does anyone else has this problem?? sometimes cpu usage is normal but when i reboot and i start up windows xp again cpu usage is always at 90-100% range, it NEVER goes below 90. i'm using the an ecs l7vta mobo btw.

Try opening the task manager w/ CTRL+ALT+DEL, and clicking the processes tab, see what is doing it there, then see if you can cancel that service/program

i've already done that, the same programs are running when the cpu works ok and when it's always running at 100%. this always seems to happen after a restart, coz the first time i turn on the pc everything works well then after a restart the cpu maxes out again.

I don't know if this will help, but if you use CPU-cooling programs like RAIN, WATERFALL, CPU-IDLe, POWERSTRIP ( option: enable system idle thread) then windows will report 1oo% usage. If you have any of these running, try to disable it just to see if the cpu usage goes down. then enable it again to cool down your CPU. Hope this helps. anyway, as long as your PC"s not running sluggish, i guess its okay.

actually it IS sluggish, waay different when the cpu works fine. and i don't have any cpu-cooling programs installed. is this an issue with the athlons? or maybe with the voltage? i'm at my wit's end here.

When you open up Task Manager to look at what programs are running, why not also look for which program is using the most CPU. GoTo Processes tab and sort by column 'CPU'. If the column 'CPU' is not present, GoTo View -> Set Columns and check the box for CPU Usage. Alastor

how old is your processor and how much have you upgraded? my usage never exceeds like 20% even when im playing games like Morrownind or Renegade. ill ask my friend who owns a computer store and ill email u stuff options. Ryan