince C.]

Hi,

Has anyone already seen actual CPU usage (showed by Task Manager tray icon)
being superior to System Idle Tasks in Processes tab? The symptom is Kernel
time (red in Performance tab) is always above 10%.

How can I identify which system component is hogging CPU like that? If no
processes that are shown in Processes tab exhibit any CPU usage, it must be
a kernel component. So how can one point to the culprit?

Thanks in advance.
Vince C.

 

[Vince C.]

Hi,

Has anyone already seen actual CPU usage (showed by Task Manager tray icon)
being superior to System Idle Tasks in Processes tab? The symptom is Kernel
time (red in Performance tab) is always above 10%.

I correct: now it's more than 50%!...

 

[Vince C.]

I correct: now it's more than 50%!...

I've found something: I've got an MSI motherboard K7T Turbo 2 with an
on-board VIA AC97 audio chip. I disabled "Soundblaster" in my BIOS and I
have no more kernel CPU usage. OTOH I have no sound anymore .

Has anyone already seen this happening? What fix can be applied? Why does
enabling Soundblaster compatibility in the BIOS have kernel abnormally use
CPU? What does it to the system?

Thanks,
Vince C.