High CPU usage when not doing anything

[DragonSong]

Hello! I’ve been having some issues with my Garuda Partition on my new laptop! I haven’t had this problem on my other installations, so I’m guessing maybe it’s because I’m dual-booting or because the specs are newer.

My GPU usage sometimes shoots to 99% when I’m not running anything computational (Sometimes it pops up when I just have firedragon and discord open along with aseprirte). It definitely should NOT have a 99% usage.

I’ve tried reinstalling nividia dkms, swtiching to different kernels just in case (mainly use zen), I tried some other things too but I honestly forgot what else I did!

I would appreciate some pointers on what I can do to fix this, because I really love garuda and it does make me sad to have to boot up my windows partition lol

System:
Kernel: 6.17.0-rc6-1-mainline arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-mainline
root=UUID=69010859-42b5-4d66-9530-0424b1b3a1ac rw rootflags=subvol=@
loglevel=3 quiet
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.4.5 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.18.0
wm: kwin_wayland tools: avail: hypridle,hyprlock vt: 1 dm: SDDM
Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 83LU v: Legion Pro 5 16IAX10H
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 v: Legion Pro 5 16IAX10H
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0T76461 WIN
serial: <superuser required> part-nu: LENOVO_MT_83LU_BU_idea_FM_Legion Pro
5 16IAX10H uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO v: Q6CN26WW
date: 05/01/2025
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 85.6 Wh (98%) condition: 87.3/80 Wh (109.1%) volts: 16.67
min: 15.52 model: ATL L24N4PC0 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> charging:
status: full type: standard avail: long_life,standard cycles: 2
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Arrow Lake
level: v3 note: check built: 2024+ process: Intel 20a (2nm) family: 6
model-id: 0xC6 (198) stepping: 2 microcode: 0x119
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 12 cores: 24 smt: <unsupported>
cache: L1: 2.4 MiB desc: d-16x32 KiB, 8x48 KiB; i-24x64 KiB L2: 40 MiB
desc: 8x3 MiB, 4x4 MiB L3: 36 MiB desc: 1x36 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1873 min/max: 800/5300:5400:4700 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: performance cores: 1: 1873 2: 1873 3: 1873
4: 1873 5: 1873 6: 1873 7: 1873 8: 1873 9: 1873 10: 1873 11: 1873 12: 1873
13: 1873 14: 1873 15: 1873 16: 1873 17: 1873 18: 1873 19: 1873 20: 1873
21: 1873 22: 1873 23: 1873 24: 1873 bogomips: 147456
Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Arrow Lake-S [Intel Graphics] vendor: Lenovo driver: i915
v: kernel alternate: xe arch: Xe2-LPG process: TSMC n3 (3nm) built: 2025+
ports: active: eDP-2 empty: DP-2,DP-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:7d67
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GB205M [GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile] vendor: Lenovo
driver: nvidia v: 580.82.09 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm
non-free: 550-580.xx+ status: current (as of 2025-08) arch: Lovelace
code: AD1xx process: TSMC n4 (5nm) built: 2022+ pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 5 speed: 32 GT/s ports:
active: none empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,eDP-1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2f58
class-ID: 0300
Device-3: Bison Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-11:6 chip-ID: 5986:11ad
class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
unloaded: nouveau,vesa alternate: fbdev,intel,nv dri: iris gpu: i915
display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: eDP-2 model: Samsung ATNA60HU01-0 built: 2024 res:
mode: 2560x1600 hz: 240 scale: 125% (1.25) to: 2048x1280 dpi: 191 gamma: 1.2
size: 340x220mm (13.39x8.66") diag: 405mm (15.94") modes: 2560x1600
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
drv: nvidia device: 1 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris
surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
inactive: device-2
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.2.3-arch1.2
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (ARL)
device-ID: 8086:7d67 memory: 30.05 GiB unified: yes display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.321 layers: 15 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu
name: Intel Graphics (ARL) driver: mesa intel v: 25.2.3-arch1.2
device-ID: 8086:7d67 surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: discrete-gpu
name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU driver: nvidia v: 580.82.09
device-ID: 10de:2f58 surfaces: N/A device: 2 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
(LLVM 20.1.8 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.2.3-arch1.2 (LLVM
20.1.8) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: corectrl, nvidia-settings,
nvidia-smi wl: wayland-info x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
Device-1: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 5 speed: 32 GT/s
lanes: 16 bus-ID: 02:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:2f80 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: Intel vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_mtl bus-ID: 80:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:7f50
class-ID: 0401
Device-3: Logitech Blue Microphones
driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-10:5 chip-ID: 046d:0ab7 class-ID: 0300
serial: <filter>
API: ALSA v: k6.17.0-rc6-1-mainline status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.8 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
port: 3000 bus-ID: 81:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp129s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: MEDIATEK vendor: Lenovo driver: mt7925e v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 82:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:7925
class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp130s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Foxconn / Hon Hai Wireless_Device driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-14:7
chip-ID: 0489:e111 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
Report: btmgmt ID: hci1 rfk-id: 4 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: <filter> bt-v: 5.4 lmp-v: 13
status: discoverable: no pairing: no
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.84 TiB used: 188.95 GiB (10.0%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung
model: MZAL81T0HFLB-00BL2 size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
fw-rev: 3L1QKXF7 temp: 43.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: PSSD T7
size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB
rev: 3.2 spd: 10 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 tech: SSD
serial: <filter> scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 188.91 GiB (27.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 260 MiB size: 256 MiB (98.46%)
used: 46.8 MiB (18.3%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 188.91 GiB (27.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 188.91 GiB (27.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 683.59 GiB size: 683.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 188.91 GiB (27.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 30.77 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 53.2 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 30.77 GiB used: 7.67 GiB (24.9%)
Processes: 520 Power: uptime: 10m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 12.25 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 258 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 2184 libs: 577 tools: octopi,paru Compilers:
clang: 20.1.8 gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.3.3 default: fish v: 4.0.8
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.39
Garuda (2.8.3-2):
System install date:     2025-08-27
Garuda release:          250826
Last full system update: 2025-09-23 ↻
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut
Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
Failed units:

[tbg]

Did this issue occur when you first installed Garuda?

Have you tested a live disk to see if the same thing occurs in the live environment?

Have you tested running in an X11 session instead of Wayland?

Is your bios up to date?

Have you installed extra plasmoids or software that doesn’t come on a base install of Garuda?

Uninstall any extra plasma widgets that weren’t already installed, and please provide a list of any extra software you may have installed.

[DragonSong]

1. Not that I first noticed! I did have an issue where it just didn’t detect my GPU at all, but I fixed that. So it might have occurred after that?

2. Yes I have, but on a live disk it just doesn’t detect my GPU haha… so I don’t know if it was accurate.

3. I actually have not! I completely forgot to check that, I probably should!

4. Yes, my bios is up to date!

5. Yes I probably have but I’m not really sure about what I’ve installed. I have forgotten, how do I check my list of plasmoids/extra software? Do you just want everything I’ve installed?

Thank you so much for your help, by the way! It’s extremely appreciated ;-;

[TNE]

Heya. Which process is using the CPU?

[elite]

If discords there maybe that one OZONE peram is needed again. I dont keep up with discord but i do know chrome based stuff still has issues on wayland with it. But that’s just a guess.

[DragonSong]

Hi! I’m so sorry for the late response, I’ve been really busy.
Here is what my CPU and GPU usages are:

[TNE]

Both your CPU and GPU usage seem to be at 0% in the given screenshots. What exactly is the problem you are facing in detail?

[tbg]

I was experiencing random 90%÷ CPU spikes a few weeks back with KDE, but they resolved on their own with further system updates.

[DragonSong]

I know it seems like it’s 0 percent usage currently, but I haven’t been able to grab a screenshot to when it jumps up. I don’t do anything differently than what I do now, but sometimes my cpu usage randomly jumps to 98% usage to 104% usage or some other extremely high number without me doing anything computationally heavy!

I’m not sure what the cause is because it lags my computer so much, by the time I can actually look at my processes it stops.

[tbg]

Perhaps testing a few other kernels may be helpful.

[DragonSong]

I have! I tested linux-zen linux-mainline and linux all to the same result at various different times. It always has that jump with cpu usage at random periods of time.

[tbg]

I would also suggest testing the LTS kernel.

[DragonSong]

Ok, I’ll go test that one out. Thank you for your recommendation!

[gampel]

@DragonSong

My GPU usage sometimes shoots to 99%

Pls think on it that the system use default your igpu (intel) not the dgpu (nvidia) for DE, Browsers, discord. (basic stuff)
That’s the reason why. (my mind)
With prime-run "command" you use the nvidia gpu.

[DragonSong]

That’s actually why I found this error to be so weird! My system should by default use intel for general basic stuff, so I have no idea why my GPU is shooting up.

[gampel]

Yes, but without more detailed info, it’s difficult, why or what need so much usage.
Example Discord + Browser need a lot of memory.
With nvidia-smi you see “only” what’s going on the dgpu.
With nvtop you “see” more detailed info and which gpu is used.

[DragonSong]

Oh! I’m so sorry, forgive me haha. I should have thought of that! This issue pops up randomly, if I get that lag spike again I will make sure to capture it with nvtop to see what’s going on. I really appreciate your help!

[DragonSong]

So, here is my nvtop results! So, it happened again but this time I actually had a steam game running in my background. It’s this simple productivity game- I have ran it in the background of my much worse thinkpad laptop also on garuda and it works completely fine. However, for some reason here it takes up 129% of my CPU! This time I’m actually running something that uses the CPU but this also happens when I am not running anything that uses up CPU.

Do you know what could be the problem here? Thank you advance for your help!

[TNE]

Heya.

You have 129% CPU usage. That’s very normal and there’s nothing to worry about. 129% means the program is using 1 thread of performance fully and 29% of a thread of performance partially. This does not mean a single thread is fully used, it just means in total, that program is using 1.29 threads worth of performance.

That’s normal. Your device has 24 threads, meaning 100% usage would be 2400%.

[DragonSong]

Oops! Well, that was a very noob response for me. Haha, thank you for explaining it! (I usually only have bad computers- having a really good computer is new to me so I had no idea X-X)

Actually I took a better screenshot of what’s wrong, I caught it! I’m not sure if this is bad, but I’m not using anything GPU related (or so I believe!) and my GPU shoots up to 40-98% (it was 98% but I only managed to take a picture when it shot back down to 40.9%.) Whenever this happens, my computer lags badly and I can barely move anything unless it stops or I’m forced to restart.

Is this normal? I appreciate all of your help btw! I know I definitely sound like a noob with my previous posts… haha <:) taking this as a learning experience